CARMEL, IND. -- The board of directors of the Advanced Television Systems Committee has elected Glenn Reitmeier to serve as the Chairman of the ATSC Board for 2013, it was announced Wednesday.

Reitmeier is senior vice president of Advanced Technology at NBCUniversal, leading the company's technical efforts related to industry standards, government policy, advanced engineering and anti-piracy technical operations. 

Reitmeier is widely recognized as a pioneer of digital television. He spent 25 years in digital video research at Sarnoff Labs, where he led the development of one of the original digital HDTV system proposals. He played a leading role in the formation of the Digital HDTV Grand Alliance and the development of its best-of-the-best system that culminated in the ATSC Digital Television standard. Since joining NBC in 2002, Reitmeier was involved in the creation of NBC's first high-definition cable channel, Universal-HD, launching DTV multicast programming, the creation of mobile broadcasting and the Dyle joint venture, and the distribution of NBCUniversal content to new digital consumer devices.

“Glenn has been a key contributor to the ATSC for many years and a great leader of strategic planning efforts for the organization,” said Mark Richer, ATSC president. “We’re pleased to welcome him back as the board’s chairman. ”

Reitmeier previously served on the ATSC board of directors from 2004-09 and as its chairman from 2006-09.  He is also a board member of the North American Broadcasters Association, a contributor to TV Everywhere standards as president of the Open Authentication Technology Committee and a contributor to the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem work on the UltraViolet digital ecosystem.

He is a Fellow of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers and is a recipient of the Society ’ s Progress Medal and the Leitch Gold Medal. In 2012, he received the National Association of Broadcasters Television Engineering Award for lifetime achievement. He is also a charter member of the (Consumer Electronics Association ’ s Academy of Digital Television Pioneers and received Broadcasting & Cable Magazine ’ s coveted Technology Leadership Award. He holds more than 50 patents in digital video technology and is recognized in the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame.  

ATSC board members for 2013 are: Mark Eyer of Sony Electronics; Richard Friedel of Fox; Kevin Gage, NAB; Ira Goldstone, Univision: Brett Jenkins, LIN Media; Jim Kutzner, PBS; Brian Markwalter, CEA; Sam Matheny, Capitol Broadcasting/WRAL; Glenn Reitmeier, NBC Universal; Andy Scott, NCTA; Robert Seidel, CBS; Dave Siegler, COX Media Group; Peter Symes of SMPTE; John Taylor of LG Electronics USA; and Yiyan Wu of the IEEE.