President’s Memo: New Year = New Standard!

Posted on January 4, 2017 in ATSC News

When we at the ATSC wish you a Happy New Year, “happy” is an understatement. After all, this is the year for the historic completion of the suite of ATSC 3.0 next-generation broadcast standards!

The infographic progress report in this issue of THE STANDARD depicts how ATSC 3.0 is being built from the ground up, and highlights the standards and recommended practices poised to move over the finish line in the coming months.

While completing 3.0 is now within our reach, we recognize that technology will continue to advance over time, and our standards will evolve as well. In the shorter-term, what’s in store for this year?

• With the final standard in hand this spring, I expect to see a lot of effort devoted to implementation strategies. The ATSC will be working in concert with broadcasters, professional equipment manufacturers, consumer electronics manufacturers and other stakeholders developing new products and services and transition plans.

• This will be a landmark year for Next-Gen TV as broadcasters and manufacturers launch ATSC 3.0 in South Korea in advance of the 2018 Winter Olympics. The ATSC is looking forward to commemorating this milestone during the Global UHD conference in Seoul this spring.

• In the United States, this also is expected to be a significant year with the expected FCC adoption of rules to enable the voluntary implementation of ATSC 3.0 services and products.

For 2017, the ATSC Board of Directors is focused primarily on strategic planning and continued administrative oversight of our fast-track standards development process.

The ATSC is fortunate to have such an engaged, talented and diverse board and the strong support of their employers. Please join me in welcoming our three new board members:

Paul Hearty of Sony Electronics, Jong Kim of LG Electronics and Pete Sockett of Capitol Broadcasting. I also wish to thank the board members whose terms expired at the end of 2016 – Mark Eyer of Sony, John Godfrey of Samsung and John Taylor of LG – for their years of dedicated service.

Special thanks go to ATSC members and the hundreds of volunteers devoting tens of thousands of person-hours to define the future of television. After a particularly busy and productive 2016, we’re looking forward to the New Year with great anticipation. New Year = New Standard!

Mark Richer, ATSC President

Posted in ATSC News