Television Jamaica Switches on its Second NextGenTV site

Posted on August 4, 2022 in ATSC News, Press Releases

Kingston, Jamaica.  July 12, 2022. Television Jamaica (TVJ) switched on its second NextGenTV transmitter in the island this weekend as it continues to lead Jamaica in rolling out the latest global standard in television transmission, ATSC 3.0.  The second site was commissioned into service in our second city.

In January this year, TVJ led Jamaica to become the third country in the world to switch on a NextGenTV transmission service, located at its head office at the Lyndhurst Road Broadcasting House facility in Kingston. The switch on of the second transmitter happened in western Jamaica from TVJ’s Flower Hill tower in Montego Bay, St. James on Sunday. Signals from this site will be showcased at a special workshop conference on ATSC 3.0 being held in Trelawny from July 11-14. The conference will feature a special bootcamp that is being delivered by members of the Advanced Television Standards Committee (ATSC) Inc, an organization of which TVJ is a member.

This four-day bootcamp is being presented by ATSC Inc in partnership with the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica and the Spectrum Management Authority, at the Ocean Coral Spring hotel in Trelawny.

Gary Allen, Chief Executive Officer of the RJRGLEANER Group (RG), of which TVJ is a member is very pleased with progress of the roll out. “The team has been working well in pulling together all that is required to achieve a structured and systematic deployment of this new digital transmission standard for Jamaica,” he said. “Having switched on our first site in the nation’s capital, the island’s second city was the next logical choice,” he added.

Jamaica is third behind South Korea and the United States of America in the adoption and transmission of an ATSC 3.0 digital terrestrial television service, widely accepted as the NextGeneration of television services.

Michael Henlin, Chief Technology Officer for RG, who switched on this second transmitter, is satisfied with the strength of the local team in executing the roll out of this new technology.

“We continue to learn and grow with each execution of this roll out and we are very excited about the improved service being offered and the additional services that we will be able to offer to our audiences. On this occasion the transmitter brought on stream is from the French headquartered company, Thomson Broadcast, that has an engineer on the ground working with the TVJ team.

This state-of-the-art NextGenTV experience promises much for Jamaican viewers as the strength of the over-the-air reach from broadcasters becomes enhanced with internet capabilities. TVJ’s General Manager, Dr. Claire Grant is eager to see audiences experience the RG stations TVJ, RETV, JNN and TVJSN over-the-air. “We are looking forward to the introduction of the NextGenTV sets and set top boxes in the market so that consumers can enjoy the new signals,” Dr Grant said.

NextGenTV will be available on some mobile devices without needing data; advertising can be targeted to specific areas and viewership figures can be received in almost real-time; emergency warning messages will be embedded and through their home antennae, consumers will get multiple channels free of charge”, she added.

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Contact: Dr. Claire Grant, General Manager, TVJ Telephone: 1-876-733-2606

Posted in ATSC News, Press Releases