PRESIDENT’S MEMO: Towering Achievements

Posted on July 24, 2017 in ATSC News

As we finish construction on the remaining stories of the ATSC 3.0 skyscraper depicting the building blocks of Next Gen TV, industry insiders are celebrating another remarkable broadcast tower. June ushered in digital TV broadcasting from New York’s One World Trade Center site for the first time since Sept. 11, 2001. Joining WNJU Telemundo 47 soon on the spire atop the Freedom Tower will be other New York City stations —WCBS, WNBC, WPXN and WNET. We salute broadcasters for this towering achievement.

Just as the Freedom Tower rose from the 9/11 ashes to become the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, our own ATSC 3.0 skyscraper towers above others as the world’s first all-IP television broadcast system with unparalleled flexibility and consumer benefits. Those consumer benefits were front and center during the ATSC board’s 2017 summer strategic retreat with robust discussions about how ATSC 3.0’s myriad features will benefit consumers and broadcasters alike.

With an eye to the horizon, the board heard thought-provoking presentations from special guest speakers – about the connected vehicles of tomorrow from Professor Dr. Huei Peng, head of the University of Michigan’s “Mcity” initiative, about the future of browser technology from Google Chrome Media’s Matt Frost, about wide-band RF transmission technologies from Teracom’s Eric Stare, and about the evolving media technology landscape and new platforms from NAB PILOT’s John Clark.

The board also charted our future course, which includes completing the few remaining elements of the ATSC 3.0 suite of standards, defining the ATSC’s important role in supporting broadcasters’ implementation and transition scenarios and, for the longer-term, beginning to consider future Next Gen TV enhancements, AKA ATSC 3.5.

As the ATSC wraps up a busy summer, we’re looking ahead to completing our ATSC 3.0 skyscraper, which I modestly say is a “towering achievement” for the ATSC and the hundreds of volunteers contributing to the Next Gen TV standard.

Mark Richer, ATSC President

The ATSC thanks Chris Homer who is leaving PBS and the ATSC board. In addition to his leadership on the board, Chris’s major contributions to ATSC 3.0 – especially his key role in driving accessibility features – are noteworthy and greatly appreciated.

Posted in ATSC News