COLUMBIA, Md.—LTN has announced several innovations aimed at helping U.S. local television broadcasters extend their reach, enhance efficiency and create new monetization opportunities via its purpose-built IP video network.

“Broadcast stations can massively grow the value of their local content if they move quickly and operate across every available platform,” said Rick Young, senior vice president and head of global products at LTN.

“Our new capabilities are built into our global network, allowing us to give local broadcasters the speed, simplicity and shortest path to ROI [return on investment] when launching streaming experiences, expand their footprint to MVPD, vMVPD, and OTT partners and power digital revenue with localized, live news and sports.”

The new LTN capabilities make it easier for broadcasters to bring news programming and live sports quickly on air and elsewhere. They include:

• A complete digital playout stack supporting hosted linear and FAST Playout for creating versioned channels with minimal operational and engineering effort.
• Live sports master control offering a fully managed environment for acquiring, customizing and managing local and regional sports broadcasts across platforms.
• Integrated dynamic graphics, including L-bars, tickers and real-time visualizations tied to sports and news content.
• SCTE-driven automation.

For local sports, LTN enables stations to receive high-quality, low-latency game feeds from venues across the country, helping them expand their live sports programming with speed and reliability, LTN said.

The company is also helping broadcasters reinvent local news for the streaming era. It has expanded its offerings to enable local stations to extend live news into new formats and platforms. Six major broadcast groups with stations covering 80% of the top U.S. TV markets currently rely on LTN for these services, it said.

Additionally, it is powering MVPD and vMVPD reach and scale with its go-to aggregation hub for local station feeds. It provides MVPDs and vMVPDs with seamless high-quality access to live broadcast signals nationwide, it said.

LTN’s purpose-built IP network for real-time video delivers nearly 8,000 channels and millions of live events annually, making it the critical backbone for bringing live news and sports to every screen. LTN enables instant, reliable delivery to 98% of U.S. pay TV households, with a clear path to 100% by 2026, it said.

More information is available on the company’s website.

The latest spotlight in TMT Insights’ “A Day in the Life” series, highlighting the skills needed for success in Media & Entertainment (M&E), focuses on Brian Pelletier, Vice President of Technical Solutions at SDVI, a cloud-based media supply chain management company.

Our conversation covers Brian's far-reaching M&E experience, SDVI's approach to customer projects, the industry's shift towards cloud-based workflows and supply chain reinvention, and the advice Brian would give his younger self.

Talk a bit about your current role and what SDVI brings to each customer engagement.

I lead SDVI’s Solutions Team, which includes technical account managers, solutions architects, and customer support engineers, helping customers define and implement their supply chain goals from both technological and operational standpoints. We examine what they want to achieve through technology, and then we ask: What do their operators need to make the system functional, so that the customer’s entire business benefits?

What sparked your drive to go into M&E, and what continues to fuel your passion?

What else is there for a lifelong media guy to do? I’ve been in the industry for nearly 35 years, in one way or another. I was a kid who grew up listening to the radio and watching MTV. In college, I got a job in master control, working overnight on Friday and Saturday, before I was even old enough to go out for a beer. I started taking on production jobs: master control, directing news, and production manager duties. I did just about every job at the local television level, including graphics, editing, and set design.

Eventually, I moved into regional technical direction for sports, which helped me understand how systems interconnect and led me to engineering and pre-sales roles. I worked on early server and automation systems, think tape-to-server transitions, which led to work as a solutions architect during the “channel in a box” era, working closely with graphics automation and later systems engineering teams. So, it’s safe to say I’ve done a bit of everything.

Many projects in the M&E industry now involve multiple partners and collaborators. How does SDVI approach these engagements? Do you start with a common baseline and customize from there?

Yes, there’s always a baseline approach. For example, every supply chain begins with getting content into the system before it can be modified or processed. That’s a foundational technology layer that’s common across engagements. From there, and I say this a lot, but it’s true: The most important thing we do is listen to how customers describe their pain points and challenges. We then help design a system that not only supports them technologically but also wins the hearts and minds of operations teams. We never want to implement tech just for the sake of having tech. It must be a real solution that moves their business forward, whether they’re shifting to the cloud or optimizing an existing cloud-based supply chain.

SDVI is a long-time partner of TMT Insights. Has SDVI’s collaboration with TMT Insights led to new product integrations, such as combining Rally with Polaris for media supply chain management?

The close partnership between SDVI and TMT has been crucial in delivering integrated solutions to customers. Although each product is agnostic, our two companies and their respective offerings complement each other well, and, similarly, Rally and Polaris are synergistic in the way that they operate. Polaris serves as a single pane of glass that sits atop your existing supply chain, handling order management, demand signaling, systemic gating logic and operational dashboards, while Rally is the supply chain orchestrator, managing all content processing, application services and infrastructure. Working in tandem, the two systems minimize friction between back-end automation and front-end operations.

Not only do our two systems work together in tandem, but our teams also work closely together to ensure customer success. We have tremendous respect for the deep technical expertise that TMT Insights has assembled. They know Rally very well, and they understand the concepts of Rally-managed media supply chains. We share a common vision to bring agility and efficiency to media operations, and the combination of what my team and the TMT team brings to projects makes that vision a reality for our customers.

Cloud-based platforms look significantly different today than it was a few years ago. How has SDVI Rally kept pace with industry trends and changing customer expectations?

Early on, many companies approached the cloud with a “lift and shift” mindset, simply replacing hardware with cloud-based equivalents. Now, customers want to reinvent their supply chains with smarter, more agile operations that can respond to changing business needs. The cloud isn’t just infrastructure anymore. It’s a platform for innovation. Rally has evolved with these changes and today, it truly enables elastic scaling of compute services and the integration of third-party tools.

Can you elaborate on the specific soft skills and mindset shifts that you believe are most important for success in the evolving media and entertainment industry?

Technical broadcast expertise will always be critical, but development skills and listening are the keys for translating customer needs into real solutions. Their businesses are changing rapidly—whether it's marketing, sales, or content distribution, and their systems must keep up. Content is still king, but the speed and diversity of content delivery are accelerating.

How does SDVI's team approach continuous learning and stay up to date with the latest industry trends and technologies beyond just the training provided by cloud vendors?

The SDVI team takes courses on new cloud providers and stays up to date with changes in AWS, GCP, and other platforms, leveraging the facilities each provider offers. We also have regular conversations and meetings with our partners: What’s new in your product? How can we better leverage those tools to stay current with industry trends?

Our customers drive us in that direction, too. When there's a new solution in a space we might not have heard of, our customers often bring it to our attention. We spend a lot of time listening to what they have to say. Staying current is essential for understanding and implementing new technologies.

If you could talk to 2015 Brian, what advice would you give your younger self?

Focus less on specific technologies and more on understanding broader industry trends. You can’t be an expert in everything, but what’s most important is grasping how all the pieces fit together.

No single person can do everything the job entails, so surround yourself with people who are smarter than you. I didn’t fully appreciate that before building our incredible team, that everyone brings something unique to the table.

I’d also tell myself to get comfortable with ambiguity and change. This industry is moving faster than ever. Business models, tools, and technologies come and go, but serving the customer remains constant.

####

TMT Insights is a professional services and software development company delivering leading capabilities in the digital supply chain, including media content management, cloud technology, and SaaS/D2C experiences to global media companies. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills within the media & entertainment, digital & cloud technology space, our team offers industry leading services such as strategy and CXO advisory, product ideation & innovation, cloud transformation, process re-engineering and development to our partners. As early adopters of new technologies, we embrace the power of collaboration and work with our partners to combine our guidance with action to further drive efficiency, value, and scale to their communities. www.tmtinsights.com

PLYMOUTH, Wis.— Dan Whealy has acquired Heartland Video Systems and will be its new owner and president, the systems integrator said.

Dennis Klas, former president and owner, will stay on through mid-2026 to support Whealy and ensure a smooth and seamless handover, the company said.

"It is an incredible honor to lead Heartland Video Systems into its next chapter,” Whealy said in a statement. “As a long-time former customer and current employee, I developed a deep respect for the legacy built by Dennis and the HVS team—one rooted not only in visionary leadership and integrity, but in a culture of outstanding ethics, transparency, trust, dedication, and service. That culture is what has made HVS so special to its employees, customers, and partners over the past three decades—something that is very near and dear to my heart to preserve going forward.”

The company, a premier video systems integrator, consulting firm, and manufacturer of the Videstra Micro-Local IP camera management solution, stressed that all key staff members, corporate structure, and customer-focused sales and support will remain in place.

Whealy brings 21 years of experience in the broadcast industry, with a well-rounded background in both radio and television and a deep understanding of all facets of broadcast technology to his new role. His career has spanned roles from hands-on engineering to executive leadership, including time at Quincy Media and, more recently as chief technology officer at Allen Media Broadcasting (AMB).

At AMB, Whealy led the company’s technological strategy and innovation across a nationwide group of network affiliates. Under his leadership, the organization achieved significant operational and infrastructure improvements, realizing multimillion-dollar annual savings through strategic capital initiatives. He brings extensive expertise in ATSC 3.0, studio technology, and cutting-edge aerial-based newsgathering solutions for local news coverage.

"To all of you—thank you for the relationships, hard work, and shared purpose that have fueled our success,“ Whealy said. “I want to reassure everyone that there will be continuity across the board during and after this transition process—HVS will continue to operate with the same team, the same mission, and the same focus on excellence that you’ve come to expect and know.

"As we move forward, HVS will remain a 100% family-owned company—retaining the agility, flexibility, and responsiveness that have always allowed us to quickly adapt to the needs of our customers and partners," Whealy continued. "I am deeply committed to preserving the values and culture that define HVS, while embracing new opportunities to grow, innovate, and serve with excellence. Together, we will build on our legacy and shape an even stronger, more resilient future for the next generation of HVS—and for everyone we cherish, value, and proudly serve in our business.”

“I am deeply appreciative of the personal and professional relationships I have formed throughout my journey in television," added Dennis Klas, former owner of HVS and strategic transition manager. "As this journey is now 40 years along, it is time to pass things on to the next generation. As a former customer and current employee, Dan fully understands and embraces our values and relationships. It has been a primary goal for me to assure that the values and ethics that have built HVS are continued after my ownership. I trust that Dan is understanding and well-positioned to succeed for our employees and customers.”

“This is an exciting new chapter for HVS,“ General Manager Linda Haney said. “Dan and I will work closely together to ensure this transition is as smooth as possible for both our employees and our customers, while preserving the values and culture that define HVS.”

HVS has been a supplier of communications equipment, professional installation services and ongoing technical support for more than 20 years. It is a member of the Society of Broadcast Engineers, the winner of a 2010 Engineering Excellence Award and a voting member of the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC).

In 2024, HVS acquired Videstra, a micro-local IP camera management system for broadcast production workflow and web content publishing, including new revenue opportunities through camera sponsorships.

More information is available at www.hvs-inc.com.

DALLAS—CBS Stations has expanded its use of an in-house developed augmented reality and virtual reality solution for news and weather with the launch of a new AR/VR studio at CBS Texas.

The launch makes CBS Texas the first station in the region to introduce this technology. It is the eighth market where CBS Stations has launched the solution since it was first developed at its Bay Area operations.

CBS Texas debuted the AR/VR system on-air Monday, June 23, during the CBS News Texas 5 p.m. newscast, led by First Alert chief meteorologist McKenna King, who guided viewers through the first immersive weather segment using the new platform.

The AR/VR-enabled studio, measuring approximately 20,384 cubic feet, transforms storytelling by offering a dynamic, visually rich experience that brings weather to life. From hyperrealistic weather simulations to immersive storytelling environments, the technology enhances both presentation and viewer comprehension of complex topics, the station group said.

“The launch in Texas further underscores our commitment to investing in the future of local journalism,” said Jennifer Mitchell, president of CBS Stations and CBS News and Stations Digital. “Through the expansion of our technological capabilities, we continue to deepen how we serve our communities, elevate the viewer experience and shape the future of broadcast journalism.”

“Over the past year, we’ve evolved every part of our newsroom – from refreshing our newscasts, updating our brand and building a multiplatform coverage strategy,” said Raquel Amparo, president and general manager of CBS Texas. “This technology is the next chapter and allows us to enhance meaningful content for everyone we serve.”

The launch follows successful implementations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, the San Francisco Bay Area, Denver and Miami.

ABILENE. Texas—A severe storm knocked down the tower and severely damaged the news studio and main facility of Sinclair-owned KTXS here on Sunday, June 8.

“At approximately 11 p.m. on June 8 during a severe weather event, a tornado struck the KTXS facility, causing significant damage, destroying our tower and impacting much of the building,” the ABC affiliate, which broadcasts on Channel 12, reported on its website. “We are thankful there were no injuries at the station. Our team is working quickly to assess the damage and find a solution to bring KTXS back on air as soon as possible.”

Sinclair told TV Tech that KTXS “was back on the air (modified) by Wednesday a.m. with an assist from our San Antonio station and equipment brought in from other Sinclair stations."

The station also reported that its newsroom was working from Abilene Christian University.

Local meteorologists recounted the terrifying moment when the storm tore off the station’s roof here.

“Quite literally, our studio roof was ripped off its hinges, if you will,“ KTXS meteorologist Caiden Dinkins said, “Our studio roof just blew off right above me and our chief meteorologist, Mark Rowlett, as we were trying to take cover from kind of an unexpected situation."

The station also reported that weather officials said “peak winds are estimated at 90 miles per hour in Abilene. The 199-foot KTXS broadcast tower was bent and knocked over onto the roof and across the property, while the base remained intact. A large rooftop air conditioning unit was blown by strong winds, likely contributing to a roof collapse and a partial brick wall failure in the station’s garage.”

.

Consumers today expect broadcast content to be available whenever, and wherever they want. Broadcasters are under increasing pressure to create and disseminate content in real-time and on-demand across an ever-growing number of platforms and formats. If they don’t, their competitors will.

In this environment, downtime is not an option, and reliable broadcast operations are a must. This article will explore the impact of broadcast outages and the resulting downtime and explain what to look for in a technology partner to prevent it. 

Key challenges facing media companies today

The broadcast industry faces a litany of challenges today that impact both business viability and production quality. Mounting consumer expectations and an increasingly complex broadcasting landscape continuously put pressure on broadcasters to be everywhere, all the time. 

Some factors at play include: 

Increased audience demand for instantaneous and continuous coverage

Consumer habits have shifted dramatically over the past three decades thanks to the rise in handheld mobile devices, streaming platforms, and near-universal access to WiFi or network connections. In this landscape, consumers expect instant access to live and on-demand content across multiple platforms. 

This expectation for real-time and packaged content amplifies the pressures on media companies to maintain flawless operations and uptime, while also producing high-quality and engaging content for a growing list of platforms and devices. 

Increasingly complex production demands 

Because of this evolving—and accelerating—consumer landscape, production workflows have also become more complex. Production techniques have had to evolve to keep pace with what consumers expect from certain platforms, meaning the technology that’s used to create that content also needs to evolve. 

To create more engaging and dynamic content, broadcasters may expand their production stack to include more dynamic camera shots and moves, AR graphics, and other interactive visual elements. Production workflows may also pivot from on-premises to cloud or hybrid environments. As this complexity ramps up, more possible points of failure emerge.

Steep competition and budget constraints

This increased demand comes against a backdrop of steeper competition and budget constraints in the broadcasting industry—particularly in news production. 

In this environment, organizations have to make the most out of the revenue they have. They must be intelligent to boost the quality of their content, the efficiency of their workflows, and their ability to disseminate across multiple channels in real-time and on-demand. This is on top of the need to work remotely in an increasingly dispersed talent environment. 

Downtime is not an option. It’s a high-pressure, high-paced world with significant consumer demands and an ever-deepening competitive market that includes content creators from outside of traditional broadcasting channels. 

The consequences of operational failure in broadcasting

The impact of technology downtime is felt in virtually every business, in every sector. Society has become deeply dependent on our technology infrastructure, making even the smallest outage a major inconvenience. 

Broadcasters, however, face even heavier pressures to remain operational at all times. When other platforms go down, broadcasters are expected to be the source of real-time information. If they’re down, too, the impact on the company’s reputation can be severe.

Here are four consequences of significant operational failures in broadcasting:

• Loss of audience trust and engagement. When downtime or technical failures occur, audiences lose confidence in the broadcaster’s ability to deliver consistent, high-quality content. In a crowded media landscape, viewers are quick to switch to competitors, leading to a loss in both immediate and future viewership. This can mean a reduction in live viewership and decreased loyalty over time, weakening the broadcaster’s position in the market.  
• Financial and contractual ramifications. Live broadcasts, especially high-profile events, are tied directly to advertising revenue. For instance, the cost of a 30-second ad during the NFL’s Sunday Night Football in the 2023/2024 season was around $882,000. A single broadcast failure during such a high-stakes event can lead to massive financial losses, and even expose the broadcaster to legal complications and strained relationships with current and future advertisers.  
• Missed opportunities for exclusive coverage. When broadcasters experience downtime during live events or breaking news, they miss out on delivering exclusive, real-time coverage. This can result in lost opportunities for major scoops or key moments that attract high viewership, especially for news organizations. Competitors with more reliable systems may capitalize on these moments, gaining a reputation and audience advantage, leaving the original broadcaster with diminished viewership and industry relevance. 
• Increased operational costs. Frequent technical issues lead to downtime and raise the overall cost of operations. Emergency repairs, replacement of faulty equipment, and constant troubleshooting demand additional financial resources, which exponentially raise the cost of downtime. Moreover, downtime increases the need for overtime work or hiring additional technical staff to manage crises, further inflating operational budgets.  

The above is a list of worst-case scenarios. Operational failure, however, can come in much smaller packages, like accidentally putting up the wrong camera shot or consistent lag time in a specific production workflow. These minor operational failures can add to significant time loss and headaches for engineering and production teams. While less dramatic, they’re still costly in the long run. 

Downtime is seriously costly on a variety of different fronts. Over time, these costs accumulate, making it harder for companies to maintain profitability while still investing in future technological innovations. Unfortunately, while the cost of downtime is severe, there is no shortage of factors that might cause it. 

Internal and external factors threatening media operations

Broadcasters face a variety of internal and external factors that increase complexity and introduce new points of potential failure. These factors—and potential failure points—must be identified and actively controlled to avoid costly downtime. 

Internal factors include: 

• Managing broadcast gear and IT systems in the cloud or on-premises. Balancing on-premises and cloud systems can lead to inefficiencies and disruptions if not managed properly. This is an example of how accelerating consumer demands can lead to a rapid, and potentially uncontrolled, adoption of complex broadcasting infrastructure that can introduce complexity and failure points.  
• Maintaining performance with leaner teams. At the same time as this growing technological complexity, broadcasters are facing budget constraints that often require them to shrink and decentralize their production teams. Smaller, remote teams face increased pressure to produce content faster, and on increasingly complex infrastructures. Without streamlined tools and proper training, companies risk broadcast delays, diminished performance and content quality, and errors that may lead to downtime. 
• Skills gaps when adopting new technologies. As media production increasingly relies on advanced technologies, a lack of skilled personnel can lead to inefficiencies and missed opportunities. 

At the same time, companies face a variety of external factors, including: 

• Technological disruptions and cybersecurity threats. Events like the July 2024 CrowdStrike outage, which impacted thousands of businesses globally and caused mass downtime for dozens of broadcasters, demonstrate the severe risks of unplanned system failures. The incident caused a global ripple effect, with financial damages estimated to exceed $10 billion​. Without proper security and redundancy measures in place to mitigate against future events, media companies face similar risks of financial and reputational harm due to system outages or cyber-attacks. 
• Competitor pressure to innovate. Consumer demand and platform variety fuel innovations in content delivery, with major broadcasters leading the charge. Major, widely adopted innovations create a new standard in content consumption, which ramps up expectations for smaller broadcasters to follow suit. Failing to keep up with technological advancements can result in losing market share and relevance, making it harder to attract and retain audiences. 
• Supply chain and equipment shortages. Delays in sourcing critical equipment can stall production and lead to missed deadlines, especially in live events where timing is essential. This was made especially apparent during the pandemic when major supply chain issues crippled the global economy. In this environment, cloud and hybrid deployments became a necessity, forcing many companies—and broadcasters—to rapidly pivot their tech stacks.  

While companies can, and do, take steps to mitigate the challenges listed above, the reality is that growing complexity and diversified threats to infrastructure stability introduce a variety of potential failure points. The best way to prevent them is to partner with a trustworthy broadcast technology partner that understands the importance of uptime, and has built their products and services around the promise of reliability. 

What to look for in a trustworthy broadcast technology partner

To ensure reliability in critical broadcast operations, you need a partner with a proven track record of delivering consistent performance under pressure. 

Systems must be designed for uptime with rigorous failover strategies that keep broadcasts running smoothly even when issues arise. The ability to handle live, high-stakes events without failure is non-negotiable.

Your technology partner must provide reliable systems and adapt to the constantly changing broadcasting landscape. Innovation is key, but it must be balanced with stability. 

Partners who embrace cutting-edge advancements like cloud integration and IP workflows without sacrificing reliability are the ones who will help you future-proof your operations. The ability to evolve while maintaining performance is critical in an industry where staying ahead is essential for survival.

More information about the need for a reliable technology partner is available in this video.

To help you find that perfect broadcast technology partner, look for: 

• A history of reliable performance. Choose partners with a proven track record of consistent uptime, backed by case studies and testimonials from similar broadcasters. This provides confidence that they can handle demanding conditions without downtime. 
• Round-the-clock support. Ensure your partner offers 24/7 customer service with dedicated teams ready to troubleshoot. Quick response times prevent small issues from escalating into costly failures. 
• Industry-specific knowledge. A strong technology partner should understand the unique challenges of broadcasting and offer customized solutions tailored to your specific workflows, whether for live news or sports. 
• Robustness and redundancy. Broadcast systems must be built with robust and rugged systems to withstand demanding broadcast environments and resource usage. Integrated workflows and automation also help minimize human error. 
• Active security protection. Modern broadcast technology is vulnerable to a broad range of security threats that can compromise systems and data. Look for providers that prioritize hardware and network security as part of their offering, and actively push out updates to their products to ensure ongoing protection.  
• Training and support. A trustworthy partner prioritizes training to ensure teams are prepared to handle unexpected issues in real time, helping keep broadcasts seamless even in high-pressure situations. Training and support experts don’t just know the products, but also deeply understand the industry and the challenges that engineers and operators face. This allows them to support both technical issues, and offer guidance on how to solve wider workflow problems.  

Trust is built on reliability. In the world of broadcasting, you need partners who are as dependable as the systems they provide. Choosing a partner with proven reliability, comprehensive support, and the ability to adapt to your needs ensures that your broadcasts remain smooth, high-quality, and on the air, no matter the stakes.

The Ins & Outs of Today’s Signal Transport

As the Media & Entertainment (M&E) industry stands at the crossroads of technological transformation, the choices you make today will define your operational success in the future.

Whether you’re planning to build or upgrade new facilities, our comprehensive whitepaper, “The Ins & Outs of Today’s Signal Transport,” provides the essential insights you need to make the best decision for your organization today and tomorrow.

Learn how the right transport tech can lead to significant workflow improvements from industry experts who advised the world’s largest companies.

RAYMOND, Maine—Dielectric and Philippines partner 90 Degrees North said they have been working to extend the digital television service for BEAM (Broadcast Enterprises and Affiliated Media) beyond Mega Manila to cover secondary and tertiary cities.

The second phase of the expansion deployed complete ISDB-Tb Powerlite antenna systems with filters and flex transmission line to the major metropolitan regions like Cebu and Davao over the past 18 months, with subsequent shipments to cover the secondary emerging cities of Baguio, Naga, Ilo-ilo, Laguna, Batangas, General Santos and Zamboanga over the past year.

Dielectric also reported that it has now shipped Powerlite turnkey antenna systems for 2.4 kW to 5 kW low-power sites in the cities of Legazpi and Cagayan De Oro, bringing the third phase of the project closer to completion. Once installed and commissioned, BEAM will officially strengthen DTV service in Southern Luzon complementary to Naga, and offer DTV service to Northern Mindanao.

In addition, the two companies reported that BEAM’s DTV network expansion will continue as its programming extends into new cities, marking a fourth phase of the project.

90 Degrees North owner John Achilles “Achie” Denna said the network will reach up to 30 cities by the end of this phase, which will be completed in mid-to-late December.

“These are full-service projects that begin with RF network planning and constructing new or rehabilitating existing cabins/shelters. That is followed by electrical system installation, retrofitting of towers, and then installing transmitters and filters in the shelters,” said Achie Denna, who adds that site development accounts for “60 to 70%” of each project. “Dielectric has been nothing short of exceptional with aligning their manufacturing and delivery timelines to my installation schedules, which conclude with running line, adding antenna mounts and support, and installing the antennas.”

The project started in 2018 with the Mega Manila system, anchored by a TFU-WB UHF antenna for the UHF Channel 31 single-frequency network (SFN), with low-power DLP and TLP single-channel antennas filling out the flagship network. BEAM relays programming from Mega Manila to UHF Channel 31 frequencies in Cebu, Davao and Zamboanga; Channel 26 in Baguio and Iloilo; and Channel 32 in Naga. The General Santos transmission operates on Channel 51 with Dielectric Powerlite TLP antennas to radiate signals.

“With assistance from our partners at PROGIRA and using their market-leading RF Network Planning Software, we have optimized coverage patterns and areas, performance and efficiency through three specific design elements,” said Cory Edwards, OEM, distribution and Southeast Asia sales manager at Dielectric. “All antenna designs feature elliptical polarization to improve ISDB-Tb penetration into buildings and homes, the majority of which have concrete metal roofing. That added vertical element also strengthens coverage to mobile devices. We chose slotted antenna designs to reduce tower loads and streamline installation, and provided simple tunable coaxial filter designs with patch panels, components and loads that fit comfortably next to the transmitters. That is especially important in shelters that share rental space.”

Achie Denna added that Dielectric’s market share in the Philippines continues to rise as the country’s DTV transition moves forward, which includes a nearly wholesale shift from VHF to UHF frequencies. “Dielectric has captured approximately 35-40 percent of the digital TV transition business here in the Philippines to date, and we expect the DTV transition to continue through the year 2030," he said.

More information can be accessed at www.dielectric.com.

WASHINGTON—The Society of Broadcast Engineers has filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission that support a proposal by the National Association of Broadcasters to allow software-based alerting technologies in a filing with the FCC.

As previously reported the NAB is requesting the Federal Communications Commission make changes to Emergency Alert System (EAS) rules that would allow but not require EAS participants to use software-based EAS encoder/decoder technology instead of a legacy physical hardware device to process EAS messages.

The NAB is urging that the FCC fast-track the request because hardware supplier Sage Alerting Systems, one of two hardware suppliers, has recently stopped production of devices and “the current legacy ecosystem is not sustainable,” the NAB argued in its March 31 filing.

In response, the SBE argued: “Permitting broadcasters to use flexible software-based EAS equipment would open up another potential area of EAS development, both for broadcasters and equipment manufacturers. This could help fill the hole created by the aforementioned manufacturer’s discontinuation of EAS hardware offerings. And, perhaps just as importantly, opening up the viability of flexible software-based EAS solutions could prevent a similar situation from arising in the future by providing more diverse EAS equipment development and deployment solutions such that the exit of a single manufacturer from the marketplace would not risk disabling the EAS infrastructure of so many of the key distribution points in the daisy chain.”

In a separate May 2 filing, Digital Alert Systems, a major supplier of EAS equipment, expressed reservations about the NAB proposal and urged the commission to delay action or reject the proposal.

“While the goal of modernizing alerting infrastructure is a valid and worthwhile objective, we are concerned that this petition fails to take into account a substantial array of unresolved regulatory, procedural, cybersecurity, operational, and intellectual property questions,” DAS argued. “These issues go well beyond implementation detail; they are foundational questions that will materially affect the safety and manageability of any software-based EAS platform.”

The SBE filing stressed, “Allowing EAS Participants to evolve to flexible software-based reception and distribution is not merely change for change’s sake—such evolution is vital to ensuring the continued viability of the EAS. In particular, near the end of 2024 one of the two primary EAS hardware manufacturers announced that they were ceasing production of their physical EAS endec … This, in turn, raises meaningful concerns for the EAS system as a whole.”

“Moreover, even if the foregoing immediate concerns were not present, permitting broadcasters to voluntarily utilize flexible software-based EAS solutions would still bring meaningful alerting and regulatory benefits,” the SBE concluded. “Among other things, SBE agrees with NAB that a flexible software-based approach could meaningfully alleviate delays and other difficulties many broadcasters currently face when dealing with EAS equipment maintenance and repair.”

News and sports programming, which are the biggest drivers for broadcast revenue and audiences, were also the central topic of the first panel at the TV Tech Summit, where executives at stations and networks discussed newer technologies that are helping them engage viewers and streamline operations.

When asked about the future of technologies for news and sports, panelists were particularly bullish on advances in virtual sets, remote production, standardized interoperable solutions, hybrid cloud archives and infrastructures that help streamline the delivery to multiple platforms.

During the panel, “New Tech for the Next Generation of News and Sports” Tim Hinson vice president, technology, at ABC13 KTRK in Houston Texas at the ABC Owned Television Stations, stressed that a key tech priority at the station group has been to standardize and centralize technologies. This, he said, has helped them improve quality and more efficiently produce massive amount of local news each week.

That effort, he added, also produced a number of important benefits during the L.A. wildfires.

“Over the past few years, we've been really focusing on technology and operations, centralization and standardization,” he said, adding that he wasn’t “necessarily referring to just a people or a hub, for example, even though we do some of that. Really what we're talking about is centralization of technology [in terms of] reducing costs and also workflow optimization. And we're also hyper focused on making sure our common systems and workflows are standardized across the group, especially from a technology perspective, because that really, really promotes the sharing of data, content and personnel.”

Covering Wildfires with Better Tech

During the wildfires, he explained, “a lot of our other stations sent reporters, photographers and other support staff to L.A. to help out with the coverage….Because of our standardization efforts mentioned earlier, people were able to jump right in and begin working…We were able to easily provide live shots to any station around the country from any bonded cell packing unit with just a touch of a button.”

They were also able to get them working without having to “learn the station systems first…They were just able to go straight out in the field and start contributing right away,” he said.

Hinson and the other panelists also stressed the importance of engaging viewers with new ways of telling stories that can help them stand out from a crowded news and sports landscape.

One example of that is virtual sets or augmented reality technologies.

Jason Wormser, senior vice president, CW Sports noted that their production partner NASCAR Productions has recently unveiled a new virtual set in Studio 43, their state-of-the-art production facility that NASCAR uses to produce the CW NASCAR coverage.

“They’ve invested in a 57 foot LED wall,” he said. “They are using AR camera tracking technology with a [ARRI] Alexa 35 studio camera system…We really think this is kind of the next stage, the next step of these virtual systems" that will provide enormous flexibility and quality for the studio production.”

During the panel, Scott Warren, president and general manager, CBS Bay Area (KPIX/KPIX+) discussed a ground-breaking case study of how the CBS-owned stations were able to deploy virtual sets, which until relatively recently, required the kind of large budgets and engineering staff that only large networks could afford.

Warren said the project began in 2023 as part of a push to find better ways to tell stories and provide better, more engaging weather coverage. “We wanted to make an immersive experience, because weather is more than two dimensional,” he explained. “It's more than a person in front of a map, it's cloud stacks, it's elevation, it's wind, it's rain, it’s precipitation…We felt like we could tell the weather story in a better way in an immersive environment, and that's where this all started.”

In the development process of the system, they worked with Myreze, a branding and virtual production company from Norway. Other vendors included Zero Density’s virtual solution, rendering from the Unreal Engine, camera tracking from stYpe and Baron Weather for integrated weather data.

The Secret Sauce for Immersive Local News

A key component, however, was their inhouse tech talent, Warren stressed. “We had to challenge them [all the vendors], as well as ourselves, because we couldn't add bodies…We really had to do it with the existing team…We had to do something different and bring all of this in house and have it hook up into an automated control room with just one director.”

"And…that was the where the secret sauce comes in, [the station’s inhouse tech talent],” he added. “Our coders and our engineers have worked feverishly to pull all the pieces and parts [together] and to get inside all of the third party vendors’ engines and reconfigure things to make it work.”

The result, he said, is “TV in a box. We've created a system that does work with just one director driving the whole thing, and one operator, and that's it.”

The system is so streamlined they’ve been able to since install it at other CBS owned stations in New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, Colorado and Miami. It has also been expanded for additional types of coverage, including breaking news and sports, with the CBS stations using it for their March Madness Coverage.

In San Francisco, they’ve become so comfortable with the solution that they’ve discarded all the hard sets.

The system is particularly appealing for breaking news. “The magic of the weather system is that everything is in real time and real time data,” Warren said. “The big challenge at the very beginning of building this was, how do we bring all that weather data from the National Weather Service and other partners into our system at every single elevation in the atmosphere, to show every different kind of condition, pressure, wind, precipitation and temperature, all the things that factor into what makes weather. How do we bring that digital information into the system in real time and create the visual representations of what that is doing?”

The resulting system “does exactly that,” he explained. “It builds graphics in real time.”

This has also been important for breaking news like wildfires. “We're able to watch fires and fire lines develop with these virtual maps,” he said, adding that it has also been a great tool for covering “earthquakes...We're able to locate and show the magnitude as it ripples out across an area, and all of this is driven by the meteorologists in real time who have an iPad.”

The Remote Production Game

During the panel, CW’s Wormser also highlighted the growing importance of remote production tech advances in cutting the costs of sports production.

“Our system is a little bit different than everybody else's, because we are using third parties,” that are producing events for us,” Wormser explained, using remote production technologies. “With REMI, with COVID…it just accelerated so many things in our business [so that remote production]...is kind of the next step” in sports production.

Wormser noted that remote productions have given them more flexibility in the way they’ve produced events, while reducing costs and freeing up money to improve the productions.

“It just saves so much, and it also gives you flexibility in the future of trying new things, trying different ideas, spending more time on pre-produced or post-produced elements,” he said. “It gives you a little bit more flexibility at a lower cost.”

“All the networks are doing it,” he added. “ESPN has been doing it with basketball. Fox has been doing this for years…It goes back into the early 2000s basically, they were bringing games in from across the world, and they were voicing and doing all the graphics in their studios in Los Angeles, and calling him off the monitor because they don't have the money to go around the world. So it's only going to get better. The technology is unbelievable, and will enable networks to put the money into rights and yet still have high quality, innovative production and content for the viewers.”

The TV Tech Summit had a full separate panel on remote productions discussing those developments in more detail.

The full TV Tech Summit, including this panel and keynotes, can be viewed on demand here.

It wasn’t all that long ago that most TV newsrooms relied on a person in the feed room to manage recording all of the incoming raw footage, news packages and other content transmitted to stations so reporters and editors could create stories and producers could build newscasts.

Someone in that room knew which satellite or microwave feed would be arriving at what time via which router output so that news content could be recorded on a designated tape machine. Tapes then were shuffled to the journalists and producers who needed them to write and edit stories. Eventually, those stories made air on the 6 or 11 o’clock news, and the cycle began once again.

But those halcyon days of TV news are long gone. Today’s newsroom is far more than a “television newsroom.” In many instances, it’s the hub of a 24/7 news operation that creates and distributes newscasts and stories 10 or more hours a day on air across multiple channels and around the clock via websites and social media.

With this transformation has come increasing complexity in managing incoming feeds. Not only has the number of feeds skyrocketed, but also the variety of signal formats used. While SDI feeds abound, many additional formats, codecs and signal types are in play as well, making transcoding to a house format essential.

At the same time, newsrooms have transformed old workflows to meet the challenge of 24/7 news operations, looking to achieve greater efficiencies and enhance productivity. Many have replaced the “feed room dude” of old with a workflow that enables anybody with permission in the newsroom to grab a feed, begin working with it and share that feed with multiple people.

Recognizing these evolving workflow requirements, Ross Video designed its Media I/O specifically to support modern newsrooms. The solution enables newsrooms to unify all of their ingest and playout channels in the same control interface.

Those in the newsroom can access feeds via Media I/O’s web UI from their laptops and workstations. In essence, Media I/O brings the feed room directly into the newsroom and places it on the desks of journalists who can ingest footage, play it out in real-time in any format and incorporate desired clips into their stories.

Reporters and others in the newsroom can control ingest and playout from their preferred web browser and access ingested assets, eliminating unnecessary, repetitive recordings of the same content by different people.

Media I/O supports most broadcast file formats, such as ProRes, XDCAM, DNxHD, AVC-Intra, XAVC, DVCPRO HD, HEVC and H.264, including growing files, as well as software-driven IP workflows like SMPTE ST 2110, NDI and SRT. Media IP works natively with baseband and network sources, such as SDI, HLS, MPEG DASH and RTSP.

The system also offers a visual schedular with a calendar-based timeline to enable users to manage and visualize upcoming recordings. Media I/O can be deployed on premises, cloud hosted as a virtualized system or as a hybrid to meet the individual preferences of media organizations.

These are only a few of the many features that make the Ross Video Media I/O a key enabler for modern newsroom workflows. Many others are in the works. For example, expect to see at the 2025 NAB Show a new feature for Media I/O’s web UI that allows users to open an asset in a web browser and view it as a proxy video, not simply as a thumbnail as in previous versions.

Media I/O enables newsrooms to allow anyone they want to be their own feed dudes, giving them access to and control over the signal sources they need to create news content more efficiently. With Media I/O, the feed dude is dead. Long live the feed dudes!

See Ross Video and the Media I/O at the 2025 NAB Show in booth SL206.

Click here to learn more about the Ross Video Media I/O.

PITTSBURGH—NEP Group is continuing to invest in its fleet of mobile units dedicated to remote productions with the addition of a new facility now supporting the NHL on TNT for the 2024-2025 NHL regular season and postseason.

The new mobile unit, named Supershooter 64 within NEP’s industry-leading global fleet, is the newest NEP facility designed specifically to support remote productions – often referred to as REMI productions – adding to a lineup of six similar units making remote workflows seamless for broadcasters and rightsholders across the U.S. Supershooter 64 offers additional flexibility with space to handle onsite production, featuring a dedicated production space accommodating eight people, an audio control room, and a video shading area.

Supershooter 64 is designed to be adaptable, offering a slim, flexible profile while still packing production technology. The unit features 12 Sony 2500 cameras, along with a full suite of audio and communications equipment, ensuring high-quality coverage of live events with a reduced onsite footprint.

Initially, the facility is supporting the NHL on TNT and will later serve TNT’s Major League Baseball coverage, MLS Season Pass and productions for NBC.

“As live production continues to evolve, we continue to invest in facilities offering the very best remote production technologies, and Supershooter 64 is another piece of this long-term commitment,” said Mike Werteen, president, NEP Americas and global chief commercial officer.

“Over the last year we’ve seen tremendous growth and success delivering facilities that connect the action onsite to NEP production hubs and customer facilities, enabling production teams to work from wherever they need to produce amazing content for their audiences,” he continued. “We're incredibly proud to say our connected and remote solutions are supporting significant projects for the PGA TOUR, MLS Season Pass, multiple productions for NBC Sports, ESPN, NASCAR, and the NWSL.”

Visit nepgroup.com to learn more about NEP’s media services and connected production solutions.

CUPERTINO, Calif.—Interra Systems has announced that Comcast Technology Solutions has integrated recent updates to BATON Version 9 into its operations.

Comcast Technology Solutions is a longtime BATON user who adopted the solution to ensure high-quality content delivery.

BATON Version 9 offers a new engine and web framework, along with expanded support for checks, formats, and features. These enhancements contribute to increased efficiency and improved user experience for Comcast Technology Solutions' media QC operations.

“The updates to BATON Version 9 have provided significant benefits to our team,” said Christopher Jones, senior engineer at Comcast Technology Solutions. “The improved user interface has streamlined navigation and operation, enabling faster identification of quality issues. The streamlined upgrade process minimized downtime and facilitated a seamless transition to the latest version.”

The upgrade to the newest version is providing it with enhancements in the user interface, the upgrade process, and overall performance with the latest version of the solution.

BATON Version 9 automates QC processes, supporting high standards for quality and compliance. Key features of the latest version include framework updates, enhanced video quality checks for 4K files, support for RDD59 specifications, direct analysis of image sequence formats, and optimized MXF file verification. Advanced diagnostic tools for system health monitoring and an improved API are also included, Interra Systems explained.

“We are pleased that Comcast Technology Solutions has realized positive results with BATON Version 9,” said Ashish Basu, executive vice president of global sales and business development at Interra Systems, “We are committed to continuously developing our solutions based on customer needs, and these updates reflect our focus on delivering advanced and efficient QC tools.”

BATON Version 9’s architecture also includes a complete stack upgrade, with migration to Python 3.x and a new Postgres DB and Django web framework, resulting in a more responsive interface, increased scalability, and optimized resource management. In addition, it features enhanced performance for UHD content QC and analysis, optimized IMF analysis, support for SONY 360 RA analysis, improved cloud support, advanced video and audio quality checks, comprehensive Dolby Atmos support, and expanded format support, Interra reported.

Interra Systems will demonstrate the latest evolution of its BATON product suite at the 2025 NAB Show at Booth W1921, April 6-9, in Las Vegas. More information about Interra Systems’ solutions can be found at www.interrasystems.com.

SAN JOSE, Calif.—Harmonic has announced that Weigel Broadcasting has deployed Harmonic's VOS Media Software, which offers playout-to-delivery capabilities, including ATSC 1.0 centralcasting, that are producing significant cost savings and greater efficiency for Weigel.

"As we continue to grow the number of stations we own and operate, we wanted a scalable, software-driven approach — not more racks of hardware," said Kyle Walker, vice president of technology at Weigel Broadcasting. "With Harmonic's end-to-end playout-to-delivery solution, we can easily add new stations by scaling compute power rather than piecing together stand-alone appliances. This has streamlined our workflows, increased efficiency and given us the flexibility for expansion without the complexities of a traditional broadcast infrastructure."

Harmonic's VOS Media Software improves cost efficiencies for Weigel with a fully software-based, end-to-end workflow for ingest, centralcasting, advanced playout and branding, encoding, transcoding, statistical multiplexing and distribution, the companies reported.

A built-in user interface enables seamless playlist monitoring and automated channel delivery via the web without requiring a complex automation system. Designed to scale, VOS Media Software empowers Weigel to expand its station lineup at any time, depending on data center capacity. Weigel can also enhance its broadcast channels by leveraging advanced capabilities on VOS Media Software, such as delay-line, PSIP fetch, Nielsen watermarking, Dolby upmix and AI captioning integration, they reported.

"By adopting our cloud-native VOS Media Software, Weigel is at the forefront of innovation as one of the first broadcasters utilizing a next-generation playout-to-delivery solution," said Gil Rudge, senior vice president, products and Americas sales, video business at Harmonic. "With advanced capabilities and support for ATSC, OTT and split signal all on one platform, Weigel is leveraging VOS Media Software to streamline operations and future-proof its video delivery."

Harmonic will demonstrate its innovative cloud solutions at the 2025 NAB Show, April 6-9, in Las Vegas at booth W2821. Further information about Harmonic and the company's solutions is available at www.harmonicinc.com.

The problem with broadcast tech that lacks customer focus
In an industry where technology and consumer habits are rapidly changing, live broadcast and media organizations need more than just cutting-edge solutions. They need tools designed with specific challenges and operational success in mind. 

Innovation without understanding the customer’s needs can result in technology that fails to solve real-world problems, leaving broadcasters with tools that don’t drive their business forward and may even hinder the quality of their broadcasts. 

This leads to four specific problems for both broadcasters and technology providers:

• The technology misses the mark. Many technology solutions—in broadcasting and many other industries—focus on novelty without addressing real-world problems. There’s a tendency to develop and buy based on the latest “shiny object” rather than what’s functional. And that’s usually driven by a lack of communication between end users and developers. When this occurs, broadcasters often encounter overly complex tools that fail to integrate seamlessly into their workflows, leading to inefficiencies, increased costs, and limited practicality instead of addressing their challenges effectively.
• There’s a loss of operational efficiency. When tools aren’t developed with end users in mind, the end user suffers the most. Broadcasters may end up with tools that don’t integrate well with existing systems, creating operational bottlenecks. These teams are left to figure out how to make ill-fitting technology work, often leading to higher training costs, downtime, or failure to leverage new solutions fully.  
• There are missed opportunities for revenue growth. If end users don’t know how to properly use a product, or that product doesn’t align with their actual day-to-day needs, they simply won’t use it. When that happens, there’s a loss of both the initial investment and stunting of potential revenue growth due to a lack of adoption, underused features, and limited ability to scale existing operations. Simply put, the tool purchased to drive growth is actually preventing it.  
• The broadcaster’s reputation takes a hit.  When a tool fails to deliver, the broadcaster also fails to deliver to their customers, potentially resulting in sub-standard content or live experiences. This can ultimately lead to a loss of trust from viewers, and a negative hit to the broadcaster’s reputation.  

Broadcast technology should be developed in lock step with customer needs. And that’s only possible when the technology provider develops close relationships with their customers, which in turn leads to customer-driven innovation.

Why broadcasting needs customer-driven innovation
Broadcast technology that doesn’t align with real-world needs isn’t useful. We’ve established that. Instead, what’s needed is close collaboration between end users—broadcasters—and individuals who create the technology they use to build and deliver content to their audiences. Customers, in other words, need to be in the driver’s seat of innovation. 

When they are, technology is planned, developed, and refined to address specific pain points and operational goals, instead of being driven by the hottest trends of shareholder pressures. This ensures that the technology allows for greater operational efficiency, reliability, and opportunities for strategic growth, rather than being a barrier to it. 

The most successful technology partnerships are those that prioritize customer collaboration, ensuring broadcasters are equipped to thrive both today and in the future. Tech providers can deliver practical, easy-to-use, and scalable solutions by engaging broadcasters throughout the product development process.

A technology partner that listens to these specific needs and develops tools to meet them helps the broadcaster not only deliver on the viewer’s expectations but also can construct integrations between these tools to ensure that the broadcast is seamless and free from delays. 

What to look for in a broadcast technology partner
Broadcasters should look closely at each vendor’s track record for customer-driven innovation when considering new technology partners. To do so, look for vendors who show the following characteristics and values related to their product innovation and customer service initiatives. 

1. They have a deep understanding of the industry 
First and foremost, broadcasters should look for technology partners with a deep understanding of the broadcast industry, the challenges they face as broadcasters, and the opportunities available to solve those challenges. Like with any partner, you want someone who is deeply plugged into industry, and intimately understands the technology, viewer demands, and platform requirements for large scale broadcasting. 

Ideally, these providers should have a clear perspective on where broadcast technology needs to go, and what they are going to do to help get it there. Look for providers who actively solicit feedback from their customers to better understand what end users need from their technology equipment. 

2. They strive to see their customers succeed
The deep industry knowledge mentioned above doesn’t just happen overnight. It comes from years of trial and error and, more importantly, from listening to clients. 

The strongest technology partnerships are built on a foundation of understanding the client’s unique operational needs and aligning product development with those needs. Broadcasters should look for technology partners that actively incorporate client feedback into their innovation processes. 

This is how that looks in practice:

• They have continuous feedback loops. Best-in-class technology partners hold regular, structured feedback sessions with their clients, ensuring that any pain points or operational challenges are identified early. This allows partners to address these challenges in real time, ensuring that technology adapts in response to actual broadcaster needs rather than hypothetical industry trends. 
• They focus their innovations on real-world problems. Broadcasters should expect their technology providers to prioritize practical, purpose-built solutions. Instead of focusing solely on delivering cutting-edge features, the best partners design products that solve real operational problems—whether that’s simplifying workflows, reducing manual interventions, or ensuring systems can scale as broadcast demands increase. 
• They’re opinionated but flexible in their innovation. A trusted technology partner should build solutions that are not only innovative but also adaptable. As the media industry continues to evolve, broadcasters will face new challenges, so their technology must adapt as well. This includes products designed to scale with future needs and keep up with new technologies and workflows, ensuring long-term operational success. 

If you’re unsure if a potential partner incorporates these points into their R&D roadmap, ask how they decide what products to build. It may be a red flag if customer input isn’t at least part of that process. 

3. They anticipate future industry trends through customer-informed R&D
Another key indicator of trust is a technology provider’s ability to anticipate future challenges before they become problems. This can be gathered from their own experience and from customer feedback sessions. 

Using these inputs to inform and adapt product roadmaps is another sign of a customer-driven technology partner. They actively listen to customer challenges, overlay that with their own experience, and forecast future needs—whether that’s addressing the growing demand for UHD content, integrating with new cloud-based workflows, or anticipating new distribution platforms. 

Broadcasters should expect technology partners to invest in scalable solutions that will help to modernize their current operations. Scalable technology is designed with the flexibility to integrate new technologies and workflows as industry trends shift. This future-proof approach prevents broadcasters from being locked into outdated systems, ensuring they can adapt as media landscapes evolve. 

To achieve that level of forethought, innovators need to intimately understand where customers are today, and what they will likely need in the future. That’s the sign of a customer-driven technology partner. 

4. They prioritize operational efficiency through design and support
Trust with a technology partner is also built on how effectively they support the broadcaster’s day-to-day operations—either directly through support services or indirectly through user-friendly and well-integrated tools. 

The most reliable partners design technology that is intuitive and easy to implement within existing workflows. They couple this with highly skilled and customized training that allows broadcasters to quickly integrate new technology into their operations. Look for solutions that simplify complex tasks and make your team more efficient. 

Support is also an important factor. Broadcasters should seek partners who provide on-call, 24/7 support, offering fast, effective solutions when issues arise. This type of support minimizes downtime, reduces operational costs, and ensures broadcasters can maintain high-quality production standards, even under pressure.

Bonus points for any technology partner who also uses these support conversations to help inform future product updates! 

Customer-driven innovation leads to customer-centric products Broadcasting is growing more complex every year. The last thing broadcasters need is added complexity from products that don’t align with their day-to-day needs. By focusing on scalability, innovation, and adaptability, Ross ensures its customers can grow confidently, innovate boldly, and deliver exceptional content across platforms. Ross Video provides broadcasters with the tools and expertise to thrive in an industry that rewards agility and creativity.

This puts their customers in the driver’s seat, giving them the power to shape the future of the tools they use to deliver great content and experiences to their viewers. 

Technology upgrade guide
Outdated technology — it slows production, diminishes content quality, and adds creeping maintenance costs that quietly drain productivity and threaten your competitive edge. But how do you upgrade technology without disrupting workflows? Or worse, causing downtime?

Download our Technology Upgrade Guide for a practical approach to modernizing live production technology so you can devise a strategy that ensures smooth operations during a transition and well into the future.

CINCINNATI—GatesAir has announced that it will continue its successful in-house financing program for its North America TV and radio customers. The initiative provides a range of flexible financing options to fund a broadcaster’s investment in modern, high-efficiency transmission equipment.

New as of this month, broadcasters also have the option to finance GatesAir Care services into their contracts, providing customers with a managed service layer to monitor and maintain their transmission systems.

“Our in-house financing program has proven to be a winning formula for all of our customers from the independent FM broadcaster to the biggest networks and station groups,” Mark Goins, vice president of global sales at GatesAir. “The broadcaster’s annual technology budget continues to tighten, and these plans help our customers make the most of their capital expenditure. And while all plans include our world-class customer service and technical support, the option to work our GatesAir Care managed services into all plans ensures that your transmission systems are protected through our engineering teams. This is especially relevant for broadcasters that lack the in-house RF engineering talent to monitor and maintain their system from basic service and support up through disaster recovery strategies.”

All financing plans can be tailored to meet the specific needs of each customer, GatesAir said.

Options range from financing a single transmitter purchase all the way up to a complete refresh of existing transmission infrastructure, including new FM systems and ATSC 3.0 DTV solutions.

Click here for more information.

Customers can request a quote and download equipment financing applications by following the simple instructions and prompts detailed on the page.

LOS ANGELES—Disney's KABC-TV station has restored its broadcast feed after the Eaton Wildfire in Los Angeles knocked it off the air earlier on Friday, Jan. 10.

Several news reports noted that the station's broadcast feed was unavailable on Friday morning. Following up on those reports, the station has confirmed to TV Tech that as of 1:40 p.m. (PT) that the broadcast feed was still down.

The station was, however, cautiously optimistic that it would be restored in the afternoon, which it was.

Earlier in the day, the station’s website noted: “ABC7's over-the-air signal was having issues Friday morning as the Eaton Fire burned near the Mount Wilson Observatory and communication towers in the Angeles National Forest. If you watch ABC7 over the air and you lost our signal, you can still watch us at abc7.com or by downloading the ABC7 Los Angeles app on your mobile phone or smart TV.”

In addition, the station is also available on pay TV operators and streaming services like Hulu + Live TV.

In a statement to the Los Angeles Times, a ABC spokesperson said "The issue was related to the fires," but equipment was not burned.

TV Tech learned that the station was back on the air at 3:30 p.m. PT.

NextGen TV, aka ATSC 3.0, continued to advance in 2024, with some notable developments and renewed hopes that a deregulatory-minded Federal Communications Commission would push ATSC 3.0 into the mainstream with further deregulation in 2025, according to TV Tech contributing editor Phil Kurz in his wrap-up of major 3.0 developments for TV Tech.

As Kurz reported, 78 of the 210 Nielsen designated market areas (DMAs) were on-air at the end of 2024 with ATSC 3.0, making NextGen TV available to 76% of Nielsen TV households. 2024. Two markets—Jacksonville, Florida, and Davenport, Iowa—launched in mid-December, perhaps closing out the year for NextGen TV launches. Notably, 26 NextGen TV markets were transmitting ATSC 3.0 from at least two sticks at year-end.

Here are the twenty most popular stories on the TV Tech website in 2024 about NextGen TV:

1. ATSC 3.0 Deployments: Where and When Will NextGen TV be Available?
2. NextGen TV Advocates Express ‘Deep Concern’ Over Future of ATSC 3.0 Products
3. Antenna Use Climbs Among Internet Homes, But NextGen TV Awareness Remains Low
4. OTA Wireless Readies ATSC 3.0 Datacasting For Commercial Deployment
5. The Many Moving Parts of the Transition to NextGen TV
6. Sinclair’s Chris Ripley Lays Out ATSC 3.0 Challenges, Opportunities
7. ATSC 3.0 Advances on Multiple Fronts in 2024
8. NextGen TV@CES 2024: A Progress Report
9. OTA Wireless Readies ATSC 3.0 Datacasting For Commercial Deployment (Part 2)
10. ATSC Moves To Add VVC Compression To 3.0 Standard
11. ChannelMaster.com Now Shipping Zinwell NextGen TV Receiver
12. Chicago Television Stations Launch NextGen TV Services
13. Latest ATSC 3.0 ‘Plugfest’ Targets Transport, DRM and More
14. Panasonic's Return to U.S. Retail TV Market Includes Support for NextGen TV
15. Gray Television To Enhance Paris Olympics NextGen TV Signal With HDR, Immersive Audio
16. NextGen TV: The Push Is On
17. Three Reasons Why Brazil’s TV 3.0 Decision Matters Here
18. CES2024: 100-Plus NextGen TV Products Will Be Available to Consumers in 2024
19. OTA Wireless Readies ATSC 3.0 Datacasting For Commercial Deployment (Part 3)
20. Carr Raises Possibility of ‘Incentive Auction 2.0’

The Society of Broadcast Engineers has announced that it has authorized a new local chapter to serve members in North and South Dakota and the bordering areas.

The SBE said the chapter has been given chapter number 63. While the Dakotas still cover a wide area, the next nearest chapters are a considerable distance from the two states. As a result, the SBE said, it's expected that some chapter members will attend meetings virtually.

"We constantly strive to serve our members and creating a chapter for the Dakotas helps fill a geographic void,” said SBE President Ted Hand, CPBE, 8-VSB, AMD, ATSC3, DRB. ”I applaud the SBE members who worked to put this chapter together.”

Mark Heller, who previously served on the SBE national board of directors, was instrumental in coordinating the chapter efforts.

To form a new SBE chapter, SBE bylaws require a group of at least 10 members to hold a minimum of three organizational meetings, which the group did earlier this year, submitting its final application materials in October. A group of 16 SBE members worked together, meeting the requirements to form the chapter.

Officers have elected to lead the Dakotas chapter: Chair Jake Bechtold, CBRE, DRB, CBNE; Vice Chair Eli Koppenhaver; Secretary Mark Heller, CPBE; and Treasurer Dustin Moore. Additionally, Mark Borchert will serve as membership chair and Jake Bechtold will serve as frequency coordinator.

Once the chapter application requirements are met, the national board reviews the application and authorizes the chapter.

The SBE is the professional organization for television and radio engineers and those in related fields. It has nearly 4,000 members in 116 chapters across the United States, Hong Kong and Eastern Europe. There are also members in more than 25 other countries. Most chapters meet monthly and offer educational programs and an opportunity to network with other broadcast technical professionals.

For more information about the SBE, contact Chriss Scherer, CPBE, CBNT, member communications director, at cscherer@sbe.org, or 317-846-9000, or visit the SBE website, sbe.org.

There’s a sense of anticipation among some influential leaders in the U.S. broadcast industry that the nagging issue impeding ATSC 3.0 from living up to its full potential will be resolved with Donald Trump’s election to a second, nonconsecutive term as president.

With the November election, many are hopeful the Federal Communications Commission will embrace deregulating television broadcasting and enable the industry to compete more effectively with Big Tech.

As the year closes, broadcasters are hopeful ATSC 3.0 will be on the FCC’s deregulation list—particularly when it comes to sunsetting ATSC 1.0, thereby freeing up multiple sticks in local markets to transmit NextGen TV and begin delivering on the promise of 3.0.

Looking back from the future on this year, it may one day appear 2024 was the last time broadcasters, CE manufacturers, broadcast vendors and others worked to birth NextGen TV under a voluntary transition dictate rather than moving forward with certainty that legacy DTV would end by a certain date.

The Numbers
As of the close of 2024, 78 of the 210 Nielsen designated market areas (DMAs) were on-air with ATSC 3.0, making NextGen TV available to 76% of Nielsen TV households. Two markets—Jacksonville, Florida, and Davenport, Iowa—launched in mid-December, perhaps closing out the year for NextGen TV launches. Notably, 26 NextGen TV markets were transmitting ATSC 3.0 from at least two sticks at year-end. A few had three when low-power television (LPTV) stations were added to the mix. Taken together, this means more than 500 services were on air from 3.0 sticks in 2024, an Advanced Television Systems Committee spokesperson said.

More NextGen TVs and devices are also finding their way into Americans’ homes. The installed base of NextGen TV products climbed to nearly 14 million, up from the 2023 total of 10.3 million. Every day in 2024, Americans purchased 12,000 NextGen TVs—up from 10,000 per day in 2023, the Consumer Technology Association said.

More CE makers are selling NextGen TVs as well. Early in the year, TCL joined Sony, Samsung and Hisense in offering NextGen TVs in the U.S. In September, Panasonic announced its return to the U.S. TV market with OLED and mini-LED sets with NextGen TV support via a firmware upgrade.

Missing from the consumer set roster in 2024 was LG Electronics, one of the companies instrumental in developing the ATSC 3.0 standard. LG decided to sit out selling NextGen TVs in the United States in 2024 after it was ordered in 2023 to pay nearly $1.7 million and $6.75 for every future NextGen TV to Constellation Designs for patent violations. LG appealed the ruling, and in August, Pearl TV filed an amicus brief with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in support of LG.

Pearl TV said it filed the brief because if the damages are allowed to stand not only will LG pull its NextGen TV sets but other CE vendors are likely to do so as well, effectively scuttling the future of TV broadcasting. The appeal is expected to be decided in 2025.

Wins At Home and Beyond
ATSC 3.0 in 2024 saw a number of big wins in the United States and elsewhere. At home, NextGen TV viewers of the Paris Summer Olympics in markets with NBC-owned stations could watch HD coverage with Dolby Vision high dynamic range (HDR) and Dolby Atmos immersive audio over the air via ATSC 3.0.

Gray Television also offered Dolby Vision and Atmos Olympics coverage to viewers in eight of its NBC affiliate markets. In May, the station group offered NextGen TV viewers of WAVE-TV in Louisville, Kentucky, coverage of the Kentucky Derby in Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos—a first for the event.

NBCU also began offering NextGen TV viewers of its NBC- and Telemundo-owned stations in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Miami a start-over feature as well as other personalized broadcast experiences made possible by ATSC 3.0.

The fruits of Run3TV, Pearl TV’s NextGen TV middleware app development abstraction layer, were on display at April’s NAB Show from a variety of developers, including Velope, Playanywhere, Gameloop and Roxi. Each promises to enhance the NextGen TV viewer experience in its own way.

ATSC 3.0 datacasting, too, advanced at NAB Show. Sinclair announced its Broadspan datacasting platform; AT&T Business discussed a trial of 3.0 datacasting aimed at commercial rollout for businesses; and Peak3 announced a deal with Sinclair and an impending deal with OTA Wireless (a joint venture of Nexstar Media Group and E.W. Scripps) to resell 3.0 bandwidth as a mobile virtual network operator. While not directly related to viewers of NextGen TV, these datacasting developments have the potential to touch consumers’ lives in multiple, diverse ways.

In March, America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) and Sinclair reached an agreement to ease public TV stations’ entrance into NextGen TV. For public stations not on air in 3.0 where Sinclair is, the station group agreed to provide free-of-charge carriage of virtual channels. In October, Nebraska Public Television in Omaha, Nebraska, was the first to take advantage of the deal with what Sinclair calls “BEST,” or broadcast-enabled streaming television, to reach viewers with its virtual channels enhanced with Advanced HDR by Technicolor.

Outside the U.S., one of the most important ATSC 3.0 developments was a recommendation by the SBTVD Forum, a nonprofit that advises the Brazilian government on digital TV and policy matters, to adopt the ATSC 3.0 physical layer for the South American nation’s TV 3.0 terrestrial broadcast service.

Other noteworthy 3.0 developments around the world include: Jamaica, which completed its 3.0 deployment in 2024; Trinidad and Tobago, which adopted 3.0 in 2024 and is expected to begin deployment in 2025 with completion in 2026; South Korea, the first nation on air with ATSC 3.0 launching 4K UHD in May 2015, where there was a push this year by broadcasters to encourage regulators to allow activation of mobile services; and India, where development of tech and standards for Broadcast-to-Everything (B2X) under the 3.0 umbrella is commencing with the goal of supporting Direct-to-Mobile broadcasting in India and various datacasting applications worldwide.

In October, the city of Calgary, Canada, and Humber Polytechnic B²C Labs announced a collaboration to design, build and test over-the-air datacasting for secured emergency responder communications, targeted public alerting, digital signage, remote education and timing and navigation applications.

Timing and navigation also may ultimately prove to be the killer app for ATSC 3.0 back in the United States. An ATSC 3.0-based Broadcast Positioning System (BPS) that relies on precise time and positioning data inserted into the over-the-air IP stream of NextGen TV broadcasters could serve as an augmentation or backup to the nation’s satellite-based Global Positioning System.

The U.S. Department of Transportation in September 2023 issued a request for information on GPS alternatives. Since then, NAB has led the industry’s efforts to respond and in 2024 was coordinating with major broadcasters and the government to launch a trial. Adoption of BPS by the government as a GPS backup could lead to rapid removal of existing obstacles to nationwide 3.0 deployment given the national security implications of losing the satellite-based positioning system.

The year 2024 will be remembered for numerous developments that advanced ATSC 3.0 for broadcasters and viewers at home and around the world—and that was under a voluntary transition edict. One can only wonder about the pace and number of developments next year if regulators clear the way for 1.0 to ride off into the sunset at home, and others around the world look to deploy a next-generation television system.

CINCINNATI—In a notable example of a broadcaster turning to artificial intelligence to improve operations and open up new business opportunities, E.W. Scripps has established a leadership team to guide the company’s AI strategy.

As part of the effort, Kerry Oslund was named vice president of AI strategy, and Christina Hartman was named vice president of emerging technology operations. Both are new positions and will report to Chief Transformation Officer Laura Tomlin.

In addition, Keith St. Peter, the new director of newsroom artificial intelligence, will lead AI strategy for news and report to Hartman.

“Our goal is to quickly and responsibly transform our organization into a nimble environment that fosters innovation at all levels, inspiring revenue growth, efficient workflows and new product development,” Tomlin said. “AI will play a critical role in reshaping our operating systems and company culture.”

Oslund has been vice president of enterprise strategy and business development for Scripps, focused on driving adoption and strategic initiatives around ATSC 3.0 broadcasting technology, datacasting and maximizing spectrum use. Oslund is on the board of the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC).

In this new Scripps role, he will drive AI strategy with an emphasis on business development. “Like spectrum, AI has the potential of becoming another foundational asset for the company,” Oslund said. “This is an exciting time for Scripps to be a leader in both spaces.”

Hartman has been vice president and head of Scripps News, which on Nov. 15 moved to streaming-only platforms after ending its over-the-air broadcasts. She has served as co-chair of Scripps’ AI Governance Committee, established to proactively drive AI awareness and its safe adoption. The committee published AI guidelines on the company’s Media Trust Center. She will contribute to strategy and continue to play a leading role in ethical adoption of AI across the organization.

“Driving AI fluency within our workforce and adoption within our workflows will unleash a new era of innovation and creativity,” Hartman said. “I couldn’t be more excited to help lead that transformation with Kerry and Keith under Laura’s leadership.”

St. Peter joined Scripps in 2021 and most recently served as news director at KIVI Boise, Idaho. Prior to that, he was senior executive producer at KNXV Phoenix. As AI technology and its relevant use cases in newsrooms evolve, St. Peter will be tasked with training, adapting and developing newsroom solutions while ensuring journalistic integrity, accuracy and fairness.

The Society of Broadcast Engineers said it has added a new credential to its program of certification, Certified Production Technologist.

As part of the launch of the CPT certification, the SBE laid out how the new program is part of its larger training effort. While the Core Four levels (CBT, CBRE/CBTE, CSRE/CSTE, CPBE) are the foundation of the SBE certification, which launched in 1975, advances in technology have spurred the need for other relevant skills to be evaluated, SPE said.

Examples of this include Certified Broadcast Networking Technologist (2001) and Certified Broadcast Networking Engineer (2012), the specialist certifications (8-VSB, AMD, ATSC3 and DRB), and the Certified Audio Engineer (CEA) and Certified Video Engineer (CEV) certifications.

The CEA and CEV were created for professionals who perform the same functions as a CBRE or CBTE but aren’t involved in RF or regulatory issues. This includes production personnel with radio and TV broadcast facilities, but also those who work in production houses and live venues, as well as employees of streaming services. Candidates for Certified Audio Engineer (CEA) or Certified Video Engineer (CEV) must have five years of suitable experience in audio/video engineering or related technology. The Audio/Video Engineer multiple choice examination consists of questions on operating practices, problems, theory, safety and basic electronics.

“While the CEA/CEV are established in the industry, being created more than 20 years ago, it was realized that an entry-level certification covering the same skills, but without the career service requirement, was needed, especially with the proliferation of streaming services and increase in media facilities not directly involved in broadcast distribution,” SBE Certification Committee chair Ralph Hogan, CPBE, ATSC3, DRB, CBNE said. “Like the CEA and CEV, there are no RF or FCC questions on the exam.”

The group also explained that Certified Broadcast Technologist (CBT) is actually two separate certifications that use the same name. The CBT exam can focus on radio or television.

The new Certified Production Technologist (CPT) program does the same. It will be identified with one name, but has two tracks: audio or video. Again, no experience is required as it is an entry-level certification.

The SBE reported that the CPT exam is to be administered like other SBE certification exams. The exam will consist of 50 multiple-choice questions. It will be open-book, with personal notes and internet access allowed. It’s important to know the technology, but just as important to know where to find a solution when it’s needed, SPE said. To pass the exam, an individual must correctly answer at least 70% (35 total) of the questions.

The exam question pool is being finalized, and in time, a CertPreview sample test will be available. Apply to take the CPT through the SBE website. Find the applications under the Certification tab.

The Society of Broadcast Engineers is the professional organization for television and radio engineers and those in related fields. The SBE has more than 4,500 members in 115 chapters across the U.S. and in Hong Kong and Eastern Europe. There are also members in more than 25 other countries.

PLANO, Texas—Diversified, a global technology solutions provider, has officially opened its new headquarters in Plano, Texas.

The facility opened Oct. 30 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring Plano Mayor John B. Muns, tours and opportunities to engage with Diversified executives and technology partners.

The headquarters is designed to support Diversified’s growth in key markets. It will also showcase the cutting-edge technologies Diversified designs and builds for its worldwide clients, the company said.

“This new headquarters is a working example of what we do best—integrating advanced technology into functional spaces,” Diversified CEO Eric Hutto said. “It’s designed to showcase how modern technology can adapt to the needs of any business, providing an interactive space for our clients to see the practical benefits of the solutions we deliver.”

In announcing the new headquarters in the heart of Plano’s business corridor, the company said it offers a prime location with easy access to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and the wider Dallas metroplex. This central location enhances Diversified’s ability to attract top talent from the region’s growing technology ecosystem and ensures easy accessibility for clients and partners, both locally and globally, the company said.

The space will support Diversified’s executive leadership team and provide a workspace for local teams and visiting associates.

It also features a variety of advanced audiovisual systems and cutting-edge technologies, including:

• Foyer Entrance: A large direct-view LED wall greets guests as they enter. Controlled via a touch panel or wireless interface, the wall can display dynamic content curated by Diversified’s creative teams. Uniform audio coverage is provided through ceiling speakers, offering a seamless and inviting experience from the moment visitors step into the space, Diversified said.
• Main Conference Room: Equipped with dual displays, the executive conference room seats up to 10 and is optimized for collaboration with Microsoft Teams Room solutions and AI-powered cameras. The system offers automatic presenter tracking, dual cameras and audio capture through ceiling-mounted microphones, ensuring high-quality video and audio conferencing. Motorized blinds and polarizing privacy glass, controllable through the Teams interface, add further flexibility for environmental controls.
• Open Area: Featuring a 1.2-millimeter direct view curved LED wall, the open area serves as a collaborative workspace and a production backdrop. Equipped with high-bandwidth connectivity for future technology upgrades, the space also includes ceiling-mounted speakers and multiple audio zones for independent volume control. A ceiling-mounted camera supports presenter tracking for future production functionality, making the area adaptable for various use cases.

Gen AI is having a big effect on the Media & Entertainment Industry, touching everything from presenting the public with viewing options more closely aligned to their individual preferences to deriving business benefits, including higher revenue, but its role in video production lags other categories, according to a new report from Google Cloud and National Research Group.

The report, “The ROI of Gen AI in Media and Entertainment, A global survey of enterprise adoption and value,” is based on a survey of 263 senior leaders of global M&E enterprises with annual revenue of $10 million or more.

According to the report business benefits are being felt across three areas, including time to market, ROI and productivity.

Nearly two-thirds of respondents who identified where gen AI is having the greatest effects pointed to increased conversion (66%), creating new products and services (65%), improved leads and new customer acquisition as well as increased revenue (both 63%).

However, only 35% of 169 respondents answering the question reported using gen AI in the production process.

“Gen AI adoption has been much lower in production compared to customer service and marketing. This is because integrating gen AI into complex production processes might necessitate greater technical investment and a higher tolerance for disruption,” the report said.

If the speed at which Media & Entertainment businesses develop and deploy gen AI applications to meet specific use cases is an indication of the value they place upon the technology, its significance is obvious. A total of 83% reported moving a gen AI use case from idea to production within six months. The pace may be a sign of the “constant pressure” M&E organizations face to innovate as well as the availability of “user-friendly gen AI tools” capable of addressing sophisticated requirements, the report said.

Nearly three out of four M&E organization respondents using gen AI reported seeing a return on investment on at least one of their gen AI use cases, it said.

Gen AI is “emerging as a powerful tool” to tackle the challenges of better understanding audience preferences and derive new revenue streams. “Adoption of this technology in the industry is still in its early stages, but initial results are promising,” it said.

At the moment, the technology is having its greatest impact in powering targeted content recommendations, streamlining processes, such as script analysis, character development and visual effects, and optimizing ad strategies, the report said.

Gen AI is also affecting productivity. Of the 64% of M&E organizations reporting gen AI use in production saying their companies have derived increase productivity, 34% said employee productivity has at least doubled.

“This suggests that gen AI is not simply automating tasks, but fundamentally changing how work gets done—leading to substantial boosts in efficiency,” the report said.

The greatest champion advancing gen AI use at their organizations are chief technology officers (65%). Other important boosters include chief executive officers (49%), chief information officers (46%) and chief financial officers (31%), it said.

Future financial commitment to gen AI appears strong. Fifty percent of respondents said half their organization’s future AI budget will be devoted to gen AI. Twelve percent reported 75% will be allocated to the technology, the report said.

“Over the next two to three years, media and entertainment organizations plan to use gen AI to address a range of objectives, with increasing employee productivity (47%) and improving operational efficacy (46%) at the top of the list,” it said.

Global director for Media & Entertainment Albert Lai at Google has published a blog about the survey and report.

Google has published a link to the full report, which can be accessed after registering.

 WASHINGTON, D.C.—The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has released a new Broadcast Station Self-Inspection Guide for AM radio stations, marking the third in a series of self-inspection guides. 

NAB unveiled guides for FM radio and television stations at the 2024 NAB Show in April. These tools are designed to help broadcasters effectively conduct self-inspections and ensure compliance with federal regulations. Guides for low-power and translator stations are expected to be released soon.

NAB joined with the Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE) to provide broadcasters with up-to-date, standardized guidance on compliance with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules and policies. While the FCC previously issued self-inspection checklists, it discontinued updates in 2010, despite many subsequent changes in regulations. These new guides aim to fill the gap and are also available to contract inspectors participating in the Alternative Broadcast Inspection Program, which operates in partnership with many state broadcaster associations.

The guides are available as a free resource to NAB members at the member downloads section of the NAB website. SBE members may also access the guides directly through the SBE website.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.—PBS North Carolina has announced that Fred Engel will retire from his role as chief technology officer on August 31 after an illustrious career spanning 46 years. Chris Pandich, director of engineering services, will serve as interim chief broadcast engineer while a national search for Engel’s successor gets underway.

Engel, who joined PBS North Carolina in 2016, has been hailed as an industry leader for his invaluable contributions to innovative technology projects that serve the public good. In his role, he has developed new applications for PBS North Carolina’s TV broadcast platform to improve public safety communications, remote learning for students not connected to the Internet and security efforts.

“I’ve witnessed firsthand Fred’s deep commitment to the power of public media,” says David Crabtree, CEO and general manager of PBS North Carolina. “Among his many accomplishments, his instrumental role in developing communication devices for first responders stands out. What began as an idea written on a paper napkin has become a reality with the potential to save lives, leaving an indelible mark on our organization and our community. While Fred’s departure marks a loss for our team, we wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors.”

Fred Engel’s long career has been nothing short of remarkable, PBS North Carolina said. 

Over 28 years at PBS member station WTTW in Chicago, he ascended from his position as an engineering maintenance technician to the role of vice president of technology. In 2004, his team garnered an Emmy Award for its work on building a high-definition video master control facility. During his six-year tenure at KET (Kentucky Education Television) as senior director of technology, Engel and his team spearheaded the establishment of streetside studios, the first for public broadcasting, in downtown Louisville.

Since joining PBS North Carolina in 2016, Engel has been a driving force behind the development of innovative applications for the cutting-edge television broadcast technology ATSC 3.0/NEXTGEN TV. His work, which includes the development of a digital paging service that enables more reliable and secure delivery of emergency information to first responders through a non-traditional use of PBS North Carolina’s TV broadcast platform, has garnered widespread recognition.

“I never envisioned what changes would take place when I moved to North Carolina,” says Engel. “Soon after my arrival, PBS North Carolina (then UNC-TV) was approached by public safety communications officials who had heard that ATSC 3.0 technology might be something that could benefit them. Well, the rest is history. Now PBS North Carolina is recognized as a leader in technology innovation, not only in the public broadcasting community but throughout the industry, nationally and internationally.”

As Engel transitions into this new phase of his life, PBS North Carolina reported that he remains committed to staying actively engaged in the industry, continuing to champion the utilization of NEXTGEN TV to enhance community safety and bridge the digital divide.

“I’ve been fortunate to work with passionate, dedicated, smart people who have been driven to serve,” Engel shares. “I’m proud to have been part of that.”

PARIS—Television viewers in 56 U.S. markets have access to coverage of the Paris Olympics in High Dynamic Range (HDR) thanks to broadcasters and NextGen TV, Pearl TV, a business organization of eight of the largest U.S. television groups, said today.

In total, about 73 million U.S. households live in markets where NextGen TV signals are now transmitted with HDR video. 

Some 12,000 NextGen TV sets and ATSC 3.0 accessory devices, such as 3.0 set-top boxes for legacy DTVs, are being sold to Americans daily, it said.

In all, broadcasters in 67 U.S. markets are transmitting a NextGen TV signal in HDR (not all are NBC affiliates or O&Os, thus the difference). 

Local markets were NextGen TV in HDR is available include:

• Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y.
• Atlanta, Ga.       
• Austin, Texas          
• Baltimore, Md. 
• Baton Rouge, La.             
• Birmingham, Ala.              
• Boston, Mass.       
• Buffalo, N.Y.                       
• Champaign-Springfield-Decatur, Ill.      
• Charleston-Huntington, W.V.     
• Charleston, S.C.
• Chicago, Ill.        
• Cincinnati, Ohio
• Columbus, Ohio
• Dayton, Ohio     
• Denver, Colo.       
• Des Moines-Ames, Iowa  
• El Paso, Texas        
• Flint-Saginaw-Bay City, Mich.        
• Fresno-Visalia, Calif.        
• Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo-Battle Creek, Mich.      
• Green Bay-Appleton, Wisc.             
• Greensboro-High Point-Winston Salem, N.C.    
• Greenville-Spartanburg, SC-Asheville, N.C.        
• Hartford-New Haven, Conn.           
• Honolulu, Hawaii    
• Indianapolis, Ind.           
• Las Vegas, Nev. 
• Little Rock-Pine Bluff, Ark.           
• Los Angeles, Calif.             
• Louisville, Ky.    
• Miami - Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.         
• Minneapolis - St. Paul, Minn.        
• Mobile, AL-Pensacola, Fla.                          
• Myrtle Beach-Florence, S.C.       
• Nashville, Tenn.   
• New Orleans, La.            
• New York, N.Y.                   
• Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News, Va.            
• Oklahoma City, Okla.       
• Omaha, Nebr.       
• Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne, Fla.            
• Philadelphia, Pa.             
• Pittsburgh, Pa.  
• Portland-Auburn, Maine   
• Portland, Ore.                    
• Raleigh-Durham, N.C.                   
• Reno, Nev.                            
• Richmond-Petersburg, Va.                         
• Roanoke-Lynchburg, Va.             
• Rochester, N.Y .
• Sacramento, Calif.             
• Salt Lake City, Utah                           
• San Antonio, Texas                              
• San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, Calif. 
• Seattle-Tacoma, Wash.                    
• Shreveport, La.
• South Bend-Elkhart, Ind.              
• Springfield-Holyoke, Mass.             
• Springfield, Mo.               
• St. Louis, Mo.                   
• Syracuse, N.Y.                   
• Tampa-St Petersburg-Sarasota, Fla.                      
• Tucson, Ariz.        
• Washington, D.C.                             
• West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, Fla.                              
• Wichita - Hutchinson, Kans.      

 More information is available on the Pearl TV website. 

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Fresh off a successful effort to elevate the quality of its video and audio NextGen TV signal to Louisville, Ky., viewers watching WAVE-TV’s Kentucky Derby coverage with High Dynamic Range (HDR) and immersive audio, Gray Television is at it again.

This time the broadcast group will offer NextGen TV viewers in eight of its NBC markets the Paris Olympics in HDR when they open Wednesday, July 24. Viewers in three of those markets also will be able to listen to immersive audio of the games.

As with the Derby, the stations will upconvert the network’s standard dynamic range HD video feed and audio mix to Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos immersive sound.

While the effort will enhance the viewing experience of NextGen TV households, the endeavor takes on added significance because the station group sees the broadcasts as another critical step in promoting NextGen TV to the public.

In this interview, Rob Folliard, senior vice president of government relations and distribution at Gray TV, discusses the station group’s HDR and immersive audio deployment, its plans beyond sports, when it might begin offering the enhancements as part of its NextGen TV broadcasts of other network partners and why broadcasters should waste no time stepping up their efforts to promote NextGen TV.

(An edited transcript.) 

TVTech: How many local Gray Television stations will be offering the Paris Olympics as NextGen TV with HDR and immersive sound?

Rob Folliard: We have eight NBC affiliates that are broadcasting a 3.0 signal right now. I expect all of them will be up and running in HDR by the Paris Olympics. I know for certain at least three of the eight will also have immersive audio—Dolby Atmos. 

TVT: The Paris Olympics deployment of NextGen TV HDR and immersive audio follows a similar deployment for this year’s Kentucky Derby at Gray TV’s WAVE-TV in Louisville. What lessons did you learn from that experience?

RF: A lot of it is related to the marketing and promotion side. We marketed and promoted the heck out of it, and we saw a reaction locally.

We also partnered with a consumer electronics store as well to give away NextGen TVs, and that was successful. We're copying a lot of the promotional effort that we did in Louisville for the Derby. We’re using the Olympics, as well, just to let people know about NextGen TV and create a buzz.

At this stage, that's the most important thing: to let viewers know what we're doing and creating that buzz so people want to buy TVs. Then, if we can turn that into some advertising campaigns in partnership with local retailers, all the better. I think it really was the promotion where the Kentucky Derby project was successful, and we want to model that for the Paris Olympics.

TVT: Can you offer a little more detail on how you are promoting NextGen TV for the Olympics?

RF: We're already promoting the Olympics, so now we're including tags and other info in those promotions that say, “And you can watch the Olympics in HDR.” So, a lot of it we're doing anyway, but now we’re also adding the HDR message. In those markets where there's immersive audio, then we’re adding the Dolby Atmos immersive audio message as well. 

We are also promoting HDR and immersive audio online on our station websites where viewers can learn more. There isn’t a national retail partner, but ideally each market will find a partner.

TVT: Like the Kentucky Derby, your NBC affiliates for the Olympics will be offering the public HDR in the form of Dolby Vision and immersive audio in the form of Dolby Atmos. How did you decide on Dolby’s implementations?

RF: Dolby's been the gold standard for decades. So that was pretty easy. Certainly, on the audio side of things. Dolby has been a great partner for NextGen in general. They've been supportive the whole way. They have involved themselves. They have made themselves available, and they provided a lot of information for our promotion and our marketing as well. I know Dolby is partnering with some other broadcasters promoting the Olympics. 

Dolby's aggressive, and they want to promote NextGen TV, and that goes hand in hand with what we want.

TVT: It won’t be long until we are past the Olympics and into college football and the NFL. Will there be the same technical setup for football? NFL? College?

RF: That's the goal. We are working with our network partners at CBS, Fox and ABC in order to get the necessary approvals. As you know, there are many different special sauces of HDR, and to the extent any network has a preference—like NBC has a specific LUT [Look Up Table] that they want everyone to use—great.  We'll do that if the network has certain specs. We want to work with them on that to make sure we don't get crosswise with anyone.

TVT: What are Gray TV’s plans with respect to other markets where your stations are affiliated with other networks? Are there plans to follow suit in those markets? 

RF: Absolutely. NBC was the priority because of the Olympics. We saw the Olympics as an obvious tentpole segment in August, so NBC had to go first. Then, we expect to have everybody up by the fall for football. Because, you know, nothing moves the needle –nothing makes TV sell—like football. 

The bulk of the TV sets are always sold in the second half of the year, in the fall, and then in the winter during the holiday buying season. It's because of football. So, the promotional campaign will work perfectly well, making it available for football.

TVT: What about the rest of the schedule—beyond sports?

RF: With NBC, we're already doing it 24/7. In Louisville, the moment we turned on the upconversion, it was the full 24/7 stream. It was all of our news, all of our syndicated content, all of our local content and all of NBC’s content.

It'll be the same thing with Fox, CBS and ABC. It'll be the full 24/7 stream that'll be upconverted to HDR so when there are other high profile events in the fall, they'll all be in HDR.

TVT: Obviously, there’s more to NextGen TV than HDR and immersive audio. There’s also program restart and interactive and on-demand content that Gray’s looking to take advantage of? How is that playing out?

RF: They are all coming. Restart is on our menu of things to get launched in the relatively near future. We aren't there just yet, but I expect it'll be up in the next couple of months. At that point, there’s another NextGen TV feature that is promotable, consumer-friendly and is the type of feature that's going to make TVs sell. 

Restart is the most popular feature in Europe with their HbbTV. We'll lean on the lessons that our fellow broadcasters in Europe learned by promoting that. 

Many people from all the different departments within Gray will be meeting within the next couple of weeks to really strategize on how we want to promote this. What can we do? What do we think consumers will like?

We want to get everyone in the company thinking about what NextGen can do. They can take that back to their departments and their teams and start coming up with ideas.

You know, we've now built it out to where it makes sense to start experimenting with NextGen TV features to see what sticks. Given the viewership data we're able to pull for NextGen sets, it's going to be very quick and easy for us to tell what was successful. We'll be able to learn much more quickly than we ever could in the past.

TVT: Pearl TV, to which Gray belongs, has promoted NextGen TV to the public for several years, especially around the holiday buying season. Here Gray is promoting it in conjunction with major sporting events like the Derby and the Olympics. What’s your message to other broadcasters when it comes to promoting NextGen TV?

RF: I think it's critical that we all start promoting NextGen TV, and we all make it more visible. This is the future of our industry. The DTV standard was developed in the late ‘80s, early ‘90s. We can't continue to broadcast with the best technology of 1988, and that's what we’re doing. We need to move forward to a modern IP-based technology. It's not 1988 anymore.

We're not just competing with ourselves. We're competing with Google, Apple, YouTube and Amazon. If they have a better product than we do, then we're going to be in trouble. If they have a better technology than we do, then we're in trouble. We need to keep pace with our real competitors out there, and NextGen is the way to do it. 

But not only do we need to complete this transition, we also need to let consumers know. We need to make consumers excited to buy TVs to watch NextGen because it doesn't do any good if we complete this transition and nobody owns a TV.

We've got a short window to get all of this done and to remain competitive with the streamers who have the advantage of an IP-based system where they can run targeted ads, they can run addressable advertising. We need to catch up, and NextGen TV is our last, best opportunity to do so.

Missed any of our recent product news? Here is TV Tech's weekly wrap-up of new products, services and deployments we published in our newsletter between July 15 and July 19. The stories are listed from the newest on Friday July 19, day by day back to our stories from Monday July 15.

LiveU, Pente Networks Launch LiveU Private Connectivity

As broadcasters and news organizations look for more reliable connectivity for their coverage of this year’s elections, LiveU is reporting that it is working with private wireless network orchestration and management software company, Pente Networks, to LiveU Private Connectivity.

Sky News UK Among Global Broadcasters Hit by IT Outage

Sky News UK and Sky Sports News have been taken off air by what’s being described as the ‘biggest IT outage of all time’.

Google Named the Official Search AI Partner of Team USA

Google, Team USA and NBCUniversal have announced a sponsorship agreement naming Google as the Official Search AI Partner of Team USA.

SES Expands Partnership with Ateme for Sports and Live Events

Ateme, a global provider of video compression, delivery, and streaming solutions, says longtime partner SES is integrating its technology to improve and secure SES’s distribution network for broadcasting of sports and events content worldwide.

Telos Alliance Launches Virtual Commentator Panel for Telos Infinity VIP Virtual Intercom Platform

Telos Alliance has announced the Infinity Virtual Commentator Panel, a new addition to the Telos Infinity VIP Virtual Intercom Platform.

Audio-Technica to Supply Audio Gear for NBC Sports’ Olympics, Paralympics Coverage

NBC Sports will use a variety of microphones, headsets and headphones from Audio-Technica for its production of the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics, July 24-August 11, and August 28-Sept. 8, respectively.

AY Productions Relies on Pliant Technologies’ Crewcom System for High-Profile Broadcasts

Pliant Technologies has released details of its work providing technologies to AY Productions, a specialist in audio and intercoms that provides television networks with a talented team of communication engineers for the setup and operation of intercoms for a range of major sporting events.

ThinkAnalytics, TMT Insights To Highlight New Partnership at IBC 2024

Artificial Intelligence-based content discovery, audience insight and targeted advertising expert ThinkAnalytics has formed a strategic partnership with media operations software developer and consultant TMT to deliver end-to-end supply chain transparency for Media & Entertainment (M&E) Industry companies.

LiveU Celebrates 18th Birthday at IBC with Sports Production and Tech Enhancements

In celebration of its 18th birthday, LiveU has announced that it will be unveiling new cloud live production solutions and a range of new tech advancements during the IBC Show at Stand C19 in Hall 7 during Sept. 13-16, at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center.

Calrec Celebrates Diamond Jubilee with New Audio Tech at IBC 2024

As it celebrates its diamond jubilee this year, Calrec has announced that it will be pushing the boundaries of audio broadcasting at IBC 2024 with a full range of connected technologies enabling broadcasters to scale their processing directly in the cloud.

Broadcasters Tap Lawo for Audio at Bastille Day Concert de Paris

Lawo has announced that for the 12th edition of the ‘Concert de Paris’, Lawo’s IP audio infrastructure including mc²96 and mc²56 consoles, was once again used for the live sound and broadcast requirements of the French public broadcasters and the Eurovision network.

TNDV Upgrades Aspiration Production Truck

TNDV has announced a complete refresh of its Aspiration production truck’s video, audio and IT infrastructure that brings the truck directly into the 4K world from 720p/1080i HD.

Dalet To Introduce New Level of News Flexibility, AI Integrations At IBC 2024

Dalet will highlight new flexible media workflows, product capabilities and artificial intelligence (AI) integrations at the IBC Show, Sept. 13-16, at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center.

Canon Introduces EOS R1, EOS R5 Mark II Mirrorless Cameras

Canon has launched the EOS R1 and EOS R5 Mark II, two full-frame mirrorless cameras for professional still photography and video production.

Interra Systems To Show BATON 9 AI/ML-Based Media QC Solution at IBC Show

Interra Systems will show the latest developments in its content-aware quality control (QC), monitoring, captioning and analysts at IBC 2024, Sept. 13-16, at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center.

ASG Unveils Virtual Truck Cloud Production For Live, Remote Events

Advanced Systems Group (ASG) has launched Virtual Truck, a cloud-based remote production solution for live sports, music, corporate events and other video productions.

NBC Sports Highlights Importance of Sony Solutions in its Paris Olympics Coverage

NBC Sports has announced that it is using Sony Electronics to provide innovative broadcast technology solutions and on-site support for its production of the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics, July 24-August 11, and, August 28-September 8, respectively.

Avid Upgrades NEXIS Software

Avid has announced improvements to its software-defined storage solution, Avid NEXIS that are designed to help users meet the most demanding audio workflows.

AZA Group Management and BlaCon Media Deploy Bitcentral’s ViewNexa for FAST Channel Launch

Bitcentral has announced that its ViewNexa platform is being used by AZA Group Management and BlaCon Media will launch a new streaming channel, Politics In Color, which is dedicated to election news and political analysis.

Sky News UK and Sky Sports News have been taken off air by what’s being described as the ‘biggest IT outage of all time’.

Sky News began to experience problems around 5am and switched to broadcasting documentaries at 7am. It then went completely off-air about an hour later.

The channel returned to air at 8.50am with a much-changed backdrop, and no graphics, autocue or packages. It then went back off air again after a short news update and before resuming at 9am.

In a statement on X (formerly Twitter), Sky News chairman David Rhodes said that the network had “not been able to broadcast live TV this morning. Much of our news report is still available online, and we are working hard to restore all services.”

In its own post on X, Microsoft 365 said: “We’re investigating an issue impacting users ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services”.

Cybersecurity company CrowdStrike later released a statement in which it said it is “actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed.”

Australian broadcasters were also forced off air, with both Sky News Australia and ABC hit.

AWS, NOW, Virgin Media, and BT are also among the companies impacted, according to DownDetector.

This story first appeared in our sister publication TVBEurope

EMERYVILLE, Calif.—Advanced Systems Group (ASG) has launched Virtual Truck, a cloud-based remote production solution for live sports, music, corporate events and other video productions.

“The Virtual Truck is a great example of cloud production democratizing live production and opening the field to a new generation of professionals,” said ASG president Dave Van Hoy. “It’s removing the barriers imposed by location-bound, costly legacy hardware.”

Leveraging ASG’s Virtual Production Control Room (VPCR), Virtual Truck supports multi-camera production, switched live in a control room environment. Virtual Truck’s software-defined workflows mirror traditional production methods, which makes it possible for operators to use familiar control surfaces, said ASG chief cloud officer Claudia Souza. 

Helping to make Virtual Truck a reality is the availability of high-bandwidth IP transmission for IP-encoded contribution of on-site camera feeds into ASG’s cloud environment. Cloud providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) offer robust compute and storage technologies to support Virtual Truck, it said.

Virtualized video and audio production solutions from television industry vendors like Vizrt, Gallery Sienna, Audinate, Telos, Solid State Logic and Grass Valley are helping to make cloud-based live video production a reality, it said.

The initial ASG Virtual Truck offering relies on public-, private- or hybrid-hosted solutions and features a 44-input, 8 M/E switcher; eight channels of replay; a flexible HTML5 or dedicated graphics station; 64-stereo, 44 bus return and AES67 compatible audio. A fully configured multi-channel beltpack and IFB comms for cloud-to-site and site-to-cloud communications rounds out the Virtual Truck technology complement, ASG said.

“Our virtual, live production solutions offer greater flexibility and cost savings than traditional on-the-ground broadcast components,” said Van Hoy. “While we recognize that there are still live events that require physical trucks, we are providing a cost-effective and flexible alternative solution that addresses the needs of live production.”

Tech-focused production services and solutions company Surella is ASG-s first camera and contribution truck partner. The company provides bi-coastal HD and 4K camera and support vehicles built to integrate seamlessly on site with ASG Virtual Trucks, it said.

Delivering content for customers or private viewing stations for clients is seamless, requiring no additional satellite uplink. Broadcasters and streamers can simultaneously deliver multiple program versions and streaming formats to standard distribution outlets like YouTube, Facebook or a CDN, ASG said.

The ASG team provides support from initial setup to full deployment and ongoing maintenance. “Our best-in-class Cloud Team includes experts who’ve pioneered the industry’s transition to software-defined workflows,” said Souza. “They have extensive experience engineering, integrating and deploying cloud-based systems for high-performance environments.”

Besides bringing live video production within the reach of more users, Virtual Truck also reduces the carbon footprint of remote production, the company said.

More information is available on the company’s website. 

Fox News Media is deploying massive tech and production resources for its coverage of the Republican National Convention, with over 400 people on site, 24 plus cameras and over 9,000 feet of fiber connecting broadcast locations around the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisc. where the event will take place. 

One staple of political event coverage will, however, be missing. For the first time, Fox News won’t have a mobile production unit on site. It plans to send back all the feeds and content from its cameras and operations back to its New York control rooms using 45 transmission lines. 

“This is the first convention since we started doing conventions where we don't have a mobile unit here on site,” explained Scott Wilder,  executive vice president of production and operations at Fox News Media, who oversees all technical, field and production operations of Fox News Media’s special events and breaking news coverage, including the 2024 presidential election.

“Everything we're doing is being sent as a home run, as we refer to it, back to New York," he explained. "The producers who would normally sit in a control room are all back in New York, and the director is back in New York. All camera lines go back to New York. Shows are being cut in New York.”

The decision to remotely produce the convention wasn't a matter of embracing cutting edge technology, Wilder added. “We're not the first people to do this. Fox Sports have been doing a lot of production this way. Everybody's very comfortable with the technology.”

Instead, the biggest changes involved modifying their approach to planning and managing the production. “The producers are used to being in the same location as their talent and anchors, so we’ve worked to mitigate that issue," he said. Their director, for example, spent four days on site blocking out shots, working with the camera people and familiarizing himself with the setup before heading back to New York. 

“He now goes back to New York feeling that has a great connection and understanding of the space,” Wilder said. 

BACKUPS AND MORE BACKUPS

To handle all the feeds, both the main feeds and the backups, Fox News has forty-five transmission lines from Milwaukee to New York and thirty-one lines from New York to Milwaukee. Those include 16 JPEG XS lines that provide extremely low end-to-end latency.

For quality control and monitoring, they also have an engineering hub in a parking lot near the Fiserv Forum that includes a trailer where they built a facility for monitoring the feeds. “It mimics a mobile production unit in terms of having a monitor wall and being a place where all the tech managers and producers can sit comfortably and we can watch the remote feeds come in and out and see all cameras,” he said. 

While most of the transmission is fiber, they have a KU truck in the engineering hub area to provide a satellite backup. For further redundancy they have a streaming backup option as well. 

In the engineering hub area they also have a studio van. The van and its studio can be used in an emergency Wilder said if “there is some Secret Service issue or a technology issue. If for some reason we are locked out of the Fiserv we can put an anchor in the van and get them on TV.” 

Wilder spoke with TV Tech prior to an attempted assassination attempt on Trump on Saturday July 13, which is likely to make security and redundancy planning at the convention an even bigger issue.

LONG FIBER RUNS

During the RNC, Fox News will be working out of several main areas spread out over a five block area. Those include the Fiserv Forum where the convention is being held, The Gather, the Baird Convention Center and an engineering hub. It has laid more than 9000 feet and 180 strands of fiber to connect its broadcast locations and will be using more than 24 cameras. 

Inside Fiserv Forum, Fox has three sets of robotic cameras. Those include Sony FR7 cameras controlled from their engineering trailer as well as Panasonic UE150.

BSI is providing connectivity and comms for Fox, which will have two RF cameras providing feeds. In addition, Wilder said “LiveU come up with some solutions of dedicated Ethernet bandwidth and we will be working with them for one backpack.” 

The Fiserv Forum and the other facilities are relatively new, which has made it much easier to get the connectivity they need, Wilder said. 

Unlike many earlier conventions, when the networks were given luxury boxes above the arena for their studios, Fox will have a 30,000 square foot spot on the concourse of the Fiserv Forum for its operations. Inside the Fiserv Forum it will have three sets, one of which will use three Sony robotic cameras controlled from the engineering hub. 

The end result reflects extensive planning. Wilder says they have been planning for the convention since Milwaukee was announced as the site for the 2024 RNC convention in 2022 and that they were already extremely familiar with the site. The Democratic National Convention was scheduled to be held in Milwaukee in 2020 and Fox already had people in the city when it was canceled at the last minute. “So between that convention, all the visits for that and our debate [in 2023] and now this, we all are very, very familiar,” with the area, Wilder said. “We've had people on the ground now for three weeks.”

Fox News Media (FNM) will present live programming surrounding the 2024 Republican National Convention beginning Sunday, July 14th through Thursday, July 18th. Originating from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the network’s convention coverage will be available across all of Fox News Media’s platforms, including Fox News Channel (FNC), Fox Business Network (FBN), Fox News Audio, Fox News Digital and Fox Nation.

Since launching a major marketing branding campaign on Super Bowl Sunday this year, the local streaming service Zeam has spent the first half of 2024 working to spur the development of more hyperlocal content by deploying new technologies that aim to make it easier and more profitable for local broadcasters to offer new streaming content. 

Those efforts include the launch of the Zeam360 mobile production studio, the construction of a new studio in New York City’s Times Square set to open this summer, the creation of a small branded content studio in Marion Ohio, and a partnership to launch “Fast Lane TV, by Ryan Philly” with hyperlocal content from racetracks around the country. 

Taken together, this flurry of activity, makes Zeam a compelling case study in how newer technologies for production and advertising could make hyperlocal streaming more accessible and profitable for local stations. 

“The idea is to innovate and lead by example and to show our broadcast partners everything that can be done in the whole space by getting their viewers more content,” explained Jack Perry, the founder and CEO of Zeam Media whose local OTT platform Zeam currently reaches audiences in over 165 DMS and features 227 over-the-air stations providing 274 total streams. Zeam is backed by Gray Television, CBS, News Press & Gazette, Hearst and Morgan Murphy.

The centerpiece of that effort to “innovate and lead by example” is the Zeam360 mobile studio. Zeam360 bowed with a barnstorming tour in early 2024, stopping at nearly 30 local broadcast stations en route to the Super Bowl as part of the company’s strategy of helping local broadcast stations learn about the possibilities of OTT while also creating compelling hyperlocal content for viewers.

The technology used in the van illustrates how the cost of production gear has both improved and plummeted in cost, making hyperlocal production an appealing opportunity for local broadcasters, Perry says. Excluding the cost of the van and customizing it, the gear for hyperlocal production can be acquired for under 15K. 

Hyperlocal production has been “viewed as hard,” Perry admits. “But it’s really the 'unknown part’ that is hard. If you have the right technology, and the technology is getting simpler…we’re out there to show it makes a lot of sense.” 

“It can be outfitted inexpensively,” he added, particularly at stations that have decommissioned trucks. “That’s the most expensive part and we’ve heard from a number of stations that we have these old decommissioned trucks. Maybe we ought to outfit it like Zeam 360.’”

The Zeam360 mobile production studio is built around “the exact same van that Amazon Prime uses, [the Dodge Ram] Promaster,” Perry said. 

It is customized with four captain’s seats and a podcast table for a podcast studio in the back. It is equipped with solar power.

The setup has six or seven cameras, Perry said. The primary cameras are AIDA Imaging HD-NDI-CUBE cameras (https://aidaimaging.com/hd-ndi-cube/). It uses a vMix production system, which handles live video switching, video playback, audio mixing and graphics. (https://www.vmix.com/) For microphones, they are using the RODE Wireless GO II system. (https://rode.com/en/microphones/wireless/wirelessgoii)

Zeam360 is completely IP-based for video distribution. Internally, they use NDI which makes for simple plug and play for adding/removing cameras and other devices both inside and outside of the Zeam360. 

They also utilize iPhones to shoot remotely and bring the video back to the Zeam360 via SRT. The output of the Zeam360 is an SRT stream directly into the Zeam MediaMogul cloud, with connectivity for the Zeam360 from Starlink.

Taken together, the audio, video and streaming tech (video switching, audio mixing, graphics, cameras, network equipment, etc.) used to equip the van is under $15K, the company said. 

An early example of how the setup can help a local station bump up its local content production can be found at KVVU, the Gray Television owned Fox affiliate in Las Vegas. It was one of the nearly 30 stations visited by Zeam360 prior to its big Super Bowl Marketing campaign of regional Super Bowl ads featuring John Stamos. 

Kristin Bernal, senior executive producer of news specials and entertainment, at the station said that “we worked with the Zeam team and Zeam360 when they were in Las Vegas for the Super Bowl. The idea was to take a look outside as they traveled around the Las Vegas strip and Allegiant Stadium. We incorporated them into our lifestyle show for the week and also took their live elements into our newscasts. We incorporate live looks and interviews into our shows daily, so content from Zeam 360 was a great, natural addition to our Super Bowl coverage. We promoted what the Zeam Van was and how viewers benefit from the technology. We used their livestream when live on air, which was made possible via their Starlink Internet service.”

“What is nice about Zeam360 is that we didn’t have to worry much about the technology behind it – the van comes equipped with everything we need to capture the content we want,” she explained. “All we needed to do was take what was produced from the van and drop it into our own programming as we saw fit…We thought Zeam 360 gave us another tool in the toolbox to cover a big moment in the community like the Super Bowl. I think people are interested in fresh, unique content that shows what is happening around them and Zeam360 provided us a different way to do that.”

Since then, Perry recalls traveling and live streaming with Zeam360 on Route 66 on the way to the 2024 NAB Show.  “The Arizona Supreme Court had just overturned an abortion ruling and there was a protest as we were pulling into Flagstaff,” he said. “I grabbed a gimbal and an iPhone and linked the iPhone back to Zeam360 and streamed it live…I think the Zeam360 van can inspire more activities like that, whether it’s a protest or a little league game. We’re trying to show how simple it is to get your viewers something to watch.” 

Such efforts are particularly notable given hype surrounding hyperlocal news in the 2000s and the subsequent financial difficulties that hyperlocal news sites faced in the 2010s, when a number of high profile operations like The Patch were either shut down or significantly scaled back. 

Since then, however, hyperlocal news has seen something of a revival, with a revamped version of The Patch under new owners now turning a modest profit. 

In addition to the lowered costs of production and streamlined workflows, Zeam is also betting that its economies of scale for digital and streaming advertising can make hyperlocal content a profitable idea for local stations that stream local content and news on Zeam. 

“We have our own ad serving technology called AdSync,” Perry explained, “that is bolted onto the traffic systems at hundreds of mobile station websites…and all the station apps and websites that are part of our network. It is pulling all those available into a network of avails…The rebranding of the company [from Syncbak to Zeam Media in May 2024] was driven specifically by the nation of demonstrating to the advertising world that this is one bucket of ad avails with billions of avails.” 

In addition to pooling all the avails so advertisers can easily target audiences, the Zeam platform also makes it easier for small producers to connect with advertisers. “Our ad technology today is offering over 6 billion impressions, up from zero only a few years ago,” Perry said. “Even if you are a little podcaster, you can benefit from joining that network of advertising avails.”

To build on those efforts, Zeam is constructing a studio in Times Square, which will both boost its content production and act as a billboard for the service in an area of New York City that sees some 55,000 people walk by each day. The studio is expected to go live this summer. 

Zeam is also operating a branded content studio in Marion, Ohio. “It’s showing our broadcast partners that branded content is a big part of the future,” Perry said. “Micro audiences are not a bad thing if you’re not spending a lot to create the content and if it doesn’t cost you a lot to equip your studio.”

More recently, Zeam added new channels from Tegna and streams from stations owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, which is now offering hyperlocal news from KAAL-TV (Rochester, Minn.), WHEC-TV (Rochester, N.Y.), WDIO-TV (Duluth, Minn.), KOB-TV (Albuquerque, N.M.), KSTP-TV (Minneapolis, Minn.), and WNYT-TV (Albany, N.Y.) to viewers national via Zeam’s platform.

In June it also launched a partnership with Ryan Phinny that featured the creation of a dedicated Ryan Phinny channel on Zeam, called “Fast Lane TV, by Ryan Phinny,” and the production of local content using Zeam’s mobile production unit. The Zeam360 van will also be on-site at various Phinny races, capturing and livestreaming pre-and-post race content that will be featured on the channel. 

Perry believes that these ongoing examples of low-cost hyperlocal programming will help overcome the reluctance of some station groups to stream their local news. 

Nexstar, for example, has been vocal about the impact that streaming might have on its lucrative retransmission consent revenues and responded to those worries in 2023 by restricting the amount of local news content it is streaming.  

Perry responds by saying there are ways to offer and create hyperlocal content that won’t hurt the value of local newscasts in retransmission negotiations.  

“I say let's get your viewers something else to watch,” he said. “Let's cover your communities more deeply. We launched a UGC [user generated content] utility called Zeam Up to let viewers provide content to stations. If you are worried about retrans, produce other things. On Zeam you can build an out of market audience and you can start thinking about all the types of content that won’t…compete [with your feed] on the cable companies. That content won’t cause the cable company to say `we're not gonna pay returns anymore because you're putting your product out there.’ It’s a matter of giving them something else to watch.”

BRIDGEVILLE, Pa.—The public TV station KBTC has redesigned and upgraded its lighting design with Brightline soft lights. 

The Puget Sound, Tacoma, Washington PBS affiliate, KBTC-TV, operates as a public television station through Bate’s Technical College and reaches a vast audience of 4.3 million from southwest Washington through southern British Columbia.

With the multiple-award-winning “Northwest Now” (a weekly public affairs program) and fundraising events shot in their Tacoma studio, the station needed an update to its on-set incandescent and fluorescent lighting. KBTC has a main and a secondary set plus two areas for stand-up coverage. 

To handle the upgrade, the station called in noted lighting director Bruce Aleksander and TV Tech columnist to develop an improved lighting design for the facility that efficiently used the existing electrical distribution system while replacing its 1970’s era dimming system.

Aleksander’s lighting design made the most of KBTC’s current assets with only cost-effective upgrades. 

“Every dollar that was spent on this project can be seen on the set and guests,” he explains. “By making the most of the existing electrical infrastructure we saved a lot of time and money. Once I examined the existing distribution, I picked the easiest path to achieve the station’s goals. The goal is to provide beautiful lighting that will present the station’s hosts and guests in the best lighting possible. Once I understand what the client needs, then I can envision the look that will best suit those needs. After that, I can work out what equipment will be needed to create the look I envisioned.”

A Kliegl lighting/dimming system was repurposed, adding the ability to route non-dimming power to new solid-state soft lights from Brightline Lighting. The station replaced existing fixtures with two dozen Brightline L1.2 and L1.4 studio soft lights and one dozen Lupo DayLED 1000 and 2000 Fresnels. The legacy dimmers and control system were replaced with an ETC lighting console and DMX-512 lighting control protocol. Plug adapters were easily added to utilize the existing electrical distribution system.

“Brightline fixtures are simply the best ‘soft’ lights in the industry,” continues Aleksander. “And the ability to use available accessories for a control of a soft light makes this a unique system.”

The Brightline soft light’s adjustable color temperature enabled the design team to light at 4400K (Kelvin) - a more neutral color temperature well suited for rendering skin tones. That color temperature is also close to the native color temperature of KBTC’s existing video displays on set, ensuring a consistent look and allowing the station to keep more of their legacy equipment.

Another cost savings in Aleksander’s redesign is the subsequent power reduction. The new LED fixtures use 1/5 th the power of what the previous incandescent lights used. “This is not only a direct savings of energy it takes to light the set, but also a major reduction in the energy it takes to cool the studio,” Kathy Katz, Co-Founding Partner, Brightline explains. “Many studios find that the energy savings alone provide a return on investment in as little as two and a half years. As is the case with LEDs vs. incandescents, there are no lamps to change over the lifetime of the fixtures. At a time when we’re looking to reduce our CO2 emissions, this represents a significant contribution toward addressing climate change.”

“We couldn’t be happier with the end result,” added Steve Newsom, director of engineering, at KBTC. “With this redesign, not only is the video quality of our productions vastly improved but we’re doing it in a way that worked within our budget and will ultimately reduce our operating costs. It’s a win-win for everyone at KBTC.”

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C.—Leading television stations serving the Myrtle Beach-Florence, S.C. market have launched NextGen TV aka ATSC 3.0 broadcasts. 

The launch involved WPDE-TV (the ABC affiliate owned by Sinclair), WBTW (the CBS affiliate owned by Nexstar), WHMC (ETV and SCETV PBS Kids 24/7) and WWMB (Howard Stirk Holdings’ Dabl affiliate). 

The June 19 Myrtle Beach-Florence launch follows a decade of development and months of planning and preparation by the local stations. WWMB, owned by Howard Stirk Holdings, has converted to ATSC 3.0 transmissions. WWMB will broadcast its own programming, as well as the programming of the other participating stations, in NextGen TV format. All the programming of each participating station will continue to be available in the existing DTV format, which all modern television sets can receive. 

BitPath, the country’s premier data broadcasting platform, led the planning process and coordinated efforts across the four television stations. 

TV Tech has been tracking all the markets where NextGen TV broadcasts have been launched here. Our full coverage of NextGen TV issues and developments is available here.  

SYDNEY—NEP Group has acquired 10 new Sony MLS-X1 Live Switchers, bringing the video production facilities company’s total to 31, Sony said today.

“NEP initially purchased 21 MLS-X1 units to upgrade and expand our current Sydney facility and deploy them in time for last year’s large international sporting competition held across Australia and New Zealand,” said Marc Segar, NEP senior vice president of technology.

The MLS-X1 is part of the Sony Networked Live ecosystem through connected hybrid on-premises and cloud capabilities. 

“The new MLS-X1 Live Switchers are currently being used in Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland on a variety of projects, productions and events. This really highlights the versatility and efficiency of the MLS-X1 Live Switchers within NEP's production ecosystem,” said Segar.

“By being able to allocate switcher resources between virtual configurations and seamlessly integrate additional hardware as needed, the MLS-X1 enhances NEP's ability to handle a diverse range of projects and events across multiple locations. Moreover, the native ST-2110 support ensures easy integration into NEP's existing facilities, further streamlining our production workflows. 

NEP is among the leaders producing events that increasingly require additional resources as the use of 4K increases and larger switcher configurations are needed, said Sony.

“The MLS-X1 is easily expanded and allows for efficient use of resources. It can be configured for large global 4K productions or divided into smaller HD productions as required. NEP typically uses an MLS-X1 or multiple MLS-X1s in our Andrews production hubs to manage all the major sports coverage that we produce on a weekly basis,” said Segar.

The MLS-X1 offered several benefits that attracted NEP to the switcher, including its modular approach and scalability, said Sony.

“We love the way we can share resources efficiently across various projects, whether it's a large-scale international sporting event or a smaller, localized production,” said Segar. “The scalability and flexibility of the MLS-X1 Live Switcher align perfectly with NEP's needs, allowing us to adapt to the demands of different projects seamlessly.”

More information from Sony Australia and Sony New Zealand is available online.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—As the presidential race heats up in the hotly contested swing state of Wisconsin, PurpleTV has announced that it will launch an over-the-air (OTA) broadcast TV service focusing on politics. The service will be available starting June 27 on Channel 16.1 in the evenings on Roseland Broadcasting’s WWMW in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

At launch it will provide bite-sized videos and informational text covering politics to what the station is calling the "purple majority"—those who aren't, politically speaking, all red or all blue. 

Roseland had previously announced plans to launch a politically focused OTA service on its low power TV station when it changed the call letters of its Milwaukee station to WWMW. 

The channel will also be streamed on PurpleTV.com.

"Purple people want to get on with their lives. They want politicians to work together and compromise, they don't want angry performance artists," said PurpleTV's president, Matthew Davidge.

The company also stressed that PurbleTV will not offer a conventional TV watching experience. PurpleTV will look more like an internet feed or a social media stream and will be a place for viewers to perch during commercial breaks on other channels. Viewing is designed to be measured in seconds, not minutes. It will broadcast from 7pm to 11pm, Monday through Friday, during TV Primetime. 

In addition, PurpleTV will test the interactivity of QR codes to connect viewers to the channel. In addition to offering bite-sized political information, the channel will cover the nuts and bolts of politics, such as voter registration, down-ballot races, voter turnout, and more.

In launching the service, the station highlighted the high interest in politics in its coverage area. Wisconsin is a purple state, that has swung between supporting red and blue politicians. Donald Trump lost Wisconsin by 20,000 votes in the 2020 Presidential Election. Trump won the State by 23,000 votes in the 2016 Presidential Election. The margin of victory was less than 1% in both elections. 

Milwaukee also has, at 27%, one of the highest percentages of over-the-air (OTA) audiences in America as measured by the percentage of TV households. Channel 16 reaches 2.25 million people, so approximately 600,000 people will be able to view the channel. Milwaukee will also host the 2024 Republican National Convention from July 15th – 18th. 

"We are realistic about the channel's impact but if we can reach even a few thousand voters in Milwaukee it could make the difference," said Ken Switzer, director of marketing and communications. "The stakes are so high in the 2024 Presidential Election. Every vote will matter, especially in the purple states." 

Over-the-air (OTA) viewers need only an inexpensive TV antenna to watch PurpleTV for free, alongside ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC, as well as Univision and Telemundo. 

PRINCETON, N.J.—Triveni Digital has announced that Capitol Broadcasting Company—the owner and operator of WRAL-TV, WRAZ-TV, WILM-TV, and WNGT-TV in North Carolina—has selected Triveni Digital's award-winning Station Manager to simplify the operation and delivery of NextGen TV and ATSC 1.0 services. 

Capitol Broadcasting Company will deploy the industry-first Station Manager solution across its stations, setting up a foundation for efficient management of ATSC 3.0 operations, the companies said. 

"We are excited to renew our collaboration with Triveni Digital, a trusted technology partner and longstanding advisor for NextGen TV," said Peter Sockett, director of engineering and operations at Capitol Broadcasting Company. "Deploying Triveni Digital's Station Manager was a strategic decision that will streamline our ASTC 3.0 and ATSC 1.0 operations, saving us both time and money on a corporate-wide level."

Triveni Digital's Station Manager will provide Capitol Broadcasting Company with a single interface for configuration, control, and monitoring of ATSC 3.0, ATSC 1.0, and virtual channels broadcast chains. The Station Manager offers control over every step of the ATSC 3.0 broadcast chain, including encoding, ROUTE/MMTP server, gateway, statmux, usage metering, delivery, and service availability. Using the Station Manager, Capitol Broadcasting Company will save time by not having to separately configure and manage NextGen TV equipment, the companies reported. 

"By adopting our industry-first, state-of-the-art management system, Capitol Broadcasting Company is lighting the path toward more efficient ATSC 3.0 and 1.0 operations," said Ralph Bachofen, vice president of sales and marketing at Triveni Digital. "The Station Manager will provide Capitol Broadcasting Company with a single, easy-to-use interface for controlling NextGen TV services, which is ideal for a broadcasting entity overseeing multiple stations."

Triveni Digital will showcase the Station Manager at the 2024 ATSC NextGen Broadcast Conference, June 12-14, in Washington, D.C. More information about Triveni Digital products is available at www.TriveniDigital.com.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The NextGen Video Information Systems Alliance (NVISA) and the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) have announced a strategic partnership with Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (FEMA IPAWS) to establish an end-to-end NextGen TV broadcast system at the IPAWS Technical Support Services Facility (TSSF) near Washington, D.C. 

The implementation is a joint effort between the FEMA IPAWS TSSF, NVISA and the ATSC’s Advanced Emergency Information Implementation Team. The ATSC 3.0 system will serve in a closed-circuit environment, capable of demonstrating Advanced Emergency Information features, upgraded Emergency Alert System (EAS) displays, integration of Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), and other advanced public warning capabilities integrated into the IPAWS ecosystem. It will also provide live over-the-air monitoring capabilities.

The deployed system will consist of a full ATSC 3.0 broadcast chain fully contained within the FEMA facility. The system will also provide significant opportunities for educating government and private sector stakeholders and open the door to expanded public-private conversations on potential opportunities and requirements for next generation public warning systems and advanced broadcast services.  

“We are looking forward to this initiative becoming the start of a broader public-private partnership to advance future public warning capabilities," said NVISA Chair Ed Czarnecki. "By bringing together NVISA, ATSC, and FEMA IPAWS, we want to make certain that ATSC 3.0 is well-positioned for the future. This includes reinforcing broadcast television’s role as a first informer during emergencies and leveraging a range of advanced services.”

“We believe it is important for ATSC to expand its collaboration with the public sector and other industry groups in the advancement of ATSC 3.0 capabilities,” said Madeleine Noland, ATSC president. “The increasing adoption of ATSC 3.0-enabled technologies is expected to drive fundamental transformations to the services and applications offered by the broadcast community, including public warning and emergency information services."

According to Manny Centeno, IPAWS program director, “The implementation will establish the TSSF as one of the first full-circle testbeds for ATSC 3.0 advanced emergency messaging integration with IPAWS, highlighting FEMA’s commitment to remaining on the forefront of technological advancement.”

The system will allow FEMA IPAWS to test advanced broadcast warning practices securely in real-world scenarios and experiment with ATSC 3.0-enabled technologies. The ATSC 3.0 system interfaces with the FEMA IPAWS network to aggregate alerts directed for both broadcast (EAS) and mobile (WEA) and directs them into ATSC 3.0-enabled services.

A briefing on this initiative will be provided at the ATSC’s NextGen Broadcast Conference, during a panel on “NextGen Public Service: Emergency Messaging Update,” to be held on Friday, June 14, in Washington, D.C.

Members of NVISA and ATSC that are providing technology and expertise to establish this system include:

• Digital Alert Systems (alert and advanced emergency information management)
• Harmonic (live media processor)
• Hitachi-Comark (ATSC 3.0 exciter/transmitter)
• Triveni Digital (ATSC 3.0 scheduling and transport encoding)
• WRAL/Capitol Broadcasting (video server and broadcast video content)
• DekTec (ATSC 3.0 test modulator)
• Zapperbox (ATSC 1.0/3.0-enabled set-top receiver and home gateway)
• Zinwell (ATSC 1.0/3.0-enabled set-top receiver and home gateway)

Fifteen years ago this month, U.S. broadcasters “cut the cord” on NTSC, shutting down analog TV and putting the finishing touches on a transition to digital that lasted more than a decade. 

Viewer response was fairly muted, but that’s because broadcasters, regulators and consumer electronics companies rightly anticipated an outcry if too many viewers lost access to a free over-the-air signal. Navigating the deadline to shut down analog was a frustrating process as all parties involved attempted to assemble the variety of moving parts that made up the transition.

In the summer of 2024, the industry is looking at the next shutdown—the end of ATSC 1.0. Despite the arduous task that faced broadcasters in the 2000s during the first transition, this next transition could be even harder to achieve.

Comparing the two transitions is apples to oranges. The first transition was mainly based on regulatory guidelines that in essence, forced industries to cooperate toward a common goal. The cable, broadcast and consumer electronics industries were also facing a far less complex media ecosystem where there was less competition for eyeballs. And perhaps the biggest factor was the decrease in prices for large screen 16:9 flat screens that aligned with broadcasters’ move to HDTV, a very noticeable and welcome advance for home viewers.

What Do You Get With NextGen TV?
The transition to ATSC 3.0 (aka NextGen TV) is touted as “market-driven” with a lighter regulatory touch than the move to 1.0. There are no specific deadlines for stations to deploy the standard nor are there any mandates to provide tuners in any receiving devices. There aren’t any mandates for broadcasters to provide anything more than simulcasting ATSC 1.0. 

And, in contrast to the first transition, broadcasters face a much more complex media landscape and Silicon Valley competitors with far deeper pockets and much less to lose if a particular experimental service failed (remember Quibi?). It’s also harder to get viewers who are now used to getting their programs in 4K and HDR to get excited about 4K HDR broadcasts. 

Mark Aitken, senior vice president of advanced technology for Sinclair Broadcast Group would beg to differ on that front. 

“HDR is very significant, and one of the promises of the ATSC 3.0 standard is better television for America’s living rooms,” Aitken said at this year’s NAB Show. “It was the focus of the ATSC at this year’s CES. CBS’s delivery of the February Super Bowl LVIII in HDR should spur others to add this enhancement to their ATSC 3.0 transmissions and I expect to see announcements from other networks,” said Aitken, who added that some 40 Sinclair stations are on the air with Advanced HDR by Technicolor. 

Aitken’s sentiments are echoed by Anne Schelle, managing director of Pearl TV, the consortium of broadcasters and manufacturers promoting NextGen TV, who discussed how local Louisville, Ky. TV stations promoted HDR, 4K and Atmos immersive audio in their local 3.0 broadcasts during the week leading up to the 2024 Kentucky Derby. Local stations partnered with a local retailer to give away NextGen TV sets and promotions on their websites attracted “a significant increase in traffic.”

“I think that is a good indicator of the interest in HDR,” she said. Schelle also noted Pearl’s recent announcement that several large station groups, including Gray Television, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Hearst Television, Tegna and The E.W. Scripps Co. will accelerate funding of the ATSC 3.0 Framework Authority (A3FA), the driving force behind the RUN3TV platform. Pearl TV says it expects additional broadcast groups to become involved in the future.

“RUN3TV is  built by broadcasters for broadcasters and it allows companies who built on the platform to easily build applications and try out unique features and have them be able to work across the multitudes of operating systems that are currently out there and more to come,” she said.

A new partnership with ROXi to launch interactive music channels, as well as NBC’s announcement that affiliates in top markets are launching ancillary services via NextGen TV were among the other 3.0 highlights announced at the NAB Show in April. 

Beyond consumer applications, broadcasters are also using a portion of their spectrum to deploy new datacasting services. Also at the NAB Show, Sinclair launched its “Broadspan” datacast service in partnership with Edgio. The new service will enable data distribution in all the current markets where Sinclair stations are offering ATSC 3.0 broadcasts. Sinclair CEO Chris Ripley invited other station groups to join the service. 

Bandwidth Constraints
While all of these new capabilities are brought to us via the ingenious capability of ATSC 3.0’s combination of broadcast with IP, there’s only so much bandwidth available and that bandwidth is further constrained by the 1.0 simulcasting requirement.

At presstime, ATSC 3.0 has been launched by more than 91 stations in 40 markets, bringing the advanced broadcast standard to within reach of more than 75% of U.S. households. Pearl TV says it expects that number to grow to more than 200 stations in 53 markets by the end of 2024.

Most of those stations are simulcasting 3.0 with 1.0 over “lighthouse” transmission partnerships in which one local station offers up its transmission facilities to “host” the other 3.0 stations in particular markets. This requirement is in place during the transition to ATSC 3.0. Originally, the FCC imposed a 2025 deadline to end 1.0 simulcasting but in 2023, moved the date to July 17, 2027. The decision was in part predicated by the industry’s exhortations to the commission earlier in the year about a “stalled” transition.  

In response, FCC Chairman Jessica Rosenworcel announced the formation of the “Future of TV” task force at the 2023 NAB Show, inviting all industry players to work together towards a successful conclusion of the transition to 3.0. 

“This Future of Television initiative will gather industry, government, and public interest stakeholders to establish a roadmap for a transition to ATSC 3.0 that serves the public interest” Rosenworcel said at the time. “A successful transition will provide for an orderly shift from ATSC 1.0 to ATSC 3.0 and will allow broadcasters to innovate while protecting consumers, especially those most vulnerable.”    

‘Frank’ and ‘Candid’
The FCC asked the NAB to take the lead by hosting the meetings, and while the industry has been tight-lipped about characterizing the tone, the best the press has been able to get out of sources is that they are “frank” and “candid,” which, in Inside the Beltway-speak, can have a wide variety of meanings. 

But given the cable industry’s long-held viewpoint that certain guardrails must be in place before it replaces 1.0 with 3.0 and the consumer electronics industry’s vehement opposition to any Congressional tuner mandates, it’s understandable that the task force may not arrive at a definitive deadline that will please everyone.

The NAB, for its part, is staying on message. “The Future of TV initiative has made great progress, and we are looking forward to releasing the report later this year,” they told TV Tech. “We appreciate the participation of everyone involved in this effort to help ensure a smooth transition.”

ATSC President Madeleine Noland agrees that ending the transition is top of mind for broadcasters, noting that until a deadline is established, broadcasters are finding ways to add more capabilities despite the bandwidth constraints. 

“As exciting as datacasting is, until the transition is farther along—and I don’t mean getting from 75% to 100%—but I mean within a given market, it’s important to have more transmitters available with 3.0. I think about the Boston market and we have one transmitter up, which is carrying five or six high-definition signals and at least two standard-definition search services. There’s not a lot of room to do anything else.”

Noland mentioned the recent addition of five more 3.0 stations in the San Antonio market as one of the ways around such constraints. “I gotta tip my hat to San Antonio for being able to get that second stick up.“ Noland said, adding that the current focus will not be in trying to finish the other 25%, but in expanding coverage in existing markets. “Let’s try to get depth in the markets that we already have because we’ve got all the big markets; let’s build it out and be able to do more with 3.0 in those markets.”

Consumer Devices
According to the CTA,  the cumulative U.S. installed base of NextGen TV receivers topped 10.3 million in 2023 and consumer sales of NextGen TV products are expected to increase by 45% in 2024. ATSC says more than 100 consumer products that support NextGen TV are expected to be available by the end of 2024, with the vast majority being TV sets from Sony, Hisense, TCL and Samsung. LG, which announced a suspension of the manufacturing of NextGen TV sets in 2023 due to a patent dispute, currently sits on the sidelines.   

Unlike the transition from analog to digital when the federal government subsidized the purchase of low-cost digital tuners for consumers who have yet to go digital, NextGen TV’s market-based approach provides no such incentives. 

One person, however, believes that a pure market driven approach is unrealistic and notes that public-private partnerships between industry and the government have an historic precedent that should also play a part in the transition to NextGen TV. 

John Lawson, executive director of AWARN, a consortium of business and government entities promoting advanced emergency alerting technologies on 3.0, thinks  low-cost converter boxes subsidized by the federal government would help accelerate the move to sunset 1.0. 

In an op-ed on TV Newscheck in March, Lawson wrote: 

“Congress would establish a new voucher program for 3.0 set-top boxes and dongles. This time, however, the subsidy program would be established in the name of public safety, for both resilient alerting in the face of climate change and national security to provide a back-up for GPS. Broadcasters would agree to carry Advanced Emergency Information, perhaps with sunset provisions for EAS, and receivers would be enabled to display AEI messages.”

Lawson said he arrived at his position after a meeting with the FCC as well as with broadcasters in Michigan.

“Senior staff at the FCC told me that the broadcast industry had made it clear from the beginning in their opinion that the 3.0 transition was unlike the transition from analog to digital, and that it would be a purely market driven approach,” he said. “And then I went out on the road so to speak to the Michigan Broadcast Engineering Conference I really got a dose of reality,” adding that nobody raised their hand when he asked attendees if the 3.0 transition was “on the right track.”

Lawson adds that his proposal follows a traditional path and promotes, “in effect, a partnership between government and industry.”

“American capitalism is dependent upon R&D and other investments by the federal government and it allows companies like Apple and Meta and many others to make a lot of money. [But] there's a general healthy weariness among the broadcast industry about getting government involved but there are many, many examples of where the two actually support each other.”

Will it Survive as a Purely Market-Driven Transition?
The transition to ATSC 3.0 contains an insane number of moving parts as well as a variety of approaches and while no one is suggesting Congressional mandates of any kind, in its current state, there remains some question as to whether it will survive its status as a completely market-based transition.  

But don’t tell that to Rob Folliard, senior vice president of government relations and distribution with Gray TV and chairman of Pearl TV who says the transition to 3.0 is moving at a faster pace than the move to 1.0. 

“[The transition] has worked better than the government-mandated transition 20 years ago, we are moving ahead faster,” Folliard said. “And I think the reason the market-based approaches work is because the broadcasters see a huge opportunity, a huge ROI, and we’re making it work. We’re finding creative ways to cooperate, channel share, in order to make the transition happen.”

ARLINGTON, Va.—PBS News Hour will rebrand as PBS News across its digital and social platforms, while retaining the PBS News Hour name for its Monday through Friday nightly broadcast.

The move coincides with the opening of its new studios in Arlington on on Monday, June 10. WETA, the flagship public media station in the nation’s capital, recently completed a $58 million expansion project of its Arlington headquarters, including the creation of new studios and editorial offices for PBS News. 

The rebrand is a continuation of efforts first launched in 2023 when the Saturday and Sunday broadcast moved production from WNET in New York to News Hour Productions (NHP), a WETA subsidiary, and rebranded as PBS News Weekend, now anchored by John Yang.

Senior executive producer of PBS News Hour and WETA senior vice president Sara Just said that the digital and social rebrand will occur on Monday, June 17. 

“The PBS News Hour, our nightly broadcast co-anchored by Amna Nawaz and Geoff Bennett, remains the flagship of our newsroom as we approach nearly 50 years on the air,” said Just. “Today, all of us consume news across multiple platforms. Audiences encounter our journalism on social media feeds, in news feeds, in live streaming, in primetime specials and breaking news events. Our adjustments to our branding makes it clear that you can rely on PBS News journalism for reliable, trustworthy insight into the events and stories that shape our world and our lives, wherever they encounter it.”

PBS News Hour continues to reach more people and expand its offerings across a variety of platforms. The rebrand is designed to better position the legacy media organization for audiences outside of the traditional one hour broadcast and to create greater visual alignment across broadcast, digital, and social, the news operation said. 

The brand’s owned and operated digital and social platforms will implement new PBS News branding starting June 17 with additional updates to social handles and URLs in the coming weeks. Since 2019, average website users are up 44%, at nearly 7.5 million, while average monthly YouTube video views are up 27% at 33 million.

Since its inception in 1975 (then as The Robert MacNeil Report), PBS News Hour has been produced out of a large studio in WETA’s aging production center, located a few blocks away from its Arlington headquarters. The new studio, designed by Eric Siegel and George Allison with lighting design by Dennis Size, will also be used by PBS News Weekend and Washington Week with The Atlantic, and will allow for PBS News special programming to be more easily incorporated into the same space. 

The graphic redesign was led by PBS News creative director for broadcast Kojo Boateng including the logo redesign in partnership with Lippincott and the broadcast opening titles designed in partnership with Adolescent, Inc.

Missed any of our product news this week? Here is our new weekly wrap-up of new products, services and deployments we published in our newsletter between June 3 and June 7. The stories are listed from the newest on Friday June 7, day by day back to our stories from Monday June 3. 

Charter Sees a Big Payoff from AI-Generated Ads

Evidence that AI tools can be a bonanza for local ad sales and bring in a host of new clients that might not otherwise be able to produce video ads, can be found at Charter’s Spectrum Reach’s local ad sales efforts.

J:COM Taps Brightcove for New Streaming Service

Brightcove has announced that J:COM Co., Ltd., Japan’s largest cable TV company, is using Brightcove technologies to power J:COM’s newest streaming service, Ikimono Watch (“Animal Watch”).

Blackmagic Design Announces Blackmagic Cloud Live Sync

Blackmagic Design has announced Blackmagic Cloud Sync, a new feature of Blackmagic Cloud storage that allows a camera to sync media into a DaVinci Resolve bin while the camera is recording.

Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation Deploys Riedel's Production Suite in OB Vans

Riedel Communications has announced that the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT S.A.), Greece’s state-owned public broadcaster, has acquired Riedel's cutting-edge Simplylive Production Suite to expand its live production capabilities across a wide range of events.

ARRI Introduces Hi-5 SX Wireless Camera, Lens Control Unit

ARRI has unveiled its single-axis Hi-5 SX wireless camera and lens control hand unit, which can be upgraded with greater functionality via an optional software license.

Live Cloud Production Takes Off With Far-Reaching Implications

The broadcast industry’s accelerating transition to cloud-based production of sports, news and other live programming is proving far more disruptive to the evolution of video services than seemed likely not so long ago.

Dante Adds Media Encryption, Enhancing Security Features of the Dante AV-over-IP Platform

Audinate Group Limited, developer of the Dante AV-over-IP solution, has announced the addition of Dante Media Encryption to the security features and benefits of the Dante platform. Dante Media Encryption protects the content of media flows using strong AES-256 encryption, safeguarding media from interception or unauthorized access.

Anton/Bauer Launches 'Preservation Power' Campaign in Partnership with Rainforest Trust

Anton/Bauer has announced the launch of its 'Preservation Power' campaign. This initiative supports Rainforest Trust's mission to conserve and protect the world's most threatened tropical forests and endangered wildlife.

Canon Announces New EOS C400 6K Full-Frame RF Mount Cinema Camera

Canon U.S.A. Inc. has made several new product announcements with the unveiling of the new Canon EOS C400 cinema camera, a new RF-Mount CINE-SERVO and firmware updates with enhanced features for Cinema EOS Cameras and Pro Camcorders.

New Yahoo Advertising Data Offering Takes Aim at Ad Market Fragmentation

Yahoo Advertising is addressing the splintering advertising market with a new product that blends datasets to give advertisers greater perspective on connected TV (CTV) and linear audience viewers.

ITV Turns To Friend MTS To Fight Piracy

U.K. commercial broadcaster ITV has selected Friend MTS anti-piracy services to help protect its content.

Akili Kids! Handles Fast-Paced Schedule With PlayBox Neo

The Kenyan children’s network broadcast more than 1 million video files in four years using PlayBox Neo technologies.

Clear-Com Expands Connectivity, Device Support Of Arcadia Intercom

The update includes I.V. Direct Interfacing and HelixNet HXII-DPL Powerline device support.

Sony Electronics Unveils New Firmware Roadmap for the BURANO Digital Cinema Camera

Two new firmware updates will include additional recording modes, support for live event production and more improvements, which will be released over the next year.

DZS Completes NetComm Acquisition

Deal expands its offerings to broadband networking, connectivity and cloud software and its footprint in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Australia/New Zealand.

FCC Ends Affordable Connectivity Program

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has announced that the agency officially ended the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) on June 1, 2024 after Congress failed to provide additional funding.

Dielectric Antennas Help CTN Spread Its Message Far and Wide

This user report explains how the Christian Television Network, which operates 24 television stations throughout the United States, recently installed three new Dielectric antennas at its stations. 

LARGO, Fla.—Christian Television Network (CTN) operates 24 television stations throughout the United States. As director of engineering, my responsibilities cover all areas of the technical infrastructure for each station, including all RF facilities and systems. 

Preparing for an ATSC 3.0 future is one of our top initiatives group-wide and is keeping us very active on the RF side of the equation. We recently installed three new Dielectric antennas at WCLF-TV in Clearwater, and WFGC-TV in Palm Beach, both in Florida, as well as WHNO-TV in New Orleans as part of our ATSC 3.0 deployments. 

Power for NextGen TV
Substantial power increases were approved for all three stations, with WCLF and WHNO (both UHF stations) increasing to 1MW ERP and WFGC, a VHF station, increasing to 65kW ERP. All three stations were also relocated to new tower sites, adding another layer of complexity to already challenging timelines. 

WFGC was relocated from UHF Channel 49 to VHF Channel 7 during the spectrum repack, and we added a new Dielectric VHF antenna on our previous tower once we landed on our new frequency. That antenna was optimized for horizontal polarization per our choice, but we later realized that a vertically polarized antenna would provide better coverage in the market. 

We  ordered a new Dielectric THV Series antenna that was well-timed with our tower relocation. This time we made sure to add a V-Pol element to improve our ATSC 3.0 coverage. Our expanded coverage area also benefits from a much higher tower position, moving from 450 feet to 1150 feet. The difference has been enormous, and we are now maximizing our market coverage from Vero Beach south through into Miami, while also seeing major improvements in building penetration.

Maximized Coverage
Our THV Series antenna is a simple five-layer antenna design that radiates with a peanut-shaped azimuth pattern in alignment with our coverage requirements. Dielectric added a null to the back of the antenna to protect the signal from radiating over the Atlantic Ocean. The special azimuth null design includes specially designed fins that are mounted to the antenna, and these fins ultimately play an important role in shaping the direction of the signal.

WCLF-TV, which covers the Tampa Bay market on UHF Channel 21, has enjoyed the biggest coverage increase since installing our new TFU-26EST-R C220 antenna in late 2023, nearly doubling our ERP. This allows us to reach viewers northeast of Tampa and out toward the Orlando region—areas we couldn’t reach with our previous ERP.

We exclusively use Dielectric antennas across our network, and, as anticipated, the performance of our three new sticks are rock-solid. I swept all the systems at the time they went to air and followed with a second sweep at each site 90 days later. The results were identical, with no discernable difference in performance and no challenges with reflected power.

Our relocation to new tower sites essentially required a complete refresh of the RF infrastructure for each station, and we additionally sourced our filters, transmission line and other RF components where necessary. Dielectric’s ability to manufacture and deliver antennas and RF systems within tight deadlines assured that we had our new systems in time for our tower moves, and allowed us to meet our goal of having all systems up and running by the end of 2023.

Hugh Allegood oversees engineering for all CTN stations as director of engineering and RF systems engineer.

For more information on Dielectric, visit www.dielectric.com.

Busy this week catching up from the Memorial Day holiday? Our TV Tech weekly wrap-up of all our coverage of new products, services and deployments will get you back on top of things. The coverage is listed from the newest on May 31 back to Monday May 28. 

Vislink Launches New INCAM-GV RF and 5G Transmitters for Latest Grass Valley Cameras

The INCAM-GV is a fully integrated HEVC 4K UHD, HDR-ready wireless system for Grass Valley LDX 100 Series live production cameras.

TVRI Taps Ateme for Transition to 4K UHD OTT Streaming

Ateme has announced that the Indonesian public broadcaster TVRI is making the transition to 4K UHD OTT streaming using Ateme technologies.

SMPTE Committee Conducts `Circle of Confusion’ Test

SMPTE and members of its Rapid Industry Solutions, On-Set Virtual Production (RIS-OSVP) initiative recently orchestrated a camera and lens measurement study to test and validate the optical model for accurately determining the circle of confusion and the near and far focus planes.

FCC Media Bureau Incorporates 2020 Census Data into TVStudy Software

The FCC Media Bureau has announced  that effective August 1, 2024 the Commission’s TVStudy software will incorporate the most recent U.S. Census Bureau decennial Census block and population data (2020 Census Data).

CommScope to Buy Cable Business Assets of Casa Systems for $45.1M

CommScope has announced that it will pay $45,100,000 to purchase Casa Systems’ cable business assets through an auction process under section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code.

‘The Old Investment Cycles of Broadcast Technology are Being Run Over’

ITN's director of technology, production and innovation Jon Roberts and Johnny McGuigan, the BBC's director of news streaming, discuss the evolution of technology in the newsroom.

RF at the 2024 NAB Show—Part 1: Products

Doug Lung discusses some gear from the show floor that caught his eye.

Virtual Sets, Advanced News Graphics Come of Age

It's happened: The realistic virtual sets and advanced news graphics that have been wowing TV viewers for years have become accepted elements of broadcast production.

Amazon Celebrates 10th Anniversary of Fire TV Devices with an AI Upgrade

As Amazon celebrates the 10th anniversary of the launch of the first Fire TV devices in 2014, the company has unveiled new AI-powered search capabilities for the devices.

IAB Tech Lab Expands Open Measurement SDK Capabilities to Support Samsung and LG TVs

The global body that sets technical standards for digital advertising has expanded the reach of its measurement software development kit to include Samsung and LG.

AccuWeather Inks Deal With Comcast Technology Solutions For Channel Origination

AccuWeather has selected Comcast Technology Solutions’ (CTS’) Managed Channel Origination (MCO) to create, manage and distribute linear TV, on-demand video and over-the-top (OTT) channels to North American audiences.

Viant Integrates with Google Cloud’s BigQuery Data Clean Rooms

The ad tech company Viant Technology Inc. has announced a new integration with Google Cloud’s BigQuery data clean rooms that enables the seamless onboarding of privacy-safe, first-party data from the Google Cloud ecosystem into the Viant Data Platform (VDP).

Comcast’s StreamSaver Streaming Bundle Goes Live

Comcast has officially launched its discounted $15-a-month StreamSaver streaming bundle of Netflix, Peacock and Apple TV+ services.

AIMS Opens Call for Presentations for Media-Over-IP Pavilion at AES New York

AIMS has announced it will once again collaborate with the Audio Engineering Society (AES) to bring the popular Media-Over-IP Pavilion to the AES New York show, being held October 8-10.

Hollyland Technology Unveils Pyro Wireless Video Transmission Series

Hollyland Technology has launched Pyro, a wireless video transmission system designed for the multi-person, mobile transmission and monitoring requirements of small to midsize TV crews.

SWR Deploys Rohde & Schwarz Pixel Power Software Playout Solution

Regional German broadcaster Südwestrundfunk (SWR) has deployed the Rohde & Schwarz Pixel Power graphics and playout solution.

Vizrt Integrates HTML Graphics System with Dalet News Production System

Vizrt has integrated Viz Pilot Edge, the company’s newsroom HTML-based templated graphics system, with the Dalet Galaxy five news production and distribution solution.

ZOO Establishes ZOO Italy, Launches Dubbing Studios in Milan

ZOO Digital, a global provider of localization and media services to the entertainment industry, has launched ZOO dubbing studios in Milan and established ZOO Italy.

Tucson TV Stations Launch NextGen TV Services

Six stations have launched NextGen TV, aka ATSC 3.0 broadcasts in the Tucson, Ariz., area, including the ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, Telemundo and PBS affiliates.

Obsidian Lighting Control ONYX 4.10 Software Now Available

Obsidian Control Systems has introduced ONYX 4.10, the latest iteration of the popular lighting control software for NX consoles and PC systems.

France Télévisions Upgrades to Grass Valley Kaleido-IP Video Multiviewer

French National Public TV Broadcaster France Télévisions, rebranded as france tv, has selected Grass Valley’s next-generation Kaleido KIP-X240 IP Multiviewer as part of an enterprise wide transition from SDI to SMPTE-2110 (ST-2110). 

WSC Sports Unveils Trio Of AI-Driven Content Solutions

WSC Sports has introduced three additions to its product portfolio for sports ecosystem companies that address content management, creation and distribution and  leverage artificial intelligence.

OBS Taps Alibaba Cloud for AI-Enhanced Multicamera Replays at Paris 2024

Olympic Broadcasting Services recently tested AI-enhanced multcamera replay tech from Alibaba Cloud at the Olympic Qualifier Series in Shanghai in preparation for deployment at the Olympic Games in Paris, July 26-Aug. 11.

WENH-TV Improves OTA Reliability With Hitachi-Comark Parallax

NH PBS station replaces Larcan system with Hitachi-Comark transmitter post repack.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The FCC Media Bureau has announced  that effective August 1, 2024 the Commission’s TVStudy software will incorporate the most recent U.S. Census Bureau decennial Census block and population data (2020 Census Data). 

The Commission’s TVStudy software is used to perform coverage and interference analysis of television stations in connection with the preparation and processing of full power rulemaking petitions to allot channels to the Table of TV Allotments and in applications prepared by  television licensees and permittees when they seek to modify their facilities, the agency said. 

The move means that all television broadcast applications filed on or after August 1, 2024, will be required to utilize 2020 Census Data for purposes of conducting interference analyses, the Media Bureau reported. Those who don’t use the 2020 data will be required to amend their applications and may see their applications dismissed “as defective.”   

The Media Bureau also noted that in a separate Public Notice, The Office of Engineering and Technology announced the release of updated TVStudy software (Version 2.3.0).

The TVStudy Version 2.3.0 software, the TVStudy 2.3.0 Installation and Upgrade Guide, and the template XML file are all available on the TVStudy website at http://www.fcc.gov/oet/tvstudy.

The agency also stressed that a full list of changes from TVStudy Version 2.2.5 is included in the “Differences Between 2.3.0 and 2.2.5” section of the Change Log in the TVStudy 2.3.0 Installation and Upgrade Guide.

The agency said that further information regarding this Public Notice can be obtained by contacting Kevin Harding at (202) 418-7077 or Kevin.Harding@fcc.gov; or Mark Colombo at (202) 418-7611 or Mark.Colombo@fcc.gov. 

DURHAM, N.H.—New Hampshire PBS currently operates three high-power DTV stations plus two LPTV translators across the state to serve Granite state viewers.

During the FCC repack, two of our high-power stations were affected; WEKW-TV in Keene (moved from Channel 52 to 18) and WLED-TV in Littleton (moved from Channel 49 to 23). For these two repack stations, we purchased new main and backup Parallax 5kW liquid-cooled transmitters from Hitachi-Comark. However, our primary station WENH-TV in Durham was not affected by the repack.

WENH signed on Channel 11 on July 6, 1959, making it the first educational television station in New Hampshire and one of the first educational stations in New England outside Boston. Our primary station serves the southeastern area of the state including the state’s largest city of Manchester and Concord, the state capital.

For the analog to digital transition, WENH was assigned Channel 57 during the simulcast period and analog channel 11 was shut off in February 2009. After the transition, we elected to go back to our pre-transition Channel 11; operating two Larcan air-cooled, solid-state DTV transmitters in main-standby mode. Note that these were actually the analog transmitters that we converted for digital operation. These two Larcan systems were originally installed back in 1996 so they were more than past their expected lifetime.

Planning the Upgrade
While looking for a replacement for these old VHF transmitters, we considered the reliability of the Parallax units that we had installed at WEKW and WLED. Both transmitter sites had main and backup DTV transmitters, and since the main transmitters operated so well, we we never had to switch to the backup.

We thought about converting and moving one of the backup units for use at WENH to replace one of the aging Larcans so we contacted Comark who were more than happy to work with us on this unique project. Prior to the conversion, Comark made site visits to WENH and WLED to review the project and develop a cost-effective proposal to complete it.

In late 2022, we signed the contract with Hitachi-Comark. The backup transmitter from our WLED Littleton site was decommissioned; Comark then removed it along with the associated cooling pump system and heat exchanger. It was then returned to their facility in Southwick, Mass. where they converted it from UHF to VHF.

UHF to VHF Conversion
Since the transmitter is modular, the conversion primarily included replacing the internal three-way UHF PA RF combiner system with a new VHF three-way combiner.  The rest of the Parallax transmitter was largely re-used. Hitachi-Comark also provided three new VHF liquid-cooled final amplifiers.

Once we converted to the 5 kW system, Comark delivered the new transmitter to our WENH-TV transmitter site. Before installing the new VHF system, Comark removed the existing Larcan air-cooled system as well as the old, unused Harris UHF IOT DTV transmitter and associated RF mask filter. While this sounds like a simple process, the transmission equipment is located on the second floor of our facility with the only  access via a hatchway in the floor and a chain hoist.

The newly upgraded Parallax VHF system was installed in place of the Larcan system, connected through the existing VHF RF mask filter system to help keep costs down. The cooling system was installed and the system turned on and the FCC proof-of-performance completed by Comark’s field engineer in March 2023. We’ve since noticed improvement in OTA signal quality.

We’re leaving the second Larcan system as a backup but will likely repeat this process with the backup Parallax system from WEKW in Keene and finally retire it altogether. 

Tom Nickodemus is a broadcast transmission engineer at New Hampshire PBS. He can be reached at tnickodemus@nhpbs.org. For more information visit https://comarktv.com.

This month I’ll focus on what I saw on the exhibit floor at NAB Show. This isn’t a comprehensive overview of all the RF and transmission exhibits and show news—other articles in TV Tech do that well. Instead, I’ll be looking at a few exhibits I found interesting. Next month I’ll discuss other RF technology topics from the show, including BPS and 5G Broadcast.

Rohde & Schwarz
Many broadcasters purchased Rohde & Schwarz THU-9 transmitters during and after the repack, so I wasn’t surprised that Rohde’s unveiling of its new UHF TV transmitter, the TE1, attracted a large crowd Monday afternoon despite its location in the South Hall, far away from other transmitter and distribution exhibits.

Some of the changes are apparent looking at the transmitter. Unlike the THU9, which was designed for worldwide use, the TE1 was designed specifically for the U.S. market where higher power transmitters are required. The exciters mount horizontally in the rack, allowing up to 14 amplifiers per cabinet and increasing the per-cabinet output power to 24.5 kW. Looking at the back of the transmitter, you can see the changes in the combiner output and load. 

Also, the power input is now at the top of the cabinet, cleaning up the wiring on the right side (from the rear) power distribution panel. (The colorful LED cabinet lighting in the photo is not available as an option.) 

The exciter includes the ATSC 3.0 modulator—a separate SDE-900 unit is not required. Reflecting the TE1 North American market focus, the specifications show ATSC and ATSC 3.0 as the only supported standards. The product brochure says it is “Prepared for 5G Broadcast.” 

End-to-End ATSC 3.0 Transmission System
Anywave showed a complete ATSC 3.0 signal chain that will make it easy for broadcasters, particularly LPTVs, to switch to ATSC 3.0. It includes the encoder, gateway and scheduler, and exciter. 

A key feature of the gateway/scheduler is a custom design using FPGAs rather than software running on a server. This enables a complete ATSC 3.0 encoder, gateway/scheduler and exciter in three rack units of space to consume a fraction of the power required for a server-based system. 

Their AW9200 Exciter+ can be configured for use as a translator for ATSC 3.0 with a gateway option that allows modification of signaling at the translator site without additional gateways.

Smart Dummy Load
As transmitters become more efficient, engineers are taking a closer look at the power consumed by dummy loads in systems with multiple transmitter cabinets. When one of the cabinets shuts down, the combiner becomes unbalanced. 

In a two-cabinet system, this results in half the remaining power going into a reject load. This doesn’t happen that often, so any power used to cool the dummy load while both cabinets are operating normally is wasted. 

Dielectric’s solution is the “OptiLoad,” which turns on the cooling pumps only when required. This is more complicated than it sounds. If the reject load fails, it will shut down the entire transmitter. Worse, if it fails to shut down the transmitter and a cabinet fails, the coolant pressure and steam generated by the load can cause a mess before the reflected power takes down the transmitter. The OptiLoad includes RF sensors and other features designed to prevent such disasters. 

Simplifying ATSC 3.0 Station Configuration
Most ATSC 3.0 stations set their modulation and coding and PLP configura-tions once and don’t change them. Triveni showed its “Station Manager,” which makes setting, storing and restoring ATSC 3.0 configurations easier. 

Anyone who has looked at the ATSC 3.0 standard knows there are an almost infinite number of configurations available. Changing one parameter can require changing another parameter to maintain a legal ATSC 3.0 stream. The Station Manager interface makes this easier. 

I can also see how Station Manager could become an important part of the broadcast core network, which will allow broadcasters to offer excess data capacity for other uses, such is IoT. This will likely require participating broadcasters to change their transmission parameters to accommodate demand for data delivery with different bandwidth and robustness requirements. 

Broadcast Positioning Service Solution
Many engineers see the ATSC 3.0 Broadcast Positioning Service (BPS) as a key driver of ATSC 3.0 support from the government and perhaps device manufacturers as well. I’ve discussed BPS before and will have more on it next month, but wanted to highlight one product that will make it easier for broadcasters to add BPS capability to their transmission systems. Stations that want to transmit BPS signals will need to precisely time the transmission of the ATSC 3.0 bootstrap. 

The Avateq AVQ-1050 consists of a BPS receiver and a BPS synchronizer, which together compare the received signal with a reference clock and adjust the transmission time to make it a stable, precise time source. It can directly control the transmission time from a Rohde & Schwarz exciter without connection to the gateway and scheduler, which may not be located at the transmitter site. 

ATSC 3.0 for Legacy Cable Systems
As the transition to ATSC 3.0 progresses, there will be a need for cable companies to receive ATSC 3.0 signals. While the ideal scenario would be for the cable companies to deliver a stream that enables most of the ATSC 3.0 features, during the transition, they will need to convert the ATSC 3.0 to a form that will work with their existing set-top boxes. 

To that end, the Sencore TXS3800 ATSC 3.0 to ATSC 1.0 transcoder can provide decryption and transcode video and audio from ATSC 3.0 to ATSC 1.0 formats in an ATSC 1.0 transport stream. 

NextGen-Compliant Dongles
I was happy to see several low-cost set-top box devices displayed in the ATSC booth that support A3SA content protection. However, I’m still looking for an ATSC 3.0 NextGen-compliant tuner I can plug into a USB port of my laptop to view ATSC 3.0 protected content on the road.

Dongles have been available for a few years, but none made it to the consumer market and none I’ve found support A3SA content protection. It doesn’t appear that will happen soon, but after seeing compliant set-top boxes based on Android TV, perhaps it will be possible to create an ATSC 3.0 dongle that will work with Widevine-enabled Android tablets. ATSC 3.0 has many advantages when it comes to mobility so I expect there would be demand for portable ATSC 3.0 receivers, especially in areas prone to hurricanes and other natural disasters. l

As always, your comments and questions are welcome. Email me at dlung@transmitter.com. 

LAS VEGAS—Rohde & Schwarz will unveil the new R&S®TE1 liquid-cooled transmitter during the 2024 NAB Show at its booth SU4039 in the Las Vegas Convention Center between April 14 to 17. 

Rohde & Schwarz is billing the new R&S®TE1 as ushering in a new era of transmission. It is the first liquid-cooled transmitter design post Repack. As an ATSC 3.0 native transmitter, it is made for sustainable broadcasting in the connected world, turning critical challenges into opportunities for broadcasters to unlock new and engaging revenue-rich digital services. Further refined, it is a true peace-of-mind solution that reduces operational costs, minimizes the carbon footprint of transmission, and creates new business opportunities. 

“With ATSC 3.0 now reaching 75% of all US households, broadcasters are faced with three critical challenges and opportunities. They must reduce energy costs and carbon footprint to become more sustainable; cut operational costs through higher resilience and decrease reliance on the industry's limited supply of engineers; and they need to explore new business opportunities and revenue sources,” said Manfred Reitmeier, vice president broadcast and amplifier systems at Rohde & Schwarz.  “The R&S®TE1 builds on our proven skills and experience in transmitter design, and delivers against these three key requirements.”

“Our transmitter solutions deliver functionality, reliability and quality; by adding RMTX to the service level agreement, it maximizes risk mitigation for the operator, and it provides an affordable and predictable cost of ownership over a typical lifetime of 10 years or more,” said Claudia Goerig, service product manager for broadcast and amplifier systems at Rohde & Schwarz.

The company said that the transmitter at least 15% more energy efficient than even the best current designs, and 40% more efficient than the average installed base. 

The proven Rohde & Schwarz liquid-cooled transmitter technology ensures heat from the amplifiers is efficiently dissipated outside, eliminating the need for power-intensive air conditioning. The design eliminates single points of failures, and the intelligent software control layer ensures that over the lifetime of the transmitter the optimal efficiency is maintained throughout self-adaptation.

Through its unique architecture, the R&S®TE1 also simplifies maintenance and operation significantly. It combines high reliability with easy troubleshooting and remote support capabilities, increasing efficiency for network operators. All parameters can be monitored and controlled remotely, reducing the need for transmitter staff to be on site, the company reported. 

Rohde & Schwarz is also introducing a unique service: RMTX (Remote Transmitter Monitoring). Through this service, customers can rely on Rohde & Schwarz expert support to have their transmitter systems continuously monitored. This allows rapid responses in case of serious issues, remote technical support and guidance, fast shipment of spare parts, and routine preventative maintenance actions to be scheduled most efficiently. 

The transmitter will be launched at an event on Sunday, 14 April at 2 p.m. at the Rohde & Schwarz NAB Show booth SU4039. 

More information is available at www.rohde-schwarz.com. 

Missed any of our product news this week? Our weekly wrap-up with all the product news we published between April 1 and April 5 offers is designed to be an easy way to keep on top of all our product news. The stories are listed from the newest on Friday April 5, day by day back to our stories from Monday. 

NAB Show: Synamedia Launches MEG.mini 

Video software provider, Synamedia, has announced that it will debut its Media Edge Gateway mini (MEG.mini) at the 2024 NAB Show.

AJA Releases Free Stream Deck Plug-in for HELO Plus

In the run-up to the 2024 NAB Show, AJA Video Systems has released a new Stream Deck plug-in for its compact HELO Plus H.264 streaming and recording device.

New NAB Show Exhibitor MoovIT Launches helmut.cloud

Workflow specialist and Adobe SI partner MoovIT will be exhibiting for the first time at this year’s 2024 NAB Show, where it will showcase its Helmut4 video project management software, alongside helmut.cloud, its new holistic platform for workflow automation, integration and connection. 

Amagi to Showcase Cloud-Based Broadcasting Solutions at 2024 NAB Show

Amagi will demo its cloud-based media production tools at the 2024 NAB Show in Las Vegas, April 14-17.

Matrox Video Expands SMPTE ST 2110 Network Interface Card Lineup

Matrox Video has introduced low-density versions of the Matrox DSX LE5 D25 LP and DSX LE6 D100 network interface controller (NIC) cards.

Samba TV Unveils Real-Time Ad Targeting for Political Advertisers

Samba TV has unveiled a new solution that it says will help political advertisers better reach shifting voting audiences at the regional, state, and national level throughout the 2024 political season.

5G Broadcast Advocates Announce New Alliance

XGen Network (XGN) and Milachi Media, as the founding members along with the LPTVBA, have announced the launch of the 5G Broadcast Collective, a new broadcast industry non-profit to promote and help deploy 5G broadcasting worldwide.

NAB Show: Harmonic to Demo Improvements for Video Streaming and Broadcast Delivery

Harmonic has announced that it will be showing improvements to its cloud and software-based appliance solutions at the 2024 NAB Show that are designed to improve video streaming and broadcast delivery.

ARRI Upgrades Its LED Fresnels to the New L-Series Plus

ARRI has announced the new L-Series Plus, a new generation of LED Fresnels, that the company says is up to 90% brighter than the original L-Series yet similar in size and weight. 

JIC Certifies Comscore and VideoAmp Ahead of 2025 Upfronts

The U.S. Joint Industry Committee, which is backed by major media companies and agencies, issued the certification of their currencies following an extensive evaluation of their cross-platform solutions.

NAB Show: SSL Takes System T to the Cloud

Solid State Logic will introduce System T Cloud, a virtualized version of its System T audio mixing solution for live-to-air broadcast at the 2024 NAB Show, April 14-17 in Las Vegas.

Signal Infrastructure Group Acquires Sony’s Stake in Public Media Management

Signal Infrastructure Group (SIG) has announced that they have purchased Sony Electronics Inc.’s interest in Public Media Management (PMM), the cloud-based content distribution and master control solution for public television stations.

Swank Motion Pictures Taps Interra For Improved Quality Assurance

Interra Systems, a leading provider of end-to-end quality assurance solutions to the digital media industry, has announced that its longstanding customer, Swank Motion Pictures, is using the enterprise-class version of Interra Systems' BATON solution to optimize quality control and compliance.

Gracenote Expands FAST Program into U.S. 

Nielsen’s Gracenote content data business unit has announced that it is expanding its FAST Program into the U.S. 

Operative to Unveil New Products, Partners for 2024 NAB Show

Ad solutions provider Operative has announced a number of product improvements and media partnerships that it will be showcasing during the 2024 NAB Show.

NDI Launches NDI 6

NDI, the global video-over-IP connectivity standard, has announced the  release of NDI 6, a key update that is designed to significantly impact broadcasting and content creation.

Pliant Technologies to Introduce Crewcom Compact Radio Pack at 2024 NAB Show

Pliant Technologies has announced that it will debut its new CRP-C12 Compact Radio Pack at the 2024 NAB Show on Booth C5310 between April 14 to 17. The CRP-C12 is a newly designed compact Radio Pack (RP) that was created specifically for use with any CrewCom or CrewCom CB2 system.

Triveni Digital to Show Newly Launched 3.0 GuideBuilder XM Guest Station Edition at NAB Show 

Triveni Digital has launched GuideBuilder XM Guest Station Edition, which the company will show with other ATSC 3.0 innovations at the 2024 NAB Show, April 13-17, in Las Vegas.

NAB Show: Cablecast to Preview New Social Streaming and Control Room Features

Cablecast Community Media has announced that it will be previewing its new Social Streaming and Control Rooms features, which simplify direct streaming and simulcasting to social media platforms from Cablecast Automation software, at NAB Show 2024 in Las Vegas (April 14-17).

MultiDyne to Unveil Updated Nanobrix Video Transport Series at 2024 NAB Show

MultiDyne plans to debut a new generation of the NanoBrix Series at NAB Show 2024, introducing new functions into the diverse family of miniature signal processing solutions. 

Review: Blackmagic Micro Studio Camera 4K G2

Used in both live, location, or studio productions the Micro Studio Camera will more than pull its weight.

Telos to Add Support for Dolby Digital Plus in LA-5300 Broadcast Audio Processor

Telos Alliance says it will add support for Dolby Digital Plus with Atmos encoding to its Linear Acoustic LA-5300 Broadcast Audio Processor. 

NAB Show: Sencore and Showfer to Demo New Content Management and Distribution Solution

Sencore, a provider of professional content delivery solutions has announced a new collaboration with Showfer, a pioneer in content management platforms that will see the companies offering a new content management and distribution solution at the 2024 NAB Show.

Telemetrics Unveils Improvements to Product Line for 2024 NAB Show

Camera robotics provider Telemetrics has announced that it will show new software and hardware improvements that will boost operational capabilities across its entire portfolio of camera control systems during the 2024 NAB Show at Booth #C4420.

Cadent to Acquire AdTheorent for $324M

Cadent, one of the largest independent providers for converged TV advertising solutions has announced a definitive agreement to acquire AdTheorent Holding Company, Inc. for $3.21 per share or about $324 million.

BRISTOL, Conn.—With the first weekend of the United Football League (UFL) complete, there are early signs the new league’s emphasis on using technology to engage television viewers more fully may be working.

An early season example was a touchdown scoring play in the fourth quarter of the D.C. Defenders vs. San Antonio Brahmas game that was called back after Defenders Jean Delance jumped early. 

“There was a notable exchange where a player [Brahmas linebacker Delonte Scott] called out a personal foul. It came to be a major [flagrant] personal foul … and a player [Delance] was actually ejected,” says Jarrett Baker, manager of remote operations at ESPN.

Viewers could clearly hear Scott saying to Defenders quarterback Jordan Ta’amu: “Hey, your boy spit on me again, it’s over. He spit on me again, it’s over.”

Capturing the on-field comment is the direct result of the UFL micing six players and coaches every week, says Baker.

“The viewers are hearing about that as you head into the replay,” he says. “Then you hear the conversation with the officials and the replay center and what they’re looking at. While it takes a couple of minutes to sort out, the viewer at home knows what they’re looking at. It’s not a guessing game.”

As a result, viewers are more engaged in what’s happening on the field, says Tommy Mitchell, senior manager of remote operations at ESPN. “Whether it’s officials, coaches, players to players, it [the wireless communications] brings viewers into the game,” he says.

The new league, the result of the merger between the USFL and XFL, carries on the XFL practice of outfitting some players and coaches with wireless mics and sharing what they say during the game—something fans “don’t see anywhere else,” says Baker.

ESPN shares UFL coverage with Fox Sports. Between the two, the broadcasters will produce four regular season games each weekend through June 1. Each will then produce a conference championship game, and ultimately Fox Sports will produce the league championship on June 16.

(This weekend, ESPN will air the Brahmas vs. Memphis Showboats at noon EDT and the Arlington Renegades vs. St. Louis Battlehawks at 8 p.m. EDT, Saturday, April 6, as well as the Birmingham Stallions vs. Michigan Panthers at noon EDT, Sunday, April 7. Fox Sports will telecast the Houston Roughnecks vs. D.C. Defenders at 4 p.m. EDT.)

The UFL has also partnered with BOLT6 to deploy the company’s optical tracking technology for precise ball spotting and instant down-and-distance. “It's a perfect example of leveraging technology,” says Baker.

Six fixed cameras have been deployed at each UFL stadium for the entire season. They are used to map each field with a virtual grid. Then using a laser-based Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) system, BOLT6 determines exactly where the ball should be spotted based on where forward momentum stopped. 

“In many cases, the chain gang is there just for decoration,” says Baker, referencing the officiating crew traditionally responsible for measuring to determine if a team has made a first down. “If it’s a close read…, BOLT6 works in the cloud, and on our director’s call, they can roll an animation that shows a review and instantly tells viewers if it is a first down.”

Planning and setup
Being brand new, the UFL offered league management and broadcasters alike the chance to take a fresh look at how best to use existing and new television technologies to engage viewers more fully in games. But they didn’t start with a blank slate.

“We took under advisement what we accomplished with the XFL last year,” says Mitchell, pointing to micing players and coaches. “We took a lot of what we learned last year, tailored some of those things and streamlined them into a broader approach to the UFL.”

For ESPN, that streamlining comes in the form of uniformity. While it had different versions of how it produced XFL games, ESPN has one approach to UFL game production, he says.

“It allows us to do a lot of things in replication, so it’s easier to communicate and easier to work with the league when all of our plans are the same and our shows are all the same size,” says Mitchell. “Our execution model is all the same, which was not the case in the past.”

While this uniformity streamlines production, it does not diminish the overall goal of the league for television. “They [the league] definitely wanted the big game feel and that comes with the technology that you use—a Skycam, for instance,” says Mitchell. “If you don’t have a Skycam on the game, people notice. They wanted super slow-motion; they wanted RF to have access on the field.”

“We were able to manipulate our plans to fit the vast majority of those requests,” he adds.

ESPN is producing UFL games in 1080p SDR and down-converts the productions to 720p HD for distribution. The sports network is employing REMI (remote integration) production from its facility in Bristol, Conn.  

The move to 1080p HD using REMI production was a big step for ESPN. “Getting that many feeds coming in and out of the plant [in Bristol], especially on a weekend when all three crews are working, that’s a pretty big undertaking,” says Baker.

Not only is the Bristol facility servicing ESPN, but also ABC, ESPN2 and digital with REMI production resources assigned to the 2024 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, Sunday Night Baseball and the NHL. “That stuff doesn’t stop,” he says.

Besides the seven hard cameras, one of which is on a sideline cart, ESPN is deploying two wireless handhelds, which can be taken into the locker rooms, a Skycam and a robotic booth camera. ESPN also takes multiple feeds from the UFL, including fixed POV camera angles, says Baker.

Between 60 and 70 feeds leave the on-site truck for multiple destinations, including Pico, Calif., for replay, Bristol for REMI production and a DVSport site for review, he adds.

Moving on
Going into Week Two of the season, ESPN is generally pleased with its performance out of the gates, but it’s likely there will be small tweaks in its production from week to week.

“I think like any new property, you’re always going to look at what you did really well, acknowledge that and identify areas where you can grow,” says Baker.

Improvements going forward come down to addressing the finer details. “Because there were so many different groups involved after the leagues completed their merger in January and people are still getting up to speed on their roles, it’s making sure we’re communicating and checking that we have that one little detail on tab seven of page 13 covered,” he says.

“It’s those sorts of little adjustments that just come with everybody settling into their roles.”

(Editor’s Note: To read about the Fox Sports UFL coverage see: “Fox Sports Prepares For UFL, ‘A League Defined By Technology’.”)

OXFORD, England—Solid State Logic has launched its Tempest Control App (TCA) supporting the next generation of live-to-air broadcast production and will showcase the app as well as hardware additions for its System T modular AoIP-native platform at the 2024 NAB Show, April 13-17, in Las Vegas.

TCA, a virtualized fully featured software control interface, opens the door to new system design possibilities and offers broadcasters production and operational advantages as well as economic efficiencies, the company said.

It enables operators to control every aspect of System T mixing, routing, processing and monitoring from a touchscreen. TCA directly controls System T’s DSP and is compatible with all new and existing Tempest Engines, including virtualized cloud-based processing, it said.

Additional hardware control can be integrated with TCA when needed. For instance, operator positions requiring fader tiles can be incorporated into furniture for studio installations or deployed in flypacks for remote applications, it said.

The app also provides a robust, cost-effective alternative for backup systems and compact or second-operator positions, it said.

Any combination of System T hardware and software control interfaces can be used across the entire system, and all System T control interfaces offer a unified operator experience, it said.

TCA can run at home on a local PC, on a virtual machine on a shared server or in the cloud.

Solid State Logic will also show the latest developments for the immersive/NGA production tool kit for its System T broadcast audio production platform. Offering object and channel-based immersive production via specifically designed features and integrations, System T makes producing next-generation content simple and effective, it said.

Using System T’s flagship S500m large-format modular console paired with a 5.1.4 monitoring system, the company will demonstrate the latest features of its immersive audio production toolkit for live-to-air broadcast and music production applications, it said.

More information is available on the company’s website.

See Solid State Logic at NAB Show booth C6307.