President’s Memo: New Horizons
It has been a busy spring and summer for ATSC. Quickly after ATSC exhibited at the outstanding 2022 NAB Show , we were off to Detroit for the June Annual Member Meeting and NextGen Broadcast Conference , which received high marks from attendees. In July, we were on the road again, having accepted the invitation of the Jamaican television industry to bring details of ATSC 3.0 technology to the island paradise.
Jamaica literally skipped over ATSC 1.0, becoming the first nation in the world to transition from analog broadcasting to ATSC 3.0. Jamaican authorities noted that by transitioning directly to a next-generation digital standard, the nation has its sights set on the future. Not only does ATSC 3.0 offer a far broader range of capabilities than first-generation systems, but it is also evolvable. This serves to future-proof Jamaica’s investment in this important transition, allowing the nation to grow and develop its system over time.
Many thanks to the two dozen ATSC representatives that provided support for the ATSC Jamacia Bootcamp and Seminar , sharing their expertise and experiences with their Jamaican colleagues. And people from Jamaica took full advantage of the opportunity to learn and forge relationships with over 65 attendees, representing a wide range of constituencies including regulatory, retail, consumer affairs, disaster preparedness, customs and imports, media (television, print and radio), and the Office of the Prime Minister. There were also interested parties from other island nations in attendance as they consider whether to follow in Jamaica’s footsteps.
The program included a wide range of topics – Physical Layer, Transport Stream, Interactivity, Conformance, Audio and Video Improvements, Advanced Emergency Messaging, Distance Education, Consumer Devices, and the Global Deployment of ATSC 3.0. In addition, I was both surprised and delighted to see nearly all attendees taking advantage of the opportunity to experience Gary Sgrignoli’s seminar featured on the first day and a half of the event. Gary’s “road show” is a deep technical immersion of ATSC 3.0 and has been conducted in many locations across the U.S. We were very happy to be able to bring it to Montego Bay.
The event also included illuminating presentations from the Broadcasting Commission – Jamaica, the Spectrum Management Authority, the Jamaican broadcasters themselves, and a keynote delivered by the Honorable Robert Nestor Morgan, MP Minister Without Portfolio With Responsibility For Information from the Office of the Prime Minister. Personally, I was especially gratified be among these varied representatives and experience their approach to the transition. I have an enormous appreciation for the candid and collegial manner with which they shared challenges and concerns as well as opportunities and early successes.
As more television commissions and broadcasters look to the future, we are proud to showcase the capabilities and opportunities on the new horizon with ATSC 3.0 across the globe.
Next up for ATSC is NAB NY, returning to the Big Apple on October 19 and 20, 2022. I will be speaking at the PMVG Public TV NextGen Summit, collocated with NAB NY, on October 18th as well as an engagement at TV2025: Monetizing the Future on October 19th. Please stop by the ATSC booth or catch me at these other events.
ATSC 3.0 is gaining momentum and it is an exciting time for all of us at ATSC!
Posted in ATSC News
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