Five TV stations in El Paso, Texas, the nation’s 91st biggest TV market, have launched ATSC 3.0 broadcasts (aka “NextGen TV”)

The stations are:

• KDBC-TV (CBS/Sinclair)
• KFOX-TV (Fox/Sinclair)
• KTDO-TV (Telemundo)
• KTSM-TV (NBC/Nexstar)
• KVIA-TV (ABC/News-Press & Gazette)

The launch in El Paso follows a decade of development and months of planning and preparation by the local stations. KFOX-TV, which is owned by Sinclair, has converted to ATSC 3.0 transmissions. KFOX-TV will broadcast its own programming, as well as the programming of the other participating stations, in NextGen TV format. All programming of all participating stations will continue to be available in the existing DTV format, which can be received on all modern television sets.

BitPath, which is developing new data broadcasting services, led the planning process and coordinated efforts across the five television stations.

NextGen TV, which combines traditional OTA broadcasting with IP, is now available in more than 70 U.S. markets. 

MERIDEN, CT—In advance of the expected launch of NextGen TV in the U.S.’s largest market, Radio Frequency Systems (RFS), announced today that it has expanded the existing RFS antenna and combiner infrastructure atop One World Trade Center to deliver  ATSC 3.0 to 7.45 million households across the New York City area.

The installation is expected to be completed by the end of 2022 and will be the first high-power source of ATSC 3.0 for New York. The upgrade will allow NYC-area PBS stations to launch NextGen TV, announced earlier this year. The WNET Group's WLIW21 will serve as the host station for ATSC 3.0 broadcasts for the three major PBS member stations in the New York metropolitan area: THIRTEEN, WLIW21 and NJ PBS.

New York got its first low-power ATSC 3.0 service last month, with the launch of WNYZ-LD, a low power station that provides Korean language TV and radio broadcasts to the metropolitan New York City area and eastward towards Long Island. 

RFS has worked on installing broadcast equipment atop One World Trade Center since 2015. In this latest upgrade, an additional ATSC 1.0 channel, WMBC 18, an independent television station licensed to Newton, N.J. is being added to the existing RFS main and auxiliary antenna and combiner systems, which will allow WMBC 18 to upgrade to ATSC 3.0. In addition to the combiner add-on equipment, the system incorporates 12 pole mask filter systems for both main and reserve operation that are combined with an RF switching system to provide high levels of redundancy and flexibility.

Victor Joo of WMBC commented, “The aim of this project is to deliver the best for our customers in a timely and efficient manner. Working with RFS, tapping into its knowledge base, technical expertise, and experience in the industry, especially at One World Trade Center, is allowing us to achieve this. We believe the future looks bright for the industry and the general public, as ATSC 3.0 allows us to meet changing and growing demands.”

In addition to the new equipment, the RFS patented Variable Polarization Technology (VPT) antenna installed in 2017 to address the immediate spectrum repack challenges, but with NextGen TV adoption in mind, is ready to support ATSC 3.0. VPT technology is incorporated into the equipment to allow any of the stations operating into the system to optimize their radiated power by setting preferred polarization ratios for each of the main and auxiliary systems.

For WLIW21 (Channel 32), a station already on RFS’s One WTC combiner/antenna system, the recent optimization of its VPT input now provides circularly polarized radiation, which is vital for numerous ATSC 3.0 applications. 

Frank Graybill, Senior Director of Engineering and Technology at The WNET Group commented, “We want to be a leader in the broadcast space and ATSC 3.0 adoption is a key part of this. The system designed by RFS has the flexibility that will allow us to be nimble and adapt to several scenarios with this deployment.”

Marc Musgrove, Director of Broadcast Communications for The Durst Organization, at the One WTC site added “We see One WTC as the premier facility in New York City and to maintain that status, we have to keep pace with the latest industry developments. From deployment support to the system design itself, RFS is a key partner in ensuring we deliver this with a solution that adapts with broadcast evolution.”

Nick Wymant, Global Product Line Manager - Broadcast at RFS added, “One World Trade Center is one of the preeminent broadcast sites in the world and we are honored to support its ongoing development to deliver the latest in broadcasting standards. By selecting ATSC3.0 ready equipment in 2017 and continuing to build on that system, the One WTC site will now deliver the full potential of what is possible with NextGen TV.”

IRVING, TEXAS & BALTIMORE—Nextstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group are welcoming the newest member to their consortium that seeks to promote broadcast spectrum aggregation, innovation and monetization, Univision Local Media.

The consortium was initially launched in March. It works on innovation, develops and explores products and services associated with ATSC 3.0 and monetization opportunities such as spectrum utilization, virtual MVPD platforms, multicast channels, automotive applications, single frequency networks and wireless data applications.

Both Nextstar and Sinclair praised Univision’s reach to the Spanish-American community for their goal of sharing ATSC 3.0 information with the public.

“We are encouraged by the leadership that Nextstar and Sinclair have shown in advancing the new ATSC 3.0 standard for our industry,” said John Eck, EVP and chief local media officer for Univision. “We look forward to partnering with them to identify new content and distribution opportunities that maximize the value of our broadcast spectrum and provide meaningful benefit to consumers and advertisers.”

The consortium has agreed to collaborate on a non-exclusive basis and will continue to look for other broadcasters to join, per the official press release.