President’s Memo: Multitasking

Posted on September 4, 2019 in ATSC News

mul–ti-task-ing (noun) the simultaneous management of two or more tasks

ATSC just announced the formation of Planning Team 6 on Global Recognition of ATSC 3.0.  Simultaneously, we’re aggressively supporting the commercial launch of Next Gen TV broadcasting in the United States and continued successful deployment in South Korea. Multitasking.

ATSC 3.0 was conceived as an international broadcast standard that can be easily adopted by many countries/regions and to easily converge with international data transmission systems such as the Internet and 4G/5G. Planning Team 6 (or “PT6” in ATSC shorthand) is a new forum for ATSC members to discuss ways to ensure the international community has the resources it needs to understand and evaluate the ATSC 3.0 standard. PT6 may recommend new technology work items to the ATSC Board of Directors as it immerses itself in the needs of our global broadcasting ecosystem.

Multitasking:  As the new PT6 international group gets underway, ATSC is stepping up efforts to support the commercial launch of Next Gen broadcasting in the United States and deployment in South Korea. Among the efforts supporting commercialization are new Recommended Practices (RPs). In addition to three RPs focused on the physical layer and one on watermarks, we have recently published two new RPs that focus on the management and protocols layers: A/350:2019, “Guide to the Link-Layer Protocol” and A351:2019, “Techniques for Signaling, Delivery and Synchronization.” These new floors of the famous ATSC 3.0 skyscraper are intended to assist implementers design their ATSC 3.0 deployments to best suit their business goals.

Multitasking: As work continues apace on additional RPs for a number of important implementation areas, including security, audio, and interactivity to name a few, ATSC experts are providing education via tradeshows and conferences and supporting the training efforts of other organizations. For example, Technology Group 3 (TG3) members are actively collaborating with the Society of Broadcast Engineers to finalize the ATSC 3.0 Specialist Certification Exam.  And attendees at October’s NAB Show NY will be able visit our ATSC “Are You Ready?” exhibit to ask the experts about station deployment of ATSC 3.0, as we work to support the rollout of the technology in 60-plus U.S. TV markets through 2020.

Multitasking is a part of life these days, and the challenge is to choose tasks wisely in order to do each to the best of one’s ability. I’d like to recognize ATSC Board members for their insights and guidance on identifying key initiatives and priorities. I invite members to multitask with us; get involved in PT6 and all the tasks that ATSC is engaged in to advance our mission of defining the future of terrestrial broadcasting around the globe.

Madeleine Noland, ATSC President

Posted in ATSC News