OSLO, Norway—Appear ASA has announced that it is supporting Rede Legislativa de Rádio e TV’s contribution workflow for Brazil’s TV 3.0 activities as part of the country experimental transmissions of the new standard, which are locally branded as DTV+.

The deployment uses Appear’s X5 to transport the broadcaster’s signal from Brasília to the TV 3.0 core infrastructure in São Paulo and are part of the Rede Legislativa trials designed to shape the next phase of Brazilian television.

Brazil’s TV 3.0 program has gathered momentum since the technology was formally adopted in August 2025. In 2026, the Chamber of Deputies hosted experimental demonstrations of DTV+ and the Mais BR public-channel platform, while Empresa Brasil de Comunicação (EBC) confirmed its role in the first public presentation of the TV 3.0 platform. Earlier this year, EBC and the Chamber were authorised to use test stations in Brasília and São Paulo for continuous TV 3.0 transmissions.

In the Rede Legislativa workflow, Appear’s X5 uses HEVC compression and Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) to carry the signal over the public internet from Brasília to São Paulo. The architecture is designed to deliver the content simultaneously to two CDNs operated by the EBC and ALESP (Legislative Assembly of the State of São Paulo).

The project highlights how proven IP contribution technologies can support the operational requirements of Brazil’s emerging TV 3.0 services.

For Rede Legislativa, the deployment provides a practical and cost-efficient way to connect existing broadcast operations into a new delivery environment without requiring a bespoke TV 3.0 transmission platform.

“Brazil’s move towards TV 3.0 is creating new requirements not only in transmission, but also in the contribution workflows that feed it,” said Luis Perez, sales director LATAM at Appear. “In this project, our hardware-accelerated SRT technology enables Rede Legislativa to transport high-quality signals securely and reliably from Brasília to São Paulo over the public internet. It demonstrates how broadcasters can use new efficient technologies, such as SRT, to support the next wave of television services in Brazil with the low latency, high density and resilience needed for modern production workflows.”

“The trial has given us an efficient and reliable way to connect Brasília to the TV 3.0 core infrastructure in São Paulo,” added Luiz Flávio Menezes, engineer, Chamber of Deputies, Brazilian National Congress. “Appear’s X Platform has helped us validate a practical contribution architecture for DTV+, preserving quality while simplifying operations as we evaluate how next-generation television services can be best delivered in Brazil.”

POUSO ALEGRE, Brazil—GatesAir has opened GatesAir Brasil, a new office and operations center here in the state of Minas Gerais in the southeastern region of the country.

The facility establishes a presence for the company in Brazil for the first time in more than a decade and adds in-country assembly, service, repair and customer support capabilities for GatesAir television and radio transmission products. Now open, the facility will also support customer activities throughout the Caribbean and Latin America (CALA) region.

Located within Brazil’s “Electronics Valley” region between São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Belo Horizonte, the new operation strengthens GatesAir’s ability to serve Brazilian broadcasters with faster delivery, localized technical support and expedited repair services. The move also allows GatesAir to assemble products in Brazil, creating operational efficiencies that will make its solutions more accessible to broadcasters across the country.

“Brazil is a cornerstone market for GatesAir and an important part of our long-term growth strategy across Central and Latin America,” GatesAir CEO Barbara Spicek said. “This investment strengthens our regional presence while bringing us closer to customers at a critical point in the industry’s evolution. With DTV+ creating new opportunities for broadcasters, GatesAir is uniquely positioned to support this transition through both innovation and experience.”

The investment comes at a pivotal moment for Brazil’s broadcast industry as it advances plans for DTV+, its enhanced implementation of the ATSC 3.0 standard. GatesAir is now shipping Maxiva transmitters for Brazil’s new 300-MHz broadcast spectrum allocation, leveraging GatesAir’s experience and expertise in ATSC 3.0 systems development. The country’s DTV+ transition is expected to drive substantial infrastructure investment over the coming years as broadcasters prepare to deploy advanced services and applications.

“Opening our new Brazil operation represents a significant strategic investment in one of the world’s most important broadcast markets,” said Antonio Satta, country manager for Brazil at GatesAir. “By establishing local assembly, service and repair capabilities, we can deliver meaningful economic advantages to broadcasters while providing the responsiveness and proximity they expect from a trusted technology partner. We are positioning ourselves alongside our customers as they prepare for the DTV+ transition, and our local presence ensures broadcasters have direct access to the expertise, products and support they need throughout this transformation.”

The facility will include dedicated service and repair resources to accelerate maintenance activities and spare parts availability. GatesAir customers will benefit from localized technical support, installation assistance, commissioning services and direct access to GatesAir engineering expertise.

As part of the expansion, GatesAir will also establish a regional AirWatch365 monitoring hub within the facility. Introduced globally at the 2026 NAB Show in April, AirWatch365 provides broadcasters with continuous monitoring, analytics and operational visibility across transmission infrastructure. The local monitoring capability will further enhance service responsiveness and system oversight for the company’s Brazilian customers.

PRINCETON, N.J.—Triveni Digital today announced that it has added ISDB-Tb capability for its StreamScope MT-70 MPEG analyzer platform. Designed specifically for Brazilian broadcasters, the solution provides comprehensive monitoring and troubleshooting capabilities for ISDB-Tb services while supporting the country’s transition to TV 3.0 (also known as DTV+), according to the company.

Triveni will showcase StreamScope MT-70 with support for ISDB-tb and TV 3.0 at the 2026 NAB Show, April 19-22, in Las Vegas in ATSC booth C1655.

In 2025, Brazil announced adoption of the physical layer of the ATSC 3.0 protocol for TV 3.0, its next generation broadcast standard.

“As Brazil transitions to TV 3.0, broadcasters need reliable, end-to-end visibility across both legacy and next-generation broadcast television services,” said Mark Simpson, president and CEO at Triveni Digital. “With StreamScope MT-70 ISDB-Tb, we’re extending our proven monitoring and analysis capabilities and empowering Brazilian broadcasters to deliver exceptional quality, quickly resolve issues, and confidently manage the complexities of operating in a dual-standard environment.”

The new version of StreamScope MT-70 seamlessly integrates with Triveni’s StreamScope Enterprise centralized quality assurance system, enabling broadcasters to monitor and analyze quality across their entire broadcast operation—from ISDB-Tb to TV 3.0 services. This unified approach is critical as Brazil enters a lengthy simulcast period where both standards will coexist on air, Triveni said.

Built with Brazil-specific support for SBTVD ABNT NBR 15603 tables and descriptors, StreamScope MT-70 ensures accurate validation and deep visibility into regional broadcast requirements. The solution is available in multiple deployment options, including rack-mount systems, software, and in the cloud, giving broadcasters the flexibility to deploy it based on their operational needs.

Congratulations to Brazil on its official decision to deploy DTV+ (formerly known as TV 3.0), which incorporates many components of the ATSC 3.0 suite of standards, including the physical layer.

The press release ATSC issued upon Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signing the decree mandating DTV+ noted that commercial service is expected in time for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, June 11-July 19, 2026—a move that echoes South Korea’s decision to transmit 4K UHD over ATSC 3.0 over the air domestically in time for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

Brazil’s timing brought to mind the National Association of Broadcasters’ petition for FCC rulemaking on the shut-off of ATSC 1.0 and replacement with 3.0. NAB has proposed a two-phase shut-off. In the first phase, stations in the top 55 markets would sunset 1.0 in February 2028. All the rest would pull the plug on 1.0 in February 2030.

So here we are once again waiting patiently for our regulators to clear the decks for NextGen TV. Does anyone want to wager on which comes first: full deployment in the U.S. or Brazil?

I’ve previously written about a conversation at NAB Show several years ago with Rich Chernock, former chairman of ATSC Technology Group 3, the one responsible for developing 3.0. I asked him which he thought would happen first: Nationwide deployment of ATSC 3.0 or 5G? Well, T-Mobile settled that.

But what about tech developments? Which will come first? Full U.S. deployment of 3.0 or:

• SpaceX’s Starship Mars reaches the Red Planet with an unmanned mission. Elon Musk is targeting the end of 2026.
• Humans return to the moon. NASA now is aiming at mid-2027 for Artemis III.
• The first supersonic passenger jet flight since the Concorde flies. Boom Supersonic looks to have passenger service in 2029.
• The dawn of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). Futurist Ray Kurzweil predicts it by 2029.
• 6G rollout begins. Telecom experts point to 2030 if not sooner.
• Humans set foot on Mars. SpaceX thinks that will happen between 2029 and 2031.
• Commercial nuclear fusion power. TAE Technologies in Foothill Ranch, Calif., says that’s coming by the early 2030s.
• Publicly available brain chips. Neuralink expects to make that happen between 2035 and 2040.
• Consumer quantum computers. Experts expect that sometime between 2035 and 2040.

The singularity—the moment that artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence. Kurzweil predicts 2045.

That’s a whole lot of technical advancement before the proposed 1.0 shutoff. Who knows what the FCC will actually do?

If the 1.0 sunset slips much past February 2030, each passing year will look more like something out of a sci-fi movie than what you or I have experienced in our lifetimes, even when it comes to entertainment.

Who better to ask how quantum computing, possibly arriving in 2035, will affect entertainment than Google’s Gemini AI? Its answer: by “enabling hyper-personalized content recommendations and dramatically enhancing production through realistic rendering and complex simulations, while also offering advanced data compression and distribution for more efficient consumption.”

“Key areas of impact include improved AI, next-level visuals, optimized distribution, new interactive experiences,” it added.

Maybe that’s good news for broadcasters looking to cram more content into 6 MHz, but more likely it will heap on even more competitive pressure than today as these tools enhance the entertainment experiences broadcast competitors can deliver and make the battle for eyeballs even stiffer.

ELGIN, Ill.—DTV Innovations said its MetaWright 3 ATSC 3.0 and DTV+ (formerly known as TV 3.0) solution now operates seamlessly on its latest OX-4 custom hardware.

MegaWright 3 software delivers ATSC 3.0/DTV+ signaling and service announcements, ROUTE/MMT encapsulation and broadcast gateway functionality. The version installed on OX-4 hardware includes multiple files and a transport stream player, which enables the system to function as a complete, standalone ATSC 3.0/DTV+ test equipment solution. The file player can also be used in disaster recovery mode, the company said.

The compact OX-4 measures 1.75 x 4.63 x 9.63 inches and offers power consumption of less than 40 watts. With a ¼-rack-unit form factor, the solution includes four 2.5-Gigabit Ethernet ports, four-lane PCIe slot expansion for terrestrial or satellite RF modules and more than enough storage and memory for demanding broadcast and streaming applications, it said.

The company unveiled the MetaWright 3/OX-4 combination last week at the SET Expo in São Paulo, Brazil.

“We’ve been working on this OX-4 platform for a while. Our goal was to create a compact yet versatile platform which can be used in wide range of applications. The new OX platform is designed to be extremely flexible.” said Benitius Handjojo, CEO of DTV Innovations.

“The MetaWright 3 software has been developed entirely in-house from the ground up. This ensures our software is both powerful and lightweight, allowing for easy deployment,” Handjojo said. “It also features a streamlined, intuitive GUI which makes configuration and operation simple. I believe the combination of MetaWright 3 and OX-4 offers the most cost-effective and space-saving solution currently available on the market. Moreover, with power consumption of less than 40 watts, the solution practically pays for itself over time through electricity savings.”

More information is available on the company’s website.

MONTREAL—Brazilian broadcaster Globo announced today that it is deploying Grass Valley’s AMPP as the backbone of its future production operations.

The announcement marks an expansion GV has with Latin American’s largest broadcaster and is part of a major initiative to modernize and future-proof its live production capabilities. The agreement marks a new phase in Globo’s long-term technology transformation program, centered on the deployment of Grass Valley AMPP (Agile Media Processing Platform).

Since 2022, Globo and Grass Valley have worked closely to deploy AMPP across Tier 3 content production environments, embracing a flexible, software-defined architecture. The success of this initiative laid the groundwork for this next chapter: a multiphase migration of Globo’s primary production control rooms, including those used for marquee Prime-Time events, to a platform powered by the AMPP ecosystem, Grass Valley said.

A clear example of this technology in action was seen during the 2024 and 2025 seasons of Big Brother Brasil, one of Globo’s largest and most complex live productions. The project combined a full 2110 IP infrastructure with AMPP’s on-premises microservices architecture, showcasing how native-IP workflows and software-defined control can co-exist in high-pressure environments.

In this deployment, AMPP was used as a 24/7 time-shifted playout system for 100 consecutive days, all within a highly integrated IP-based setup. This strategic partnership has been formally sealed through the signing of a multi-year Enterprise Agreement, ensuring the joint evolution of the AMPP ecosystem in close collaboration with Globo’s technical and operational teams.

At the same time, Globo is expanding its 2110 IP-based infrastructure through a major new project signed alongside the Enterprise Agreement, a critical step in preparing for Brazil’s next-generation digital broadcast standard, DTV+ (TV 3.0). As part of this evolution, the new AMPP-based control infrastructure will also support 4K workflows, meeting key DTV+ requirements and reinforcing Globo’s commitment to scalable, future-ready production.

“With this shift to a software-defined platform, we are enabling agility and scalability in our production supply chain in order to respond quickly to the demands of a constantly evolving market”, said Mauricio Felix, Technology Executive at Globo.

“We are honored to strengthen our partnership with Globo in this strategic transformation,” said Tim Banks, CRO at Grass Valley. “AMPP offers a powerful, agile, and efficient hybrid-cloud platform that will support Globo’s most demanding live production workflows now and in the years to come.”

LONDON, UK—V-Nova has announced the availability of two licensing programs for MPEG-5 LCEVC, the MPEG and ISO-standardized video enhancement technology that improves compression efficiency and processing performance for any video codec.

The announcement is made in the lead up to this year’s SET Expo in Sao Paolo, Brazil, Aug. 19-21, where the company expects to see a big focus on the deployment of the most advanced digital broadcasting system in the world, TV 3.0/DTV+. DTV+ uses cutting-edge standards like LCEVC, recently included in the ATSC 3.0 US television standard. The licensing model creates a clear, scalable commercial framework beyond broadcaster applications, meeting the needs of streaming services and manufacturers of consumer devices similarly.

MPEG-5 LCEVC (Low Complexity Enhancement Video Coding) enhances any codec reducing transcoding costs and energy consumption by up to 70%, while improving compression efficiency by as much as 40%. It adds an enhancement layer to any base video, enabling benefits such as scalable delivery of UHD and HD services and low-latency streaming. LCEVC requires minimum silicon area and is able to run efficiently on existing and future devices by leveraging available hardware acceleration.

The new licensing framework matches commercial terms to the value LCEVC provides and introduces two programs: The first designed for video distribution services, with royalties determined by the size of the service; and the second, for consumer device manufacturers based on volume.

Video distribution services pay royalties based on their user count, aligning with the market's request for clear, simple, and fair pricing of codec technologies, V-Nova said, adding that royalties for free-to-air broadcasting are waived. Companies that sign up early can access a limited time program with additional benefits, including a per-service discounted cap of $8 million per annum.

Consumer devices pay royalties based on units sold, beginning at $0.20 per device. These rates include the Open-Access discount that applies when manufacturers provide unrestricted access to LCEVC and enable LCEVC to work with all systems and codecs available on a given device.

“After joining the Access Advance HEVC pool, we are reinforcing our commitment to the industry by announcing the MPEG-5 LCEVC licensing program.” said Guido Meardi, CEO and Co-Founder of V-Nova. “Our goal is to deliver better video at lower cost, across broadcast, streaming, and emerging immersive formats, while aligning with customer demand for clear, simple and fair pricing of codec technologies.”

To aid in deploying LCEVC, V-Nova offers resources and documentation, access to a Professional Services team, certification program, tailored IP integration, and technical assistance.

For additional information on LCEVC licensing programs:

Visit the Consumer Devices Licensing page: https://v-nova.com/licensing-lcevc-dlp

Visit the Video Distribution Licensing page: https://v-nova.com/licensing-lcevc-vdlp

For licensing enquiries, contact licensing@v-nova.com

As part of its mandate, the Advanced Television Systems Committee—the U.S. organization tasked with developing advanced broadcast TV standards—promotes ATSC 3.0 as a global standard. Promoted in the U.S. as “NextGen TV,” 3.0 has been adopted by S. Korea, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago and is also being tested in India and Canada. In the U.S., approximately 76% of U.S. households are within reach of a 3.0 signal.

One year ago this month, Brazil announced that it was adopting the “physical layer” portion of the standard for its “TV 3.0” advanced TV standard (the physical layer defines how data is transmitted over a 3.0 signal).

The decision to adopt a key part of the 3.0 standard is expected to have a significant impact on global adoption of the standard, as Brazil is not only one of the world’s most populous countries with the largest economy in Latin America, it also has a comparably larger portion of consumers who view TV over the air than in other countries that have adopted 3.0.

The ATSC’s close ties with Brazil was brought into sharper focus recently with the announcement that Luiz Fausto, a former tech executive with Globo TV, Brazil’s largest TV network, will be the new vice president of standards development for the ATSC. Fausto, who was most recently Globo’s technology regulatory specialist, was also technical module chairman of the Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão Digital (SBTVD) Forum, which made the final recommendation to the Brazilian Ministry of Communications that resulted in the adoption of 3.0. Fausto is succeeding Jerry Whitaker, who served in the position for 25 years and is stepping down in August.

Fausto will oversee standards development processes, guide industry adoption and foster relationships with global stakeholders, the ATSC said in its announcement earlier this month.

TV Tech recently spoke with Fausto and ATSC President Madeleine Noland about his new duties. Here is an edited transcript:

TV Tech: Congratulations on your new position, why did you apply?
Luiz Fausto: That's a good question. Well, maybe the best point to consider is that ATSC has a great potential for reaching many countries. I was previously working with the SBTVD Forum, which standardized digital TV for Brazil and for Brazil only. But that doesn't prevent other countries from adopting the same standards, and the SBTVD Forum promotes that.

But the Forum does not have its own representative of other regions or other countries—it's basically focused on Brazil. As we got to know the ATSC 3.0 candidate standard as the most flexible and powerful set of technologies, I personally believe it has the potential to reach many other countries and territories—as it did with Brazil—because the way the system was conceived and designed is an extensible way; it's designed to evolve over time and to accommodate future evolutions. It’s such a flexible toolbox that we can make it fit with the different requirements that different countries may have for the future of digital terrestrial television. So that's what's most exciting about joining ATSC, the opportunity of bringing this evolution to countries other than Brazil.

TVT: You have some big shoes to fill. How will you be able to continue the excellent work done by your predecessor?
LF: I think ATSC has done a very good job in designing a very powerful and very flexible system, and also very efficient in terms of spectrum usage and energy usage, and these things are really important these days.

But the current issue I see with ATSC 3.0 is that many countries consider this to be a standard for the United States and not, for example, a ‘global standard.’ It’s a pity that digital television didn't evolve in such a way that it converged worldwide to a single framework of systems.

So we have different families of systems around the world, but I do believe ATSC has a lot of potential because of the way it was designed. Of course, the system will continue to evolve over time, but I’d like to make this system and its characteristics and features known to different countries, and also to listen to them and understand what are their requirements, so that we can use the flexibility of 3.0 to provide, for example, a tailored solution for them.

TVT: Madeleine, how impressed were you with Luiz? And what does bringing him onboard say about the ATSC’s efforts to promote 3.0 as a global standard?
Madeleine Noland: Luiz was the most qualified candidate, and he has a terrific enthusiasm for what ATSC is. He has a great understanding of how standards development is done and how the international standards development community operates. He's already well known on the international stage, so we found in Luiz the strongest candidate among, quite frankly, a lot of really, really, really good candidates, it was not an easy choice.

The fact that Luiz is coming out of Brazil certainly does make a strategic statement. And it's a testament to the entire hiring team that we would look at candidates who are not from the United States. It wasn’t a strategic move to specifically look for someone outside of the United States, but I think that it's an indication of the way ATSC sees itself, that we would entertain candidates from outside of the United States. I think there might have been a time in the organization when they would not have, but Luiz is our guy.

TVT: Luiz, what would you say is your top priority over the next 12-18 months?
LF: I still have a lot to learn but I'll be lucky enough to work in parallel with Jerry for a month while he's still full time at the ATSC. I have to learn about the inner processes and I hope that I can add to that with some international experience and how to approach the international standardization community and potential adopting countries over time.

TVT: You were heavily involved in evaluating ATSC, 3.0 for Brazil’s TV 3.0. What was it about the evaluation process that made you interested in seeking out this new position?
LF: Yes, it was a long process that is still ongoing in a sense; not the technology selection, but now the process of publishing the standards and the regulations. But it was a process that we started formally in 2020 and Brazil decided to open an international call for proposals. And this call for proposals was designed in such a way that we would receive proposals for our candidate technologies for each of the system components.

So we designed an architecture of the system and the set of requirements for each component; then we would evaluate candidate technology, more or less separately for each component. We were aware that this strategy would potentially result in a system that would be a mix and match of different systems

But we also needed to make sure that these components worked together as a system and at that stage we didn’t expect that one particular system would be dominant over the majority of components but somehow it ended up happening with ATSC.

Of course, we had the opportunity to because the original 3.0 standard is about eight years old but has kept evolving over time. For example, when it was designed for the United States and South Korea, the best video codec available at the time was HEVC and nowadays the best codec available is VVC.

But as I said, we could have ended up having a system so blended with a mixture of different systems that it could not be easily identifiable as a variety of one system, it could be a different thing with a different set with an independent set of technologies. But it was a good surprise that most components were selected from the original ATSC proposal, and it made our lives easier in the sense of making sure the components work together as a system, because we had only to replace a few things.

It was not only the technical standards that we were evaluating; we were doing real laboratory and field tests with the candidate technologies and ATSC proved to have excellent performance and it ended being selected for the majority of the components in such a way that the SBTVD Forum is looking to establish a stronger partnership with ATSC to keep the evolution of this system harmonized from now on with ATSC.

We see TV 3.0 as a variant of ATSC 3.0 that we want to harmonize with the global ATSC 3.0 standard. And that's how I see ATSC 3.0 going forward: not as a closed box where you would need to choose everything or nothing, but flexible enough to accommodate small variations within the same framework and still be seen as a single family of standards.

If you look for example, at DVB T and DVB T2, there are many variants of DVB-T and DVB T2 used in different countries, in Europe and so on.

TVT: Madeleine, how has the role of VP of Standards Development for ATSC evolved over time?
MN: The role has always required a certain range of talents. And by that, I mean it's not so easy to find people like Jerry and Luiz who, on the one hand, can prepare documents and check the formatting and dot the i's and cross the t's, and on the other hand, can think strategically and get in front of audiences and promote the standard and think “big picture.”

It's really hard to find a person who's interested and capable of fulfilling that range of tasks. And we've been very lucky with Jerry, and we're very lucky again with Luiz, to find someone who can do those things. So that aspect of the role has not changed, but the technology that lives underneath it has. The processes by which standards are being developed is changing. What is the role of AI in standards development going forward? That's something that's on ATSC's strategic roadmap right now.

Are we going to think about this as a very flexible standard where you've got a toolbox of things; the DVB project has been doing that for many, many years, but ATSC, not so much. I think that the job has definitely changed, but I think the underlying need for a person who can know the intricate details of a Microsoft Word document all the way to understanding the big picture remains the same. And we were lucky to have Jerry for some 25 plus years, and I can just see Luiz picking up where Jerry left off.

TVT: Madeleine, what will be in the stack of papers you hand to Luiz on his first day on the job? What big projects do you expect him to be working on first?
MN: We have quite a number of active groups, and I would say that there are a few projects that stand out over the others. There's a couple of aspects to this—what is actually being worked on in the groups and then the other question is, how do the groups get work done?

So in terms of what the groups are actually doing, I think that there are some really interesting projects, including the “Broadcast to Everything Project" (B2X) which is just now taking on the core network effort, is a really interesting project. It's working to align the ATSC 3.0 physical layer more closely with the 5G physical layer, as well as taking in what we've done with the broadcast core network so far, and looking at alignment with the 5G core and a potential future 6G core. It's right on the cutting edge of technology, of what's being developed for broadcast.

We also have development going on where people want to put all kinds of stuff over ATSC 3.0, so now, yeah, you can carry linear video services, and you can carry radio services, and you can carry emergency services for public or private audiences, and datacasting services. Now we have a project where they want to carry Digital Radio Mondiale (a set of digital audio broadcasting technologies designed to work over the bands currently used for analog radio broadcasting) services over 3.0 and they're working on that.

So what the groups are working on is very exciting and interesting, but I also think that where Luiz is going to be focusing his time is how the groups get work done. Can we use AI to find inconsistencies in a standard or areas where clarification is needed? Can we use AI to make sure that all the acronyms are defined the same across all the standards? We use AI to help implementers understand the standards more quickly and more accurately. Can we use AI to help our group chairs manage the work of the group? These are other areas where I think we need to develop.

In addition, a lot of the implementation of these kinds of digital terrestrial standards is software based, whereas in previous times, it was very much hardware based, and that also impacts how we might develop standards.

LF: Yeah, I think Madeleine made some excellent points and just to bring one practical example that is already to some extent being used in ATSC and also now in our Brazilian TV tutorial, is that instead of defining everything you want in the standard in—let's say natural language—we say that the one piece of the system should be in compliance with the format which is in the front, which is defined in a file, and the file itself. So it's kind of a normative part of the standard.

So with natural language, sometimes you can have ambiguities and differences in interpretation and so on, but when you go to the file, the file is clear in the sense that there is no possibility of understanding it differently, the syntax, the semantics and so on. And as Madeleine said, as we're moving more towards software instead of hardware, our standards will be more and more filled with files as references instead of text, and that would make the implementer's life easier, because they have to check if their implementation is in compliance with the standard, which means at the end of the day, less problems with interoperability.

That is an issue that happens when you introduce new technologies and you have different implementations and they are not perfectly interoperable, and then some things don't work as they should. But as we can make the standards more precise and clear, these ambiguities will be reduced. That's a good thing, because, of course, the complexity of the standards is getting higher and so the chances for human errors are getting higher. And if we can get the standards more precisely defined, we can get these human errors low again.

In some parts of the world, there is this sense that maybe digital terrestrial television will not continue to evolve, and maybe it will be replaced by the internet or something else. But so far we haven’t seen anything capable of having an efficient delivery for hundreds of millions of people or billions of people to watch the same content live at the same time.

So there are lots of opportunities where the broadcast system is, let's say, a tool to transport bits in a broadcast or fill gaps in the current infrastructure for the internet, which is limited by its unicast nature. So broadcast can fill those gaps with this capability of delivering simultaneously the same bits to lots of devices. And there are lots of use cases for that now, and there will be lots more in the future. So for me, there's nothing better for this particular use case—to deliver the same data to a huge audience at the same time—and for many other use cases, it's proven to be very attractive as well.

RIO DE JANEIRO & WASHINGTON, D.C. — Brazil is not the first country to adopt internet-protocol over-the-air television. It’s just the biggest, and the most likely to have an impact felt across the Western Hemisphere. The form that over-the-air (OTA) broadcast television will take in Brazil —known as ATSC 3.0 — represents a full departure from the early 2000s digital phase that resembled analog TV, but with more resolution.

Back then, the potential of IP-based digital media was not clear. YouTube was cat videos. Netflix mailed out DVDs. Twenty years later, they are streaming juggernauts while broadcast TV has become passé, at least in the United States. Still, it remains the sole nationwide platform that supports 100 million-plus people watching the same thing live.

With its decision to adopt ATSC 3.0, Brazil could bring about a broadcasting renaissance. While Brazil is not the perfect analogue of the U.S. or vice versa, the parallels are enough to make it a significant model.

With this in mind, a small group of U.S. observers and stakeholders recently spoke with Raymundo Barros, director of Strategy and Technology at Globo, Brazil’s largest media company as well as its largest broadcaster; and president of Brazil’s broadcast standards body, the Fórum do Sistema Brasileiro de TV Digital Terrestre (Fórum SBTVD).

Barros is at the forefront of Brazil’s historic conversion to IP-based over-the-air television — in time for the 2026 World Cup, no less. Via emails and Zoom, he shared Brazil’s vision, its motivation and its strategy for rolling out nationwide, non-backward-compatible, broadcast TV for more than 70 million over-the-air households. We spoke about how Brazil and the U.S. compare, the timing of their decision, the consumer-facing platform, rollout logistics, North American implications and what’s to come.

HOW BRAZIL AND THE U.S. COMPARE

Marketshare
US: Brazil is such a compelling model for the United States. We’re comparable in area and population, but broadcasting has far more marketshare in Brazil than it does in the U.S.

Raymundo Barros: Yes, broadcasting holds a strong market share in Brazil largely because it remains the primary source of television for many regions, especially in remote and rural areas. While urban centers have broader access to broadband and subscription-based services, large parts of Brazil rely exclusively on over-the-air OTA broadcasting.

This is due in part to the country’s expansive geography and socioeconomic factors that make it challenging to deploy infrastructure in less populated areas. Broadcasting’s reach ensures equitable access to information, education, and entertainment nationwide, reinforcing its importance.

Receivers
US: U.S. broadcasters cover about 75% of the United States with ATSC 3.0 signals, but receivers aren’t nearly as widespread. Brazil tied the transmission and receiver standards-development process together. How did that work?

R.B.: We launched the Fórum 18 years ago when we started standardizing TV 2.0, digital terrestrial broadcasting. The government is part of the Fórum — the Ministry of Communications and Anatel [Brazil’s version of the Federal Communications Commission]. They don’t vote, but they orchestrate how the Fórum operates. At that time, they decided the Fórum would be a private entity with the participation of broadcasters and the receiver industry, each with four votes; the transmitter industry and universities, each with two votes; and the software industry with one. It’s the same today.

Everybody normally agrees with the same decision. We are in alignment, but it took a lot more work this time. The stakes were broadcaster prominence; the “out-of-the-box” experience of the broadcast channels. As the chairman, I had to go to each commissioner on the Fórum to convince them of our vision, so we finalized all the technical standards for TV 3.0 receivers.

[The resulting 900-page standards document, which covers everything from transmission to reception, was sent to the government and the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards (ABNT), in late November, with publication expected next March and the final stroke of the president’s pen at the beginning of 2025.]

R.B.: This means that, in order to get the tax waivers and incentives the government gives TV set makers for their operations in the rainforest, they need to comply with these standards. In Brazil, TV manufacturers have their facilities in the rainforest area.

The government decided 30 years ago it would improve the economics and somehow preserve the rainforest. The cost to operate in the rainforest is high because of logistics, so the government gives them enough of a tax incentive to make a 32-inch TV in Brazil cost as much as a Google TV dongle [about US$40]. They also need to use a certain number of memory chips manufactured in Brazil, and to comply with TV standards. We expect the same policy will apply to TV 3.0.

Antennas
Our goal was to have the antenna built into the TV set, pretty much like the cellphone. You know how many antennas we have in a device like that? WiFi, Bluetooth, 600 MHz, 700 MHz, 900 MHz, 12.5, 3.5 — more than six antennas. If they can put six antennas in a cellphone, can’t they get the antenna in a huge TV set?

However, in the process of trying to get to alignment on the standard, we also allowed the antenna to come inside the box [with the TV and not within the TV as initially proposed].

Public Awareness
US: As we mentioned above, ATSC 3.0-based TV is available in around 75% of the United States, but there is little public awareness of it.

R.B.: Consumer awareness is a top priority, which is why Brazil has introduced a brand and logo for TV 3.0, known as DTV+. This branding will make it easy for the public to recognize compatible services and devices, helping to drive awareness and adoption.

The DTV+ brand emphasizes the benefits of next-generation broadcasting and solidifies the identity of TV 3.0 as the future of over-the-air television in Brazil, signaling advanced features and an enhanced viewer experience.

Consumer Incentives
US: Given that legacy TVs will not receive TV 3.0, what will be the most compelling features to get people to buy a new TV set?

R.B.: Personalization. Our vision for TV 3.0 is to provide a deeply personalized experience that adapts to each viewer’s preferences, creating a viewing experience that is engaging and uniquely tailored, whether that means ultra-high-definition video, immersive audio, interactive social TV, or customized ads and content.

This level of experience management—where the entire viewing journey is managed and customized—represents a true evolution for Brazilian TV. TV 3.0 will bring together the ease of broadcast and the versatility of digital, creating a cohesive, personalized ecosystem that elevates television viewing beyond what traditional and streaming services offer today.

Regulatory
US: The U.S. government has taken an indirect approach to IP-based OTA TV via ATSC 3.0. Brazil’s has been more proactive.

R.B.: I think the government here supports broadcasters and this process because everywhere in the world, the media is dominated by big tech. The only relevant media platform that is truly Brazilian, is broadcast — radios and TV. Those companies, by law, need to be controlled by Brazilians; native Brazilians. Which means, if broadcasters vanish from this ecosystem, those local governments will have to deal with big tech, and you have heard what happened with X in Brazil.

In Brazil, free television is considered a public service. We have access to the spectrum, but on the other hand, we have a lot of obligations in order to operate.

US: As of the end of November, there remains one more presidential decree necessary for deployment, correct?

R.B.: Yes. This is expected by the end of this year or by the beginning of 2025, and is a fundamental milestone in this developing process. This decree is anticipated to cover crucial aspects such as the prominence of over-the-air television in receiver interfaces, ensuring that broadcast content is easily accessible and prioritized on devices, as well as the rules for simulcast periods.

While we await these guidelines, it is important to note that the regulatory framework will define the conditions broadcasters must meet, though the exact requirements are not yet confirmed. The ruling is expected soon, which will allow broadcasters like Globo to adjust their deployment strategies accordingly and ensure compliance.

TIMING

Motivation
US: What’s driving your timeline?

R.B.: We need to build a digital relationship with consumers while we still have the majority of viewership. Free-to-air is the mainstream media platform in Brazil. Almost 60% of media consumption time in the home is free-to-air television.

When you look at traditional DTV, it was only the physical layer we made digital. The relationship we’ve had with each customer is pretty much the same as it was in the ’50s. TV 3.0 is digitizing the relationship with customers and the advertising market — and of course we’re going to provide 4K, HDR, immersive sound and interactive applications.

It is a bold decision with great opportunities to move into the TV 3.0 ecosystem, but it is also a defensive move. Money is already moving from traditional advertising products to digital ones. Eventually, we won’t have enough revenue to keep sports rights, high-end quality production, etc., and then broadcast will decline in Brazil.

Target
US: A transition to a non-backward-compatible system will be disruptive. Brazilian broadcasters have nonetheless elected to adopt ATSC 3.0 and deploy it in time for the 2026 World Cup in 18 months.

R.B.: Adopting ATSC 3.0 as our physical layer represents a strategic choice to unlock the full potential of next-generation broadcasting. While this transition is indeed non-backward-compatible, we see it as a necessary step to achieve significant, long-term benefits for viewers.

(Read also: Three Reasons Why Brazil’s TV 3.0 Decision Matters Here)

In recent years, Brazil has explored incremental improvements through TV 2.5, which added enhanced interactivity and functionality while building on our existing infrastructure. However, with TV 3.0, we are targeting a more transformative approach that will bring viewers substantial gains in quality, interactivity, and service flexibility.

The timing aligns with the 2026 World Cup, a high-profile event that allows us to showcase this technology on the world stage. Deploying ATSC 3.0 in time for the event positions Brazil as a leader in broadcast innovation, offering a world-class viewing experience that combines cutting-edge technology with the rich interactivity our audiences expect.

This shift demonstrates our commitment to future-proofing Brazil’s broadcasting infrastructure and elevating the experience for viewers nationwide.

CONSUMER-FACING PLATFORM

World Cup
US:. Globo TV demonstrated some of the capabilities of ATSC 3.0 in a live broadcast from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar using its ISDB-T-based TV 2.5 architecture, including real-time multistandard compression, simultaneous 1080i and 1080p, and a live social channel. What did you learn and what’s new for 2026?

R.B.: The 2022 World Cup experimental broadcast taught us valuable lessons in delivering seamless, high-quality content while managing real-time data and interactivity. These experiments underscored the potential of ATSC 3.0 to enhance the viewer experience by providing multiple resolutions and integrating interactive social channels.

For 2026, we plan to build on these capabilities, potentially introducing features like targeted advertising, expanded data services, and further options for audience interaction that align with Brazil’s interactive DTV Play ecosystem.

US: The 2026 World cup, the first in North America since 1994, will be hosted in 16 cities across Canada, the United States and Mexico. What has to be deployed on the production side to provide the enhanced features of TV 3.0?

R.B.: In terms of high-quality video production and the need to cover multiple venues, I don’t think we will have much additional complexity compared to the World Cup 2002 when Korea and Japan shared it. It’s going to be a huge one, but today, technology makes the production side of this process easy.

The point here is, what other experiences would we like to offer consumers based on 3.0 technology? Do you want to have a male or female narrator, or no narrator at all? Do you want to manage sound objects? Do you want more crowd noise or do you want to hear the ball kicked? Giving consumers the ability to play with sound objects is part of the standard.

It will present us with complexity in terms of production, because I won’t be able to just take the 5.1 mix coming from the host broadcaster. I need to take the sound groups, so I will be able to pass those sound objects to the consumer.

We are also going to integrate one-click sport betting, now approved in Brazil. We are going to provide T-commerce, so you can buy the jerseys of all the teams in partnership with the marketplace here in Brazil. There are many new features that will enhance the total experience of the World Cup.

Dynamic Ad Insertion
US: You mentioned the DTV Play ecosystem, the interactivity middleware developed by the Fórum and deployed by the government in 2020 with a goal of integration in 90% of LCDs produced in 2023. What is the penetration of DTV Play?

R.B: DTV Play is what we’ve called “TV 2.5,” which is our current standard with some enhancements. We have around 30 million TV sets with DTV Play middleware. That middleware is capable of supplying a fully interactive experience, which means we do have several shows every day that have interactivity, pretty much like the NBC Lounge during the Olympics.

We have applications on soccer games for choosing the most valuable player. You can vote on reality shows, or get statistics on the game or the player and, on top of that, we are also using DTV Play for dynamic ad insertion.

We have free-to-air dynamic ad insertion in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. So if a DTV set with DTV Play middleware is connected to an antenna and the internet; and if this set has what we call a “Globo ID,”— our identification manager, which almost every Brazilian connected to the internet already has — by identifying the viewer, it is possible to target content and advertising according to their profile and preferences.

During the regular broadcast break, we have the traditional advertising and then I have one slot in each break that I can replace with targeted advertising that comes from the internet, to that specific household. Next year, we are scaling up in other major cities. Free-to-air dynamic ad insertion will be available almost on a nationwide basis with the new DTV Play.

US: How is the market responding?

R.B.: Quite well. Dynamic ad insertion is growing by two digits, year after year. We launched two years ago on the streaming product, Globoplay, and then launched it last year over-the-air as well. It’s available for each of our 120 stations as well. So now, when the advertiser signs a contract with Globo for addressable advertising, we reach their objectives, but they really don’t care if it’s on Globoplay or TV Globo over-the-air. The programming is the same.

Content Delivery
US: You talked about this sort of platform fluidity with regard to the way Globo thinks about content delivery.

R.B.: We have to stop thinking about TV Globo going through the broadcast channel. We have to think about the content consumers are demanding most at that time, and that content will be distributed over the broadcast CDN.

Globo has two content delivery networks (CDNs). One is the broadcasting CDN and the other is the UDP CDN. Our content will be distributed over the CDN that is more suitable, depending on consumer behavior. That’s the vision we are incorporating into TV 3.0 here.

Think about the middle of the night in Brazil, during sports gaming happening in Asia at three in the afternoon. Our free-to-air TV doesn’t have rights for that, but our streaming service does. I’m going to have maybe millions of people watching that, so why not have that game at 3 a.m. going through the broadcast CDN?

It’s going to be more cost-effective to have this content distributed over the broadcast CDN, and from a consumer point of view, it doesn’t matter. The TV set’s going to be connected to both CDNs at the same time, and the underlying middleware will take care of where it comes from. The consumer doesn’t have to take any action.

US: The broadcast CDN concept hasn’t taken hold in the U.S. Meanwhile, the Mike Tyson - Jake Paul boxing match streamed on Netflix in November fell apart for millions of people.

R.B.: In Brazil, the maximum number of devices connected to the internet to simultaneously watch a live event was 5 million during the pandemic. I have the third largest UDP CDN in Brazil, after YouTube and Netflix. Globoplay is our streaming platform. We have around 25 million unique users. If I take the full capacity of my UDP CDN, which is 15 Tbps, and, given the 3 mbps picture quality, I can’t go out to 5 million people watching at the same time, and 5 million people is nothing compared to the free-to-air ratings in Brazil.

Datacasting
US: Is there a pure data market in Brazil? There’s interest in automotive software downloading in the U.S. market. Is this an opportunity in Brazil?

R.B.: The business model is still under evaluation. Brazilian broadcasters are keen to explore datacasting as a new potential revenue stream, enabling the delivery of various types of content and services—such as software updates, educational content, and emergency alerts—over the existing broadcast network.

Within Globo, the potential for datacasting is being carefully studied to ensure that it aligns with market demand and operational feasibility. This model is expected to evolve as testing and validation continue, with broadcasters focused on maximizing the benefits of data transmission.

Ancillary Services
US: What ancillary services does Globo envision with ATSC 3.0?

R.B.: Brazilian public and commercial broadcasters plan to leverage TV 3.0 to offer a range of ancillary services that go beyond traditional broadcasting. These services include advanced emergency alert systems that provide real-time, geo-targeted information with rich media content during critical situations.

Public broadcasters, in particular, aim to deliver public service information, such as health advisories and community updates, fostering stronger community engagement.

And, as already mentioned, similar to the U.S., Brazilian broadcasters are also analyzing the business case for automotive applications, such as real-time traffic updates, weather information, and infotainment options that enrich in-car experiences.

Software Development
US: TV 3.0 opens a green field for software developers. How is Globo engaging and leveraging this community?

R.B.: Drawing from past experience, we recognize the importance of broadcasting applications and enabling interactivity from day one.

The Brazilian government’s pilot station will support this ecosystem by providing a live testing environment where developers and broadcasters can experiment with applications and refine interactive features. To ensure consistency and compatibility across a horizontal market for consumer products, Globo and other industry stakeholders are collaborating with regulatory bodies and development communities to establish operational guidelines and testing suites. These efforts aim to create a seamless consumer experience and minimize compatibility issues across devices.

This approach not only fosters innovation but also guarantees a smooth, reliable user experience as new services are launched. By engaging developers early and providing a stable, standardized platform, Brazilian broadcasters are laying the foundation for a robust ecosystem that will drive the growth of ATSC 3.0 applications throughout Brazil.

ROLLOUT
Deployment

US: Globo has five owned-and-operated stations plus 115 affiliates. Is the intent to have them all broadcasting TV 3.0 by 2026?

R.B.: The deployment plan for TV 3.0 is currently in development. During the previous [2007] digital transition, the process took around seven years to complete nationwide. This time, however, we anticipate a more accelerated rollout. Initial deployments are planned for key cities, with either governmental or commercial stations launching in São Paulo, [pop. 22,806,700] Rio de Janeiro, [pop. 13,824,300] and Brasília [pop. 4,935,270]. Once these primary sites are operational, other major cities are expected to follow shortly after, creating a faster and more efficient transition compared to the previous one.

By starting in Brazil’s largest urban centers [covering half or more of Brazil’s TV households] we aim to establish a strong foundation and demonstrate the capabilities of TV 3.0 early on, encouraging adoption across the country and the rapid availability of receivers.

Early deployment in key cities will send a clear signal to manufacturers, thus enabling viewers nationwide to access the benefits of the new standard within a much shorter timeline than previous rollouts.

Spectrum
US: Anatel has until Dec. 31, 2024, to prepare a frequency plan. How many stations are likely to have to change channel assignments? How disruptive will 3.0 deployment be to the TV frequency band?

R.B.: The transition and frequency allocation plan for TV 3.0 in Brazil presents an intricate challenge, given the country’s size and diverse broadcast landscape. Anatel’s immediate task is to assess the available frequency range and determine technical parameters, such as the required field strength, to support the rollout of ATSC 3.0.

A comprehensive national allotment plan will take several more years to develop, gradually addressing regions from larger to smaller cities and enabling a phased rollout of the new standard. Initially, however, many retransmission [translator] stations will adopt a spectrum-sharing approach similar to the “lighthouse” model used by American broadcasters, as promoted by Pearl TV. In this model, broadcasters share transmission resources on a single channel, allowing both TV 3.0 and current broadcasts to coexist temporarily within the same spectrum.

While channel reassignment will be necessary for some stations, Anatel’s spectrum-sharing framework is expected to help streamline the process, reducing disruptions and maintaining service continuity for viewers.

Following the standard publication, Anatel will start the spectrum allotment plan. We have talked with Anatel about starting with the same process done in the analog-to-digital transition, considering there is now an even greater spectrum dispute in the UHF band. When we launched digital television, every broadcaster got a second channel to start simulcasting, but this will be more challenging since we don’t have enough channels on traditional VHF and UHF bands to accommodate one-to-one simulcast in the transition period.

Repacking
Anatel is considering granting additional spectrum at the 250 MHz to 350 MHz to broadcast TV 3.0. This frequency range is heavily used and needs further interference evaluation and repacking. It is anticipated that up to 14 channels might be released in the near term.

Naturally, this is not enough to allow for simulcast of all the available DTV channels, therefore we expect full-power TV stations to get a second channel; but the retransmitters may need to be in a spectrum-sharing arrangement.

Backchannel
US: A so-called “backchannel” — a signal return path — is necessary for interactivity. ATSC 3.0 relies on other carriers for its return path. What will TV 3.0 use for a backchannel?

R.B.: Brazil has about 100 million TV sets with about 66 million of those connected to the internet. By capitalizing on existing broadband networks, broadcasters can implement return-path functionalities efficiently, offering services like on-demand content, targeted advertising, and enhanced interactivity. This integration strategy aligns with Brazil’s goal of maximizing accessibility and simplicity while delivering the full potential of interactive applications.

This approach makes interactive and personalized features accessible to a broader audience without requiring additional equipment or complicated setups.

US: We’ve learned from you that Brazil has 8,000 ISPs, so how does this work?

R.B.: We don’t need a lot of bandwidth for those applications. There is no high bit rate going through the backchannel.

For many years, ISPs were a business only for the big telcos, but they weren’t going to lay fiber in medium and small cities, so those cities started ISP businesses—that’s why broadband access in Brazil exploded. Those guys can have a very lean business, so they don’t charge much to consumers. They typically offer broadband with pay TV as a bundle, and also pay TV only with streaming. Globo TV has many agreements with those small ISPs. They bundle Globoplay with broadband and data, which is good for us and good for them as well.

FUTURE

North America
US: At the 2024 Set Expo in São Paulo, you said that ATSC 3.0 has the potential to be a standard for all of the Americas from “Alaska to Patagonia.” What other advantages do you see in this besides cheaper and more ubiquitous devices?

R.B.: By aligning the entire region under a single standard, we would create consistency in technology, reduce fragmentation, and enhance the overall consumer experience, which is extremely valuable in the current media environment.

Beyond cost efficiencies, a unified standard would foster regional content exchange, simplify regulatory processes, and open up cross-border opportunities. It would also facilitate regional partnerships in content and technology development, creating a collaborative ecosystem for the Americas.

Broadcasters in Brazil are working closely with government agencies and consumer electronics companies to ensure a smooth shift to TV 3.0 and a strong transition plan that sets an example for the region.

US: Are there any discussions with the TV technology standards community in Mexico?

R.B.: We have not yet engaged in official discussions with Mexico or other countries in the region about ATSC 3.0, due to the fact that Brazil has not yet issued its final decree. However, Brazil has been actively sharing updates and test results with regional organizations such as CITEL, ensuring that countries in the region are aware of our progress.

This ongoing exchange of information helps lay the groundwork for regional cooperation, which will be crucial if ATSC 3.0 is widely adopted across the Americas. Establishing this collaborative spirit is essential for ensuring a smooth transition and maximizing the benefits for all countries involved.

5G & ISDB-T
US: Why did ATSC 3.0 ultimately win out over alternative formats such as Brazil’s legacy digital broadcast standard, ISDB-T, developed with Japan and adopted there and across South America; and 5G?

R.B.: ATSC 3.0 was selected due to a combination of technical strengths, flexibility, and proven readiness. Its high data throughput allows for ultra-high-definition video and immersive audio, while its robust transmission capabilities ensure consistent performance in varied geographic and environmental conditions—a vital consideration for Brazil’s diverse terrain. ATSC 3.0 also stood out for its strong performance in lab and field tests conducted under the SBTVD Forum’s guidance, which confirmed its readiness and suitability for deployment.

Emissions
US: Globo takes environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting seriously. In Globo’s 2023 ESG report, there’s no reference to energy consumed by TV/data transmission. Was there a component of efficiency in selecting ATSC 3.0?

R.B.: We have invested a lot in clean energy in Rio de Janeiro. We received an award last year from IBC for the best ESG in media.

However, in the beginning of discussions about ATSC 3.0, we didn’t talk about it being more green. After I got a report from Europe where they compare the carbon footprint of 10 million people watching content over the internet versus over terrestrial broadcast [which is 10x more energy efficient and 10x less CO2 emissive], we started making part of our argument that broadcasting’s relevance in the media ecosystem is that it’s greener than streaming. Anytime you have millions of people watching the same content, it doesn’t make sense to distribute it over traditional UDP CDN.

Five Years Out
US: What does broadcast television in Brazil look like in five years?

R.B.: In five years, Brazilian broadcast will be highly interactive, with a mix of live broadcasts, on-demand content, and personalized services. Viewers will enjoy higher-quality audio and video, while broadcasters leverage data services for targeted advertising and new forms of engagement.

The viewer will no longer need to think about whether content is delivered through over-the-air broadcast or internet streaming, as both will be integrated into a single, fluid experience. TV 3.0 will also leverage real-time data and census-based measurement, offering broadcasters deep insights into audience preferences and viewing patterns. This data will empower them to serve localized content, enhancing engagement by delivering programs that resonate with specific regions and communities.

Overall, Brazilian broadcast television will evolve into a high-quality media and a highly interactive and personalized ecosystem that rivals the capabilities of current streaming platforms while maintaining the key attribute of a free-to-air distribution. The holistic, data-driven, and flexible nature of TV 3.0 will ensure that broadcast television remains relevant, competitive, and compelling in the digital media landscape.

Article sponsored by One Media, dedicated to deploying NextGen Broadcasting across the U.S.

Being granted coverage rights for the Olympics brings an array of benefits to a channel. The guaranteed interest from audiences, combined with the expanded possibilities with video content, provide an opportunity to create audience loyalty. Not to mention, it means little to no competition: In most countries, a couple of broadcasters are given the rights, in some only one.

For Paris 2024, the channels that shared the rights in Brazil were a surprising choice and yielded surprising results. TV Globo, the mega-conglomerate and leader in audience retention for the past 60 years, covered the Olympics through its SporTV channels—and so did CazéTV, created by streamer Casimiro Miguel with LiveMode in 2022.

It's no secret that Brazil is a leader in the creator economy. In fact, Brazil holds a 45% percent share of the near-$1 billion generated in the Latin American and Caribbean influencer-marketing market last year. Exemplified by the growth of CazéTV, gone are the days where we associated YouTuber tech with a simple digital vlogging camera. Now, it’s more like a TV channel itself but without network restrictions.

How To Account for CazéTV’s Rapid Success?
What the hosts of CazéTV propose to audiences is entirely different in tone than traditional broadcasters. While Brazilians are generally well-humored, informality and comedy are embedded into the CazéTV universe—similar in tone to “The Daily Show,” but a step further in informality. Presenters and guests dress in jeans and a T-shirt, with international correspondents wearing affable CazéTV branded merch.

The choice of guests and correspondents proves that for CazéTV, charisma comes first. From comedians to ex-professional sportsmen to a recognized journalist with an impressive background working for Globo, a variety of Brazilian personalities drive the live entertainment for the channel.

CazéTV is also, to some degree, growing in accessibility. According to UNESCO, the percentage of Brazilian households with access to the internet increased from 40% in 2020 to over 70% in 2022. It’s also important to note that the streamer’s content, which now holds over 16 million subscribers on YouTube, isn’t held behind a paywall.

Essentially, if you have an internet connection and you’re in Brazil, you can watch CazéTV in your preferred device.

Personability Is Profitable, But Also Brings Uncertainty
Human stories bring life to sports and emotions are central to the fan experience. This is what is captivating about CazéTV: Its coverage is humorous, its celebrations expansive.

However, putting humor at the forefront brings its own set of challenges. Trusting that all guests and correspondents will know how to read the room when trying to make a joke is always a bet, and a slip-up can have negative repercussions for the channel. We know that’s part of the reason why media groups like Globo bring seriousness to their coverage: not just to convey respectability, but also because trying to be funny can bring the wrong kind of attention.

While creators make bets in their choices for tone, the visual presentation is non-negotiable. With the technology possibilities of today, viewers of all ages expect quality when watching a program—whether they’re tuning in from their phone, tablet, computer or TV.

A professional studio, sound and image quality, lighting and professional switching are all treated as a “given,” and this is where CazéTV resembles a regular television program the most. You can see the incredible job the production team does on every live stream and the care put into the studio, as well as video and audio quality.

Without taking themselves too seriously, the CazéTV team means serious business.

Leveraging the Digital Connection
By now, it’s well-known that digital platforms are incredibly effective in reaching younger audiences. According to LiveMode, 82% of CazéTV’s audience is under 44 years old, and its engagement with its audience goes beyond just watching the content.

During the live streams, Casimiro encouraged his audience to follow the Brazilian athletes they were discussing on social media, sharing their account names and celebrating follower growth milestones. Notably, judo gold medal winner Bia Souza went from 13,000 followers to now just over 3 million—expanding the athlete’s reach not only brings attention to the sport, but is undoubtedly valuable currency for the athlete to score sponsorship deals. It’s a massive influence in bringing diversified value to the sports market.

Although, while I’m comparing CazéTV and TV Globo because both shared access to Olympic coverage in Brazil, it’s not realistic to think of them as direct competitors. That would be silly: CazéTV had half a million viewers tune in for the Olympics opening ceremony, while Globo had 36.4 million viewers. When it comes to raw audience numbers, there is no competition.

But that doesn’t mean the power of content creators can be ignored, either.

What Is the Future of Live TV?
The answer is everything. Viewers with an internet connection are spoiled for choice. The space on the internet is also endless, whereas with television there are specific slots, with some being primetime and others predictably less busy.

This “space” means there is a place for all kinds of content to flourish. We’re seeing young content creators break the mold in some respects and uphold tradition in others. While CazéTV finds a home for humor in tone and attitude, it also still invests heavily in the quality of its production.

In the end, regardless of the size of the broadcast, quality and authenticity wins.

The decision of Brazil’s SBTVD Forum in July to recommend the ATSC 3.0 physical layer was trumpeted by ATSC as a major achievement—an understandable large feather in the cap for the organization that began work on the NextGen TV standard more than a decade ago.

But what does the accomplishment mean to U.S. broadcasters grappling with the myriad of challenges the voluntary transition to 3.0 has created? In other words, why does the SBTVD Forum’s decision matter to us?

I put that question to ATSC president Madeleine Noland and Skip Pizzi, chair of ATSC’s Brazil Implementation Team, recently. Noland enumerated three reasons. Pizzi agreed and offered a few more details.

First, the recommendation comes after the SBTVD Forum conducted “rigorous testing,” in Noland’s words. The Forum’s decision to recommend ATSC 3.0 over all other OTA broadcast physical layers —including the newer Advanced ISDB-T—should instill confidence in U.S. broadcasters. “If you are wondering whether you are using the very best standard in the world, you are,” she said.

Second, strength in numbers: There are 71.5 million TV households in Brazil where OTA TV is big—as many as 85% have a TV that receives broadcasts off air. “The majority watch over-the-air TV as their primary source of television—from 65% to 75% of people,” said Noland.

Those sorts of numbers give chip vendors, set-top box makers and TV manufacturers a big reason to support ATSC 3.0. The greater the market size and product runs, the greater the economies of scale—meaning U.S. consumers will have lower-cost NextGen TV products, and U.S. broadcasters bigger NextGen TV audiences, she said.

Third, Brazilian broadcasters have a head start on their U.S. counterparts when it comes to interactivity, mobile apps and advanced advertising thanks to their experience with the country’s TV 2.5 standard. However, they are not well-versed in datacasting. That sets up a future in which the two can help each other as Brazil deploys TV 3.0 and the U.S. grows its ATSC 3.0 presence.

“There’s going to be a very rich two-way street of information and business development between Brazilian broadcasters and U.S. broadcasters,” said Noland.

Pizzi, who spearheaded the ATSC efforts in Brazil, pointed out that unlike the U.S., Brazil currently only authorizes its educational broadcasters to transmit more than one service per 6MHz channel assignment.

“We think the regulators there may change these rules for TV 3.0, allowing all Brazilian TV broadcasters to provide both multicasting and datacasting for the first time,” he said.

After the interview, I came up with a fourth—but I will be the first to admit it may be wishful thinking.

My reason: Regulatory embarrassment. How embarrassing would it be here if regulators in Brazil take steps, such as modifying the nation’s multicasting and datacasting rule, to make TV 3.0 successful, while U.S. broadcasters continue to wait—more than a year at this point—for the public-private effort to bear fruit in removing obstacles to an ATSC 1.0 shutoff.

Add to that the Broadcast Positioning System (BPS). There’s “great interest” among Brazilian broadcasters and regulators in deploying BPS as a possible ancillary TV 3.0 application, said Pizzi.

How embarrassing will it be if Brazil beats the U.S. to the punch with BPS as a crucial complement/back-up for the Global Positioning System (GPS), especially given the national security and economic implications if there were a loss of accurate time and location data?

Phil Kurz is the Contributing Editor for TV Tech.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The SBTVD Forum, the non-profit organization that advises the Brazilian government on digital television and policy matters, is recommending the selection of the ATSC 3.0 physical layer as the over-the-air transmission system for the nation’s TV 3.0 next-generation terrestrial broadcast service, ATSC said today.

“We are deeply gratified by the SBTVD Forum’s recommendation of the ATSC 3.0 physical layer for over-the-air broadcasting,” said ATSC president Madeleine Noland.  “ATSC is also excited about the opportunity to work with the Forum and Brazilian stakeholders in fully documenting, developing and deploying TV 3.0 in Brazil.”

The recommendation follows extensive field testing conducted by the forum between December 2023 and May of two candidate technologies under consideration for TV 3.0’s physical layer. After a thorough evaluation, which considered all data collected since the beginning of the project in 2020, the Technical, Market and Intellectual Property Modules of the SBTVD Forum unanimously decided to recommend the ATSC 3.0 physical layer to the Ministry of Communications, ATSC said.

The physical layer joins five other key ATSC 3.0 technologies already selected by the SBTVD Forum as recommendations for mandatory inclusion in the TV 3.0 system, including: ROUTE/DASH transport; MPEG-H audio; IMSC1 captions; HDR10 High Dynamic Range with optional dynamic HDR metadata based on SMPTE ST 2094-10 and SMPTE ST 2094-40; and ATSC 3.0 Advance Emergency Alerting, it said.

Other ATSC technologies selected for only the TV 3.0 broadband component include:

• H.265/HEVC Video Base Layer Encoding
• HLG High Dynamic Range Video (optional)
• SL-HDR1 High Dynamic Range Video (optional)
• AC-4 Audio (optional)

The physical layer recommendation is the final technology component in the TV 3.0 Project’s selection process that began in July 2020 with a Call for Proposals. 

“The recommendations of technologies for TV 3.0 are the result of four years of exemplary work by the SBTVD Forum in soliciting, evaluating and carefully selecting components for TV 3.0,” said Skip Pizzi, chair of ATSC’s Brazil Implementation Team.

“We’re proud to see so many elements of ATSC 3.0—in the physical, transport and content layers—chosen to become part of Brazil’s next-gen broadcast TV standard, and we anticipate that the TV 3.0 decisions might ultimately have regional impact beyond Brazil.”

The SBTVD Forum (Fórum do Sistema Brasileiro de TV Digital Terrestre) is composed of private and public companies that include broadcasters, manufacturers, software developers and members from academia. It makes recommendations to the Brazilian Ministry of Communications on DTV technology and policy. 

“We have valued the opportunity to share experiences and exchange ideas with our colleagues in Brazil throughout this four-year selection process,” said Noland. “We have learned a great deal and are looking forward to continued collaboration. And we are gearing up to showcase ATSC 3.0 at the annual SET Expo broadcast trade show in São Paulo beginning Aug. 20.”

More information is available on the ATSC website.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Fórum Sistema Brasileiro TV Digital Terrestre (SBTVD Forum) has chosen the ATSC 3.0 physical layer as one of two finalists in its evaluation of technologies for the over-the-air component of Brazil’s TV 3.0 broadcast standard, the Advanced Television Systems Committee said today. 

Phase 3 lab testing has concluded and will now move into field testing. The SBTVD Forum is expected to make a recommendation on the OTA component in early 2024, it said.

Other ATSC 3.0 components already selected for the TV 3.0 standard include ROUTE/DASH transport, MPEG-H Audio, IMSC1 captioning and Advanced Emergency Messaging.  

ATSC began working with the SBTVD Forum in 2020 at the inception of the evaluation process. Recently, the committee learned that ATSC 3.0 performed well in relevant basic tests and in advanced configurations like Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) transmission with channel bonding and Layered Division Multiplexing (LDM), it said.

Phase 3 lab testing demonstrated the ATSC 3.0 standard with MIMO and LDM achieved best-in-class spectral efficiency, making possible optimal coverage and capacity for both indoor and high-speed mobile outdoor applications, it said.

“ATSC commends the SBTVD Fórum for its solid engineering and careful attention to detail throughout all phases of testing, including this latest round of physical layer lab tests. I am proud of the ATSC Brazil Implementation Team members who have worked hard to support the ATSC 3.0 proposal and to coordinate with the Forum. ATSC looks forward to continuing to work with the Fórum in the forthcoming Phase 3 physical layer field tests,” said ATSC President Madeleine Noland.

More information is available on the ATSC website. 

The interest in ATSC 3.0 in the United States is so strong, that one might assume that it is being reflected in other parts of the world. 

However, the standard has only officially been adopted by Korea, Jamaica and the Republic of Trinidad-Tobago. But as other larger countries including Brazil, Canada and India illustrate, each nation has its own approach to next-generation broadcast TV. (Note: “NextGen TV” is the U.S. brand of ATSC 3.0.)

Brazil Designing Transmission System
Although Brazil has not selected ATSC 3.0 or any other predefined advanced terrestrial TV standard, a group of Brazilian broadcasters, manufacturers and academics called the Fórum do Sistema Brasileiro de TV Digital Terrestre (“SBTVD Forum”) has launched the “TV 3.0” project. This made-in-Brazil, custom-designed, next-generation terrestrial digital TV system uses a hybrid broadcast/wireless broadband delivery approach, which the SBTVD Forum is promoting to the Brazilian federal government for adoption.

“The intention is to design a new state-of-the-art terrestrial TV system that improves upon the current Brazilian DTV system, via a non-backward-compatible transition,” said Skip Pizzi, chair of ATSC’s Brazil Implementation Team. “TV 3.0 is being designed to provide greater OTA robustness and spectrum efficiency, higher audio and video qualities, greater flexibility for broadcasters and more choice for Brazil’s TV consumers, improved accessibility and emergency information features, along with expansion of the current Brazilian TV system’s interactive capabilities.”

This being said, the SBTVD Forum has already recommended using some core elements of ATSC 3.0 in its made-in-Brazil platform. They include ATSC 3.0’s ROUTE/DASH Transport system, its MPEG-H Audio system, IMSC1 Captions system, and the ATSC 3.0 Advanced Emergency Alerting system, along with some elements of ATSC 3.0’s Video-HEVC system. 

“The Forum continues to evaluate proposals for TV 3.0’s OTA Physical Layer and its Application Coding system, for which ATSC 3.0’s proposals remain in the running,” Pizzi added. “ATSC is assisting Brazil in the ongoing development of its TV 3.0 system. Like all proponents to the TV 3.0 process, ATSC has agreed that if any of its proposed technologies were selected by the SBTVD Forum, we would assist in the drafting of the TV 3.0 standard specifications, operational guidelines, and conformance documentation, which we are currently engaged with on the Audio, Video and Captions specifications.”

Pizzi said that an end-to-end demonstration of the complete TV 3.0 system is expected by August 2024 and expected to launch in 2025, “although spectrum allocations for the new service remain TBD,” he added.

The popularity of over-the-air Brazilian TV makes this a worthwhile investment for broadcasters. “It’s essentially the opposite of the U.S. situation, in that Brazil’s OTA TV usage accounts for about 85% of viewing, while pay TV’s penetration is only around 15%,” Pizzi explained. “As well, the overall market size is quite large, at around 70 million TV households and growing, with Brazil’s per-capita TV viewing second only to the U.S. in the Western Hemisphere, and fifth-ranked among all countries in the world.”

Canada: Integrating 3.0 and 5G
To support research into ATSC 3.0 multi-sectoral applications in Canada, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) has awarded a C$4.5 million grant (US$3.34 million) to Humber College to create Canada’s first Broadcast-Broadband Convergence B²C Lab in Toronto. It is headed up by Humber B²C Lab Director Orest Sushko.

“We are a 100% front-facing industry research lab,” said Sushko. “We are able to provide insights through ATSC 3.0 innovations in our lab that can inform and support new provisions in broadcast regulatory policy.”

To pursue its ATSC 3.0 research, the Humber B²C Lab has been equipped with an ATSC 3.0 IP-based broadcast ecosystem and a 5G core network, allowing its personnel to explore convergence of these two data delivery systems. The lab also has an RF anechoic chamber to support the development and testing of a wide range of wireless devices and prototypes.

As well, having been granted the first and only ATSC 3.0 experimental broadcasting license in Canada, the Humber B²C Lab has deployed a custom multiple transmitter/antenna ATSC. 3.0 over-the-air test bed covering the Toronto area.

As for the role of Canadian broadcasters in this process? “They can help advance research using the television spectrum that could be supported by government regulators,” Sushko replied. “This could bring forth new conversations about developing more efficient use of that spectrum through ATSC 3.0.”

“Our broadcasters are very supportive of the research work that we’re undertaking, as they continue to learn more about the standard,” he added. “They’re watching the U.S. rollout and still determining what sort of resources they’re prepared to put into ATSC 3.0.”

South Korea: a True ATSC 3.0 Pioneer
The Republic of Korea (aka South Korea) was the first to launch ATSC 3.0 in 2017 to deliver better video and audio quality to OTA viewers in its largest urban areas, using the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang to promote its 4K capabilities. Today, this country is extending ATSC 3.0 coverage to medium and small cities, according to Dr. Sung-Ik Park, the Republic of Korea’s Project Leader of ATSC 3.0 Physical Layer, for the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), a government-funded research organization.

“Korea is the most advanced country in terms of SFN [single frequency network] design and optimization,” he said. “For example, KBS [Korea Broadcasting System], the largest broadcaster in Korea, constructed a national SFN with more than 20 transmitters and is installing more transmitters for better coverage and field strength. Furthermore, Korea is testing MIMO and Channel Bonding technologies for future applications such as 8K-UHD delivery and multiplex businesses.”

To date, South Korea’s interest in ATSC 3.0 has been for broadcasting 4K-UHD video and enhanced audio. However, “ATSC 3.0 is a toolbox that can do more than just TV,” said Dr. Park. “Korea primarily focuses on UHD broadcasting but has prepared several new services such as high-quality mobile for D2M (direct-to-mobile) and D2V (direct-to-vehicle), enhanced GPS for centimeter-level accuracy, high-quality audio-only service, targeted advertisement, emergency alert, and others.”

(Read also: ATSC Seeks to Converge Global DTT Standards)

At present, the popularity of South Korean OTA TV is being undercut by Netflix and other streaming platforms. “However, OTA will be stronger than now due to the several new ATSC 3.0 services mentioned above,” Dr. Park said. “In particular, datacasting services like emergency alerts and enhanced GPS will be killer applications for terrestrial broadcasters.”

Meanwhile, government and industry support for ATSC 3.0 is strong in this country. “Korea commercially started UHD broadcasting in 2017 thanks to a great effort from broadcasters, industries, academics, and the government,” explained Dr. Park. “Due to this effort, major TV manufacturers support the ATSC 3.0 function in their models. Korean broadcasters plan to install ATSC 3.0 in all major cities by 2023 and cover the whole territories of South Korea, including medium/small cities, by 2027.”

India Focuses on d2m
The world’s most populous country has also been considering ATSC 3.0 as its next generation terrestrial television standard. In 2021, the ATSC signed an agreement with the Telecommunications Standards Development Society, India (TSDSI)—the government agency responsible for developing telecommunications standards in the country—to transpose ATSC 3.0 as a possible next generation broadcast standard. That work is now complete.

Mark Aitken, senior vice president of advanced technology with Sinclair Broadcast Group—which has been working with broadcasters in that country to build an SFN for ATSC 3.0 trials in Bangalore—says that rather than adopt the standard as a whole for TV, the country is considering certain aspects of ATSC 3.0—in particular its mobility elements—in a “direct to mobile” (D2M) strategy. 

“The ministry in broadcasting [MIB] has explicitly asked for proposals to build out direct to mobile infrastructure,” he said. “So there’s activity underway with both private and government parties working together to figure out building out marketplaces with direct to mobile [services].”

In a country where only 2% of the population watches television over-the-air, using broadcast to transmit to mobile devices could go a long way towards closing the digital gap, Aitken said. He added that more than 800 million people in India don’t have access to high-speed broadband, and yet the country is the largest per capita consumer of digital video services on mobile devices in the world, “by a fairly large margin.”

Aitken says the Indian Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC), the government agency responsible for approving telecommunications standards in India, is expected to make a decision on whether to make 3.0 the D2M standard by the end of the year. 

If TEC gives its approval, it’s very likely that the government could mandate support for 3.0 chipsets in mobile devices sold in India, giving ATSC 3.0 an enormous boost (and argument for) adding support for 3.0-enabled mobile devices in other parts of the world. 

LONDON—Globo, Brazil’s largest broadcaster, recently collaborated with V-Nova, a developer of video compression solutions, to test the delivery of an LCEVC-enhanced stream for the 2023 Carnival in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The live stream was set up alongside the existing AVC/H.264 feed to demonstrate the benefits of MPEG-5 LCEVC in live streaming applications, where it is paramount to obtain maximum quality within the real-time constraints, especially on detailed and complex content such as that of the Brazilian Carnival parades. 

LCEVC (Low Complexity Enhancement Video Coding) is a new MPEG standard that can boost the compression efficiency of any existing or future video codec, enabling higher quality at up to 40% lower bitrates.

The streaming trial featured a MainConcept LCEVC-enhanced H.264 live encoder creating a ladder of 6 profiles peaking at 1080p29.97 @ 4500kbps. This was compared to the  incumbent AVC/H.264-only channel of 8 profiles, where the top profile was 1080p29.97 @ 5500kbps. The streaming employed HLS in 6 second TS segments and delivered via AWS CloudFront. Playback was available on a demonstration website using Shaka Player v4.3  which natively includes an LCEVC decoding option. 

The LCEVC-enhanced H.264 produced a higher quality output with a ~40% bandwidth saving compared to the existing H.264-only stream. V-Nova says this significant reduction promises to make large-scale streaming events accessible to millions on congested networks while simultaneously reducing delivery costs for the video service provider.  The trial was carried out live, delivering content across the world using LCEVC-enabled encoding and player solutions that are already available on the market.  

 “The Carnival is as beautiful to watch as it is challenging to compress at high quality," said Guido Meardi, CEO of V-Nova. "We are proud of our collaboration with Globo, which proves the tangible benefits of LCEVC for enhancing resolution and picture quality in large-scale live events while improving efficiency in both the CDN and backend. Critically, these real-life trials demonstrate that this new technology can be deployed today with broad encoder and decoder support available.” 

Deacon Johnson, SVP & General Manager at MainConcept said, “We are pleased to continue the work we started in 2022 with V-Nova and Globo. MainConcept values our partnerships with industry leaders, such as V-Nova and Globo, who share our commitment to the quality, reliability, and performance we demand in our products.”    

LCEVC is the selected enhancement layer for the upcoming TV 3.0 system in Brazil. Globo and V-Nova already successfully showcased the use of live LCEVC-enhanced  video during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, proving its effectiveness in a complex broadcast scenario. The 2023 Carnival streaming can be watched here: https://lcevc.globo-carnival.tv/ 

MUNICH, Germany—Brazilian IT media services company, MDotti Tecnologia, has chosen Cinegy Capture PRO for a major upgrade it has delivered to Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão (SBT), Brazil’s second largest broadcaster.

The companies reported that the broadcaster has adopted a flexible rental model to rent licenses to support 16 channels of ingest, with an additional two channels dedicated to its podcasts and gaming services. SBT is also planning to further expand its ingest capability to support 24 channels to meet growing demand for new and existing content services. 

“For our customers, working with Cinegy makes a lot of sense. The technical specifications tick their boxes, and the system is fast and hardware agnostic, giving customers greater flexibility,” commented Lucas Maia, head of sales at MDotti Tecnologia. “The support that the Cinegy team provides is also second to none, so we can recommend their solutions to even the most high-profile customers and have full confidence of meeting their expectations.” 

Cinegy Capture PRO, allows operators to work with a rich client interface running anywhere on the network, and simultaneously generate all versions needed for archive, editing and remote working, the company reported. 

The system integrates seamlessly with SBT’s existing production environment and delivers cost-effective, centralized ingest. Operating as a completely independent ingest tool, Cinegy Capture PRO can be used as an application by any user on the network – thanks to the simple yet powerful cross-platform control client – and runs on standard computer hardware.  

The project is a continuation of a longstanding partnership between Cinegy and MDotti. The latter has been Cinegy’s primary distributor in Brazil since 2019, delivering system design and installation for some of the region’s biggest names in media and entertainment. 

“In today’s highly competitive market, fast turnaround of content as efficiently as possible is critical and customers also need to find ways to achieve more with fewer resources. This is the challenge that we have built solutions such as Cinegy Capture PRO to address,” commented Daniella Weigner, managing director of Cinegy GmbH. “Latin America is a key growth market for us and one where the demand for content continues to surge, so we are delighted to have secured this project along with MDotti and extend our longstanding relationship with them.” 

WASHINGTON—The non-profit organization charged with next-generation digital television deployment in Brazil has recommended to the Brazilian government that it choose several ATSC 3.0 technologies for Brazil’s TV 3.0 Project, which is scheduled for a 2024 launch, the Advanced Television Systems Committee announced this week.

“ATSC commends SBTVD Forum [Fórum Sistema Brasileiro TV Digital Terrestre] for its very well-organized process of developing Brazil’s TV 3.0 system,” said ATSC president Madeleine Noland.

“Over the past decade, ATSC members developed the ATSC 3.0 system, and I am extremely proud that after rigorous testing and evaluation in Brazil, many elements of ATSC’s state-of-the-art terrestrial broadcast system have been selected. ATSC is ready to support SBTVD Forum as it applies these technologies to Brazil’s unique needs,” she said.

The SBTVD Forum is made up of private and public companies. It is responsible for making recommendations to the Brazilian Ministry of Communications for technologies to include in the TV 3.0 Project, its name for the nation’s next-gen OTA broadcast and OTT broadband service.

The forum has selected five ATSC 3.0 technologies, including: ROUTE/DASH transport; MPEG-H Audio; IMSC1 captions; HDR10 Video High Dynamic Range EOTF (with optional dynamic HDR metadata based on SMPTE ST 2094-10 and SMPTE ST 2094-40); and ATSC Advanced Emergency Alerting. Additional testing will continue for two years, ATSC said.

Other ATSC 3.0 technologies were chosen specifically for the TV 3.0 broadband component, including: H.265/HEVC Video Base Layer encoding; HLG Video High Dynamic Range EOTF (optional); SL-HDR1 High Dynamic Range delivery (optional); and AC-4 Audio (optional).

Noland recognized the work of the ATSC IT-4 Brazil Implementation Team, a collaborative effort by 15 ATSC member companies and others, which is led by Skip Pizzi. “IT-4 members have been diligently supporting ATSC technologies throughout the process and will continue their efforts in the upcoming phases of the SBTVD evaluation process,” she said.

Upon learning of the recommendation, Pizzi said, “…[W]e are thrilled by the SBTVD Forum’s decision to adopt so many ATSC-proposed technologies.

“We congratulate the Forum on its progress and look forward to our continuing collaboration in the next phase of TV 3.0 development.”

A complete description of the TV 3.0 Project is available online. It includes the recommendation that testing and evaluation will continue in 2022-23 on the over-the-air Physical Layer and portions of the Application Coding (i.e., interactive) elements of the TV 3.0 system. ATSC’s proposals for ATSC 3.0 Physical Layer and ATSC 3.0 Interactive Content systems remain among those to be further evaluated, ATSC said.

MUNICH—5G broadcast technology got a test run in Brazil during September’s Rock in Rio festival, organized by the Grupo Globo TV network and Rohde & Schwarz.

The Rock in Rio festival was broadcasted in an experimental UHF channel using 5G broadcast technology, with Rohde & Schwarz providing its R&S TMU9evo transmitter and R&S BSCC network component to aid in the field trial.

This project was similar to the 5G Today trial that has been going on in Bavaria, Germany, since December 2018, also supported by Rohde & Schwarz. The goal was to validate the operability and market opportunities for 5G broadcast technology in Brazil and worldwide.