The current TV landscape has transformed as viewing habits have changed, streaming giants battle it out for subscriptions and new players and emerging direct-to-consumer offerings enter the fray, shaking up the status quo.

In an always-connected era, consumers are tech-savvy and demand round-the-clock entertainment at the touch of a button—anytime, anywhere. And they want it at the best value for money possible. Since the turn of the century, we have seen the dramatic rise of on-demand content services and major changes in the way consumers want to access content across multiple devices—place and time shifting. 

Moreover, the way in which audiences are willing to pay for this content is also evolving.

Traditional TV advertising remains the principal revenue source for content owners and service providers, totaling $166 billion in 2019. But revenues are declining—in 2020, there was a 12% year-over-year fall, due partly to the impact of Covid-19. Although starting from a lower base, OTT video ad spend is on a healthy growth curve.

On the subscription side, traditional cable and satellite pay-TV revenues are also declining, with subscriptions set to fall to just a 40% share of TV services in 2026, compared to 81% in 2016. In contrast, spend on OTT subscriptions rose 34% in 2020—in the U.S. market, consumer spend is set to reach $76 billion by 2024. 

Although the various forecasts differ by a few percentage points, a likely picture is that OTT subscription and ad revenue will eventually eclipse all other sources of income—with some estimates suggesting $221 billion by 2025. 

THE RISE OF DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER

On the production side, content costs are increasing as new media players enter the bidding for key producers, brands and sports rights. In response, traditional media is consolidating to secure intellectual property, reduce overhead cost and pool technology investments.

However, further back in the content supply chain, rights owners and content creators are bypassing incumbent distributors and creating direct-to-consumer OTT offerings. Sports TV is a key battleground with players like Formula One, MLB and NHL all creating domestic and global offerings that remove a layer of distribution and capture a greater share of revenue directly from consumers.

These early pioneers are not alone. Individual and small-scale content creators are growing, enabled by low-entry barriers for semi-professional production and low-cost distribution models that utilize platforms including YouTube, Twitch and Patreon.

It is a complex and fast-evolving landscape—difficult to navigate for traditional broadcasters that have to fend off rivals from the world of telecommunication that see “content” as an opportunity to create stickier broadband and 4G/5G bundles. At the same time, broadcasters are up against internet rivals who are jostling for the number one spot with different goals such as supporting retail sales via “Prime-Style” subscriptions or tying users into walled garden ecosystems like Apple or Google.

Broadcasters, caught between a rock and a hard place, are trying to attract and retain eyeballs to support advertising revenue and ultimately create innovative, unique content that not only consolidates traditional viewership but engages new audiences. In short, the market is in a state of flux. Over the course of the next few years, we will see who comes out on top—and those who struggle to adapt to this changing landscape.

NEWS VIEWERSHIP HOLDS STEADY

However, several interesting trends are worth further investigation. One of the areas where traditional broadcasters have retained a consistent viewership is within the news. 

The three main news networks in the U.S. have experienced only a mild decline in viewership over the past three years, primarily due to the rise of alternative news sources such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. What is more interesting is at the local level. The Pew Research Centre for Journalism and Media showed that local TV news is still more popular than national news networks, and the hours-per-day of local TV news consumption has grown by 62% between 2013 and 2018. 

Although traditional local TV advertising revenues have declined over the last few years, digital advertising around news content has seen strong double-digit growth leading to only a marginal overall shortfall.  

These data points suggest an overall positive growth trend for local TV news and point to an optimistic future. Local news can harness opportunities in new technology and innovative Electronic News Gathering (ENG) methods to power more news quantity, quality and diversity, while internet networks can provide a greater reach for localized news and enhance cost-efficiencies.

HOME ADVANTAGE

The localization trend also plays into the other big success story for traditional TV—live sports. Although the world’s two most popular sports leagues, the NFL and English Premier League, have seen a multi-year decline within their home nations, audiences have increasingly tuned in from around the globe.  

For example, the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup was the most watched sporting event of that year, with the tournament achieving a cumulative live audience of 1.6 billion viewers. And in esports, international viewership is surging—live streaming audiences are set to hit 920 million by 2024, growing approximately 10% year-on-year.

Sports that may have been too niche for traditional TV in the past—such as formula E, MMA, darts, rowing and competitive cycling—have found audiences on DTT, cable and increasingly OTT services where they can support an FTA (free-to-air) model that is backed up by digital advertising. Local sports—as grassroots as a town’s football, cricket or rugby club—may well tie into the desire for local news delivered via OTT, as long as production costs can be kept low and the production quality can remain acceptable to viewers.

GETTING AHEAD OF THE CURVE

The current TV landscape is exciting—success is up for grabs for those who are willing to innovate. Increased localization opportunities and future-proofed distribution models present just some of the promising avenues for growth. The digital revolution has ushered in a consumer shift that is forcing many to reevaluate their business structure, and media players now face more competition than ever before. 

For more than a year, our industry has witnessed the economic impact of the global pandemic, and in that time, data points and longer-term trajectories may have been skewed. The status quo between content producers, distributors and consumers has irreversibly changed, while innovation in future-ready production and distribution models has accelerated. Right now, media players need to be bold to stay ahead of the curve—and to shape a successful roadmap for the future.

Neil Maycock is CMO and general manager, playout for Grass Valley. 

WASHINGTON—FCC Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is looking for help from broadcasters to get the word out about a new FCC program designed to give broadband support to those in need of it.

During a speech at the NAB’s State Leadership Conference, Rosenworcel acknowledged the trusted role that broadcasters have in sharing information in their communities, emphasized in the last year, calling broadcasters the place people turn to for “the latest and greatest.”

Rosenworcel wants to capitalize on that role of broadcasters to help spread the word about the new Emergency Broadband Benefit program, which is launching this week. The program is designed to help eligible households ensure they are and can stay connected to broadband so that they can have reliable internet access. Under the program, eligible households will receive up to $50 per month for broadband service, and those on tribal lands can received up to $75 per month.

“People won’t receive this help if they don’t sign up. And that’s where you come in,” Rosenworcel said. “We need trusted voices like yours to let people know that support is available and how to get it.”

The FCC has created a press section on its website where broadcasters can find shareable information about the program and participating internet providers.

“If you can help us spread the word about the Emergency Broadband Benefit and get people signed up, we can help make paying those bills a little bit easier during these historically hard times,” Rosenworcel added.

Rosenworcel’s full speech from the NAB SLC is available online. More information on the Emergency Broadband Benefit program is available on the FCC website. 

WASHINGTON—Broadcasters are being short changed for their local news content from two of the biggest technology companies, Google and Facebook, according to a new study from BIA Advisory Services. The amount of money that broadcasters lose under these current conditions approaches $2 billion annually.

BIA’s study, “The Economic Impact of Big Tech Platforms on the Viability of Local Broadcast News,” which was commissioned by NAB, found that because large technology platforms exercise their substantial market power, broadcasters are not receiving fair compensation for their content. BIA said that these tech platforms use their market power to advance their own growth at the detriment of local broadcasters, which can put a strain on the viability of local news.

The study focused on Google Search and Facebook News Feed. Through interviews with broadcast group executives and modeling of high economic impact practices, the study found that local broadcasters lose $1.873 billion annually by supplying their content to these platforms.

In addition, the study concluded that no technology platform allows broadcasters to earn equitable revenue based on current practices. It said that algorithms do not properly weigh local broadcast news, “which intentionally and unfairly undervalues the broadcast content in search queries.” The study also noted that broadcast content and local news are often included in search returns and news feeds alongside questionable sources and disinformation, which could potentially confuse users and instill distrust.

“Even though we focused our quantitative analysis on Google and Facebook, the market power of other platforms and services, such as Amazon and Apple, were cited as increasingly undermining the viability of local news media,” said Rick Ducey, managing director at BIA Advisory Services. “The growth of these platforms present the potential for substantial future harm to the industry if not constrained by government action.”

NAB has been pushing for such government action against major tech platforms, saying it puts them at a disadvantage. Last fall, Congress concluded an investigation that big tech can in fact harm the news industry and some legislation is reportedly in the works to help support smaller broadcasters against the likes of major tech companies.

“Radio and television broadcasters play a vital role in providing Americans with valuable news and information, shining a light on the events shaping their communities,” said NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith. “Unfortunately, this study makes clear that the competitive advantage of a handful of big tech platforms prevents broadcasters from recouping their substantial investment in local news, putting local journalism at risk. Preserving quality, trusted journalism in communities will require policies that ensure broadcasters are fairly and justly compensated for their valuable content.”

Local broadcasters are expected to be on Capitol Hill this week as part of NAB’s annual State Leadership Conference to advocate for issues affecting the broadcast industry. For more information, visit NAB’s website. 

WASHINGTON—The fight between broadcasters (ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC) and Locast is nearing its day in court, but the lawyers representing the broadcasters (plaintiffs) have filed a request for summary judgement with the U.S. District Court in New York as they do not believe, and provide reasoning, as to why Locast is not a non-profit entity and therefore cannot rebroadcast their signals.

Locast is a streaming service that offers local channels to consumers in a market over the internet. It was founded by David R. Goodfriend, who has claimed that the service operates as a non-profit and as such under the Copyright Act of 1976 has the right to rebroadcast these networks without paying fees to the networks. Locast does not charge a monthly fee, however it does say users can donate (generally $5) to help keep Locast running.

Currently, Locast serves 31 markets across the U.S.

The plaintiffs initially filed suit against Locast in July 2019. They believe that Locast, despite its claims as a non-profit, is little different than Aereo, another business that rebroadcast their signals and was ultimately defeated by a Supreme Court decision.

In the letter sent to U.S. District Court Judge Louis Stanton, the lawyers for the plaintiffs lay out three points as to why Locast does not fall under the protection of the Copyright Act of 1976.

First, they say that the exemption that Locast is using is limited to localized media, like broadcast translators and boosters, that serve viewers in the immediate vicinity, not to services that have a global reach, like they argue Locast’s internet-based service has.

They continue to make their case by arguing Locast cannot prove it does not make secondary transmissions “without any purpose of direct or indirect commercial advantage.” The plaintiffs say that Locast uses copyrighted material to attract new members to its organization, as well as to boost its name recognition, collect data and conferring benefits on pay-TV companies that support it.

Lastly, the plaintiffs say that Locast violates the tenet that non-profits may not impose any “charge” on recipients. As mentioned, Locast does not have a monthly subscription fee, but the plaintiffs claim that after an introductory period, Locast interrupt’s a user’s TV stream every 15 minutes on a given channel with an advertisement asking for $5 per month, described as a donation; this is a tactic the plaintiffs compare to "freemium" services. If the user does not pay the $5, they are sent back to Locast’s program guide and must navigate back to the channel they were watching, per the letter. If a user pays, they then receive uninterrupted service for a month.

“[T]he court should grant summary judgement for Plaintiffs on these grounds based on the plain text, basic principles of statutory interpretation and copyright law, and the undisputed facts,” the letter reads.

In its own letter, Sports Fans Coalition NY, which is the parent company of Locast, lays out its defense of why it falls under the protection of the Copyright Act of 1976.

It claims that, as per the law, it is not a cable system, which the plaintiffs do not contest; that no individual is taking commercial advantage of the service because no one owns SFCNY; that most nonprofits partake in commercial activities in order to further their charitable mission; and that more than half of its active users do not make donations.

Both letters are available online. The plaintiffs letter here, and the defendants letter here. 

WASHINGTON—A bipartisan group of House and Senate members introduced the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act on March 10, which would enable small news outlets to collectively negotiate with online platforms, like Google and Facebook, for use of their stories.

The bill was brought forth by House Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman David N. Cicilline (D-R.I.), House Antitrust Subcommittee Ranking Member Ken Buck (R-Colo.), Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (D-Calif.) and Chairwoman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust and Consumer Rights Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).

The legislation follows a bipartisan investigation into the online marketplace, which found that big tech companies use practices that ultimately harm local news providers, including broadcasters.

According to Pew Research Center, 90% of Americans get news while using a smartphone, computer or tablet, with Facebook and Google accounting for a majority of online referrals for news sources and a majority of the online advertising market. This “digital ad duoply” has contributed to layoffs and consolidation in the news industry, especially for local new outlets, the announcement noted. 

The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act will establish a temporary, 48-month safe harbor that allows small news publishers to negotiate collectively with online platforms to protect Americans’ access to sources of online news. Coordination is only allowed if 1) it directly relates to the quality, accuracy, attribution or branding, or interoperability of news; 2) benefits the entire industry, rather than just a few publishers, and is non-discriminatory to other news publishers; and 3) is directly related to and reasonably necessary for these negotiations, instead of being used for other purposes.

“A strong, diverse, free press is critical for any successful democracy. Access to trustworthy local journalism helps inform the public, hold powerful people accountable, and root out corruption,” said Cicilline, who has introduced the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act in each of the last two Congresses. “This bill will give hardworking local reporters and publishers the helping hand they need right now, so they can continue to do their important work.”

NAB, who has argued that large online companies are putting broadcasters at a disadvantage for ads, welcomed the proposed legislation.

“NAB commends Reps. David Cicilline and Ken Buck, Sens. Amy Klobuchar and John Kennedy and their bipartisan cosponsors for reintroducing legislation allowing news publishers such as local broadcasters to collectively negotiate the terms on which their content may be distributed online,” said NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith in a statement. “For too long, a handful of dominant tech platforms have unilaterally set policies impeding media outlets’ ability to reach audiences, attract advertisers and monetize their news content. The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act would afford news producers the ability to negotiate a fair return for their local journalism that serves America's communities. We look forward to working with stakeholders and members of Congress on passing this legislation into law.”

The House Antitrust Subcommittee will hold a hearing, “Reviving Competition, Part 2: Saving the Free and Diverse Press,” on Friday, March 12. Emily Barr, president and CEO of Graham Media Group, is scheduled to testify on behalf of local TV and radio broadcasters.

WASHINGTON—The efforts toward greater diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) that have emerged across the country following the killing of George Floyd last summer are not just morally responsible decisions, but are also forward-thinking steps toward success. This was a key point in a discussion on DEI during the APTS 2021 Public Media Summit.

APTS conducted several DEI-focused sessions on Feb. 22 that detailed how public media as a whole can benefit from steps for greater inclusion, as well as how a specific station is working toward these goals.

First, during a discussion with Lonnie G. Bunch, secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and founding director of the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture, “Firing Line” host Margaret Hoover provided statistics from the American Public Media Group that showed only 23.1% of executives and senior managers in media are black, indigenous or people of color. Later, in the “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiatives to Strengthen Service Station” session, Nikki Bethel, president and CEO of the Emma Bowen Foundation, said that RTDNA’s most recent newsroom diversity report showed that just 7.1% of general managers at broadcast stations are people of color, down from 10.3% in 2019.

However, as Bunch noted, more often than not the companies that are among the top in diverse leadership also see some of the strongest economic growth.

“So in many ways the key is to recognize that having a diverse leadership is about being right, being moral, but it’s also about being successful,” said Bunch. “And I think as long as people can begin to realize that is the key to their success of their business in the future, I think that’ll be one of the ways that it will happen.”

In introducing the “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiatives” session, Milton Clipper, founder of Clipper and Co. and president emeritus of Public Broadcast Atlanta, said that more companies are making a commitment to DEI because they see the “long-term financial stability by harnessing the top-down strategic power of diversity, equality and inclusion,” as well as being recognized as vital parts of their communities social fabric.

PLUS: CPB Increases Funds for Media Groups Producing Diverse Content

During this session, WXXI, which serves Rochester, N.Y., provided specific examples of how it has been working to increase its DEI practices. One example was the creation of a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Council, and within that “Change Teams” focused on capacity (policies to attract and engage with a diverse work group), content, community engagement and structural integrity, i.e. ensuring those that they do business with have similar policies.

WXXI has also offered its employees listening sessions to openly discuss their experiences, a DEI online channel, DEI Book Club and the station took part in a 21-day Racial Equity Challenge within its community. 

Even with these promising steps, WXXI recognizes that DEI needs to be an ongoing mission.

“I liked to see two, three, even five years from now that continued commitment,” said Ajamu Kitwana, a board member for WXXI. “This isn’t the type of effort that is going to be achieved in a year or two. I think we’ll be a lot better at it three years from now. But we should still be committed to it and hopefully we’ll have several successes to look back on that we feel really good about, and probably some other things that we look back on and [realize] we’re really learning and getting even better as we move forward.”

“Now and in the future, public media will depend on a more diverse audience for viewership and support,” Clipper added. “With generational changes and new managers entering the system, public media has an opportunity to position itself as a leader of the successful utilization of diversity, equity and inclusion.”

Recordings of these APTS Public Media Summit diversity sessions are available online. 

WASHINGTON—As the FCC is trying to get the word out on its Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program, NAB says that local broadcast stations could be an effective way to reach Americans that are eligible for the program.

The FCC recently issued a public notice about its implementation of the EBB program and how to promote awareness for it so as to effectively reach the communities that need discounted broadband services and equipment. NAB, as well as citing to comments made by others, filed its own comments that express the role broadcasters can play to meet these goals.

According to NAB’s filing, the National Hispanic Media Coalition has urged the FCC to prioritize radio and TV advertising for the EBB, as it does not believe that traditional methods of marketing government benefit programs will reach the appropriate audiences. Public Knowledge, meanwhile, said that promotion “should include a variety of media outlets that target minority and low-income populations,” like local TV stations.

“NAB agrees that advertising on television and radio stations would be a particularly effective way to raise awareness of the EBB Program, both because of broadcast stations’ broad reach and their ability to target the populations most in need of Program information,” the organization said in its filing.

About 40% of U.S. TV households are equipped with an antenna for OTA viewing, NAB reports, and those numbers are higher for households with incomes below $50,000 (45%) and Hispanic/LatinX households (43%). TV viewing is also higher among African-American audiences.

Broadcast stations can also direct targeted messages to niche audiences, NAB points out, including non-English speakers.

“Including free over-the-air local broadcast stations in publicity and advertising campaigns, whether those campaigns are conducted by government agencies or by EBB providers, would be an extremely effective way to reach Americans most in need of EBB Program benefits,” NAB concludes.

WASHINGTON—The NAB praised the coverage by broadcasters during the Capitol riots on Jan. 6, which, as the NAB has highlighted in a recent newsletter, included local broadcasters conducting interviews with their areas’ members of Congress during and shortly after the events to keep their communities informed.

Hundreds of local TV and radio broadcasters interviewed their local legislators, giving members of Congress a direct outlet to share what was happening with their constituents.

During the riots, Graham Media Group’s NBC affiliate WDIV-TV in Detroit spoke with Rep. Lisa McClain (R) from where she was in lockdown in the Capitol, describing the series of events and confirming that she and a number of colleagues were “safe and secure.” 

Other stations conducted interviews with representatives later that night after Congress reconvened to certify President Biden’s election victory, or in the days that followed for their recollections and reactions to the riots.

The NAB has collected many more stories from broadcasters talking with government officials about the Capitol riots and has made them available for view online. 

The newsletter that NAB sent out with some of these stories is part of the organization’s “We Are Broadcasters” campaign, which is highlighting the crucial role that broadcasters play in their communities, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Congress itself is hoping to recognize the work of journalists during the Capitol riots, introducing legislation honoring them.

WASHINGTON—The FCC released an update to its DTS (distributed transmission system) coverage rules to expand the permissible range of signal spillover and replace the subjective “minimal amount” language used to describe spillovers as a way to promote ATSC 3.0 reaching its full potential.

The change gives broadcasters more flexibility in placement of DTS transmitters. For UHF stations, the rule change mandates that the 41 dBu F(50,50) contour for each DTS transmitter in use does not exceed the reference station’s 41 dBu F(50,50) contour. The corresponding values for low VHF are now 28 dBu and for high VHF 36 dBu.

The Report and Order, adopted Jan. 13, explained that the agency’s actions are intended to afford “broadcasters greater flexibility in the placement of DTS transmitters …” that will “allow them to enhance signal capabilities and fill coverage gaps, improve indoor and mobile reception, and increase spectrum efficiency by reducing the need for television translator stations operating on separate channels.”

The change gives no protection to DTS transmissions beyond a station’s authorized service area. It also removes the requirement for Class A, LPTV and TV translator stations to apply for DTS facilities on an experimental basis. The new DTS contour-based limit for these broadcasters is similar to the change adopted for full-power broadcasters but is “modified slightly to account for technical differences …,” it said.

“[O]ur adopted approach will allow broadcasters to improve coverage in their service areas, without causing more spillover than necessary to promote DTS deployment,” the R&O said.

While the change increases the permitted area for DTS spillover, it does not change a station’s area of interference protection, the R&O said.  “Specifically, such spillover will be subject to a bright-line limitation …”

By relaxing and clarifying how much DTS spillover is allowed at the fringe of a full-power station’s coverage contour, stations will be permitted to deliver a stronger signal to viewers located at the edges of their service areas and where terrain hampers delivery, it said.

The R&O was prompted by a petition for rulemaking filed by America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) and NAB. The FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment.  

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Brendan Carr supported the rule change. Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Stark approved in part and dissented in part. 

More information is available on the FCC website. 

LOS ANGELES—SAG-AFTRA, an entertainment industry union whose members include broadcast journalists, offered its condemnation of the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 by rioters and says that the concurrent attacks against members of the media during the riot were fueled by President Donald Trump and other members supporting baseless conspiracy theories.

SAG-AFTRA called the attack “an inevitable result of sustained misinformation campaigns that attempted to discredit journalists while weaving a counter-narrative based on falsehoods.”

During the riot, members of the media were charged, equipment was destroyed and graffiti was left of the door of the Capitol that read “Murder the Media.”

“The reckless rhetoric by some leaders—including many members of Congress who continued to perpetuate lies even after the attack—is damaging the fabric of our nation and costing lives,” SAG-AFTRA’s statement read.

In addition, the union condemned the displays of Confederate flags “and other symbols of white supremacy and hate” that appeared during the riot, calling them attempts to subjugate and terrorize people of color and certain faiths.

Fifteen people have so far been charged with crimes for their involvement in the riot, with the acting U.S. Attorney General Michael Sherwin saying they are looking at “all actors” involved in inciting the riot. 

WASHINGTON—The nation was shocked on Wednesday, Jan. 6, as a group of rioters incited by President Donald Trump’s false accusations of the 2020 election being “rigged” and “stolen” and vitriol against the news media stormed the U.S. Capitol as a joint session of Congress was in the process of certifying the electoral college vote for President-Elect Joe Biden.

Local broadcasters and cable networks provided full coverage of the unprecedented scene. Those on site were also targeted by parts of the mob.

William Turton of Bloomberg posted a video on Twitter that shows the rioters approaching and then attacking members of the media.

Paul McLeod from Buzzfeed News also tweeted on many of the interactions with the media, including the above charge, which he provided quotes from rioters boasting about it. He also posted a photo that showed a noose being made out of a camera cord. After the 6 p.m. curfew that was instituted for Washington D.C. by Mayor Muriel Bowser, McLeod tweeted parts of the mob that were still around the Capitol “chased out a TV crew while threatening and cursing at them.”

A pair of Washington Post video journalists covering the events were also temporarily arrested for being out after the 6 p.m. curfew.

“We are saddened and disheartened by the actions unfolding in our nation’s capital,” said NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith in a statement on the riots. “To the journalists risking their lives to bring this unprecedented scene to Americans across the nation, stay safe and vigilant.”

Four people died during the riots, as well as 14 Metropolitan Police Department Officers were injured, but no reports have indicated that those numbers include anyone from the media.

Away from the scene, many advertisers pulled commercials that were scheduled to air around news coverage, according to Business Insider. Many news broadcasts ran uninterrupted during the events.

Outside of traditional news broadcasts, late night talk shows spent extended time commenting on the tragic events, including an initially unplanned live broadcast of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.”

Just hours after the Capitol had been breached and Congress and staffs sheltered in place, they returned to the Congress floor and in the early hours of Thursday, Jan. 7, certified the electoral college for President-Elect Joe Biden, who will be inaugurated as the 46th president on Jan. 20.

WASHINGTON—ATVA is not entirely pleased with who the recently approved Congressional Stimulus Package will allow to access small business funds. As it had previously criticized, it believes that the legislation opens up small business aid to benefit large broadcast conglomerates.

Per the new stimulus package, individual TV stations can apply for PPP loans as long as the individual station employs no more than 500 employees per physical location; this includes stations that may be owned by large station groups like Nexstar, Tegna or others. ATVA says that by law these station groups are required to handle personnel, programming and finances for these stations, meaning that their stations should not be able to be classified individually.

“These big broadcasters have reported huge profits this year and now they are positioned to reap millions of dollars each in a handout from taxpayers,” said Jessica Kendust, an ATVA spokesperson. “We hope these large and profitable companies understand the public service obligations expected of those demanding taxpayer support—obligations they should keep in mind when deciding whether to black out the ‘locally focused or emergency information’ that Congress is seeking to protect.”

Kendust points out that despite people’s reliance on local news during the pandemic, major blackouts have occurred throughout the year, including recent issues with Tegna and AT&T (now resolved) and Nexstar and Dish.

“These blackouts should never have happened,” Kendust said. “And now that taxpayers are subsidizing these broadcasters’ already-profitable operations, they must stop using these tactics.”

WASHINGTON—Congress has passed a new stimulus package, which as part of the $900 billion spending package to support individuals and businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic includes expanding support for broadcasters and other media outlets.

Local television and radio stations, as well as local newspapers, are receiving expanded eligibility for U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) loans through the Paycheck Protection Program. 

As part of the new legislation, individual TV and radio stations can apply for PPP loans as long as the individual station employs no more than 500 employees per physical location; this includes individual stations that are owned by station groups, something that had been a sticking point previously when determining small business loan access. SBA has the ability to make loans up to $10 million total across TV and radio stations owned by one of these larger station groups. Also, Congress has waived any prohibition on loans to broadcast stations owned by publicly traded entities.

One condition included in these new provisions is that newly eligible individual stations are required to make a good faith certification that proceeds of the loan will be used to support expenses for the production or distribution of locally-focused or emergency information.

A second round of PPP eligibility has also been created for small businesses that demonstrate significant need, which can include broadcasters. This second round applies to businesses with 300 or fewer employees that have sustained a 25% revenue loss in any quarter of 2020. Any loan in this round is capped at $2 million. Broadcasters who received PPP loans earlier this year can still qualify for this new round, as well as any broadcaster who is newly eligible for first round PPP loans.

“NAB applauds the inclusion of provisions in COVID-19 relief legislation that would expand eligibility to Paycheck Protection Program loans for local media outlets, including those radio and television stations which were previously excluded,” said Gordon Smith, NAB president and CEO. “These provisions, in addition to the bill’s second round of PPP funding for which many stations will also be eligible, help local broadcasters maintain their operations during this difficult time and continue to provide news and information critical to local communities as vaccine distribution commences across the country.”

The bill is also slated to provide $7 billion for expanded broadband access for students, families and unemployed workers. In addition, the omnibus spending bill includes a bill that makes the pirating of streamed content a felony.

The rate at which media production workflows and technologies are evolving is unmatched. Driven in part by enforced COVID-19 lockdowns and social distancing measures, the emergence of new innovative tools, especially those that enable effective remote and “at home” production, has intensified. 

In fact, 2020 has accelerated several trends within the industry. IP infrastructures and workflows continue to grow in prominence, while remote productions have taken on a newfound importance. Faced with ongoing disruption, broadcasters and content producers have had to quickly adapt, embrace new solutions and rethink the way they produce content. Workflows that are flexible, scalable, reconfigurable and future-ready have never been more essential.

Therefore, production engineers need to look forward and ensure that they’re adequately prepared for what the future will bring. In order to satisfy the demands of content-hungry consumers with simultaneous productions and delivery of content across online, social media and linear TV, it’s vital that they’re equipped with the skills and tools to embrace the new workflows that future live productions will demand. However, there are several key challenges standing in their way.

OBSTACLES TO OVERCOME

In the remote working environment we find ourselves in, ensuring efficient workflow orchestration across multiple sites, including task scheduling and resource management, is a key concern. Productions are becoming increasingly complex, making it harder to ensure coordination between disparate operators back at a broadcast center and the supporting systems. This can lead to inefficiencies that can affect the overall quality of productions. For example, it’s now common for production engineers to have to manage a range of devices and various people using different systems, often resulting in intricate and intensive workflows for processes that could be automated.

Getting a handle on remote facilities, personnel and devices spread over large distances can feel like a losing battle, particularly as operations scale. This is a challenge that has intensified with remote streams and complete remote productions becoming more common due to COVID-19. Remote commentary positions, temporary production setups (using flypacks), live connections coming in from around the world—everything needs to be monitored, configured and controlled no matter where the equipment is located. 

This all must happen seamlessly during operations. However, many existing control systems are simply unable to cope with the level of intricacy involved. Having to switch between various bespoke device applications or change configurations on the fly can be time-consuming and inefficient. Only a system that can be distributed across multiple locations and can integrate with any number of devices will provide the control and visibility now required.

Further adding to the complexity is the growing demand for IP that provides the agility and scalability needed to support higher resolutions such as UHD-4K or HDR and is more responsive than SDI environments. This introduces new ways of working for everyone involved in the production ecosystem. Keeping live video streams in sync with audio over IP networks is tricky, and not all engineers are yet fully accustomed to this new technology. This presents a need to integrate IP streams into their workflows without drastically changing their working processes. As such, new protocols and formats are causing concern—all supplemented by a need to deliver more value and increase productivity.

BORDERLESS PRODUCTION

There are several steps production engineers must take to overcome the challenges they are facing, adapt to new workflows and ensure they are fully prepared for the future. For example, the growing influence of IP infrastructure—whether for a new facility, truck or flypack—isn’t something that can be ignored; while dealing with incoming feeds from the cloud or via remote facilities is fast becoming the norm rather than an exception.

It’s vital that engineers understand how these technologies can alter their workflows during setup and operation. This can be done through online training courses and virtual events. Engineers are at the forefront when it comes to evolving workflow processes, so regular training to continue to develop their skills and expertise is essential.

Most importantly, they should embrace a workflow without barriers—one that incorporates best-of-breed devices, located anywhere, all controlled and monitored by one open system. As well as streamlining workflows regardless of scale and type of connectivity, this will enable them to measure where time is being spent and how efficiency can be improved, providing opportunities for ongoing operational optimization.

To achieve this, they must turn to a control system that can adapt to whatever mix of connectivity and devices is thrown at it. As momentum behind IP-based workflows continues to grow, having such a system in place will enable production engineers to control and configure their traditional routers and devices—as well as being ready for IP media streams—all within one platform.

Ultimately, production engineers must prepare themselves for the new era by rethinking the way they produce shows and live events. The future will require a new level of agility in terms of the equipment they use and how they control devices in live environments. By embracing a world of production without borders and continuing development of their skills, they will be empowered to adopt the workflows of the future with confidence and success.

Ian Hollamby is head of R&D UK at EVS.

OTTAWA—The government of Canada has announced additional relief efforts for broadcasters as the industry continues to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Announced in the government’s Fall Economic Statement, the Part II broadcasting license fees for 2020-2021 will be waived for eligible TV and radio stations. The Part II broadcasting license fees are regulatory charges collected by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) from conventional TV, radio, discretionary TV service or a broadcast distribution undertaking license.

By waiving the fee for 2020-2021, CRTC estimates that it can provide relief of up to $50 million for broadcasters, helping them to maintain their broadcasting productions.

To qualify for the waiver, broadcasters must confirm a minimum 25% reduction of advertising revenues due to the pandemic and are continuing to operate in compliance with their regulatory obligations regarding Canadian content for at least two years. The CRTC will contact eligible stations directly to inform them of next steps.

The measure does not include cable, satellite and IPTV providers.

“Canadians rely on radio and television to stay up to date on matters related to COVID-19,” said Steve Guilbeault, minister of Canadian Heritage. “We continue to help radio and television broadcasters weather the unprecedented pressures the pandemic has placed on their advertising revenues.”

Many U.S. broadcasters asked the FCC to similarly waive annual regulatory fees due to the pandemic, but the FCC ultimately opted not to. 

There was a time not too long ago when broadcasters, movie studios and other media and entertainment organizations were reluctant to store valuable content assets in the public cloud and leverage the workflow benefits to be found there.

But that has all changed. The COVID-19 pandemic has seen to that. Driven by a desire to comply with social-distancing mandates, keep employees safe and continue creating and distributing content, these organizations are embracing the cloud.

To paraphrase Grass Valley CEO and President Tim Shoulders during a recent virtual press conference, the pandemic has slayed many media organizations’ sacred cows when it comes to concern over security and the cloud.

Even a cursory review of what’s happened since the outbreak underscores the truth of Shoulders’ observation.

Whether it’s station groups implementing news workflows in which many newsroom, control room and on-air personnel work remotely; dubbing studios that have virtualized workflows so voice talent doesn’t have to come in; the finale of CBS “Survivor” produced remotely and posted virtually; or even sports leagues and broadcast rights holders that have scrambled to create virtual fan-in-the-stands excitement; the cloud is reshaping how the media and entertainment industry works.

In mid-October, Doctor David Nabarro, special envoy on COVID-19, for the World Health Organization, advocated for a “middle path.” Specifically, he said:

“We’re saying that we really do have to learn how to co-exist with this virus in a way that doesn’t require constant closing down of economies but at the same time in a way that is not associated with high levels of suffering and death. It’s what we are calling the ‘middle path.’”

For broadcasters and other M&E organizations, it would seem the way to that middle path is the cloud and virtualization. It’s hard to see how workflows will ever revert to the old ways and equally difficult to find a reason why companies on a seemingly perpetual quest to realize greater efficiencies would want to go back.

WASHINGTON—Election results for the presidency and other races may not be known on Nov. 3, but election day puts a bow on the lowest unit charge for political advertising that TV and radio broadcasters were required to implement in the build up to people’s votes being counted.

The FCC’s Media Bureau officially said in a public notice that even if races are still undecided for days, or even weeks, following Nov. 3, broadcasters will not be obligated to provide the lowest unit charge for any post-election political ads.

The Communications Act of 1934 set the rule for broadcasters to give individuals running for public office the lowest unit charge available for 60 days preceding an election. While “election” is not defined by the law, the FCC has interpreted that to mean the election date designated by federal law, in the case of 2020, Nov. 3.

PLUS: The Longest Night

While stations would no longer be required to charge the lowest unit charge, the FCC does remind them that any ad on behalf of a candidate or communication relating to any political matter of national importance must be uploaded to the station’s online political file.

In response to increasing abuse by the public, the Dutch Broadcast Foundation (NOS) has announced that it is removing its corporate logos and slogans from its company vehicles.

NOS says that its journalists are regularly harassed while trying to perform their work. The broadcaster has already been providing bodyguards to journalists who are covering protests and other potentially dangerous events, and is now considering bodyguards for all NOS employees.

Journalistic abuse in Europe is not limited to NOS, as the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom (ECMPF) has recorded 34 attacks on journalists by members of the public between July and September.

The U.S. has also had similar instances of attacks against journalists this year, particularly following the protests after George Floyd’s death.

The full story is available on dw.com.  

WASHINGTON—The FCC has scheduled a virtual symposium designed to look at the financial and legislative issues that small and diverse broadcasters face. The symposium is called “Path to Media Ownership and Sustainability” and will take place on Nov. 6.

The event is organized by the Access to Capital Working Group of the FCC’s Advisory Committee on Diversity and Digital Empowerment (ACDDE) and the FCC’s Media Bureau.

On the agenda for the day will be a slew of broadcasters and lenders discussing how to obtain financing for broadcast station transactions. It will also dive into the history of broadcast tax certificate policy and the potential for new tax certificate policy to increase broadcast ownership diversity.

Nielsen Global Media is also on tap to present ratings measurements for multi-ethnic broadcast stations and lead a discussion on how small and diverse broadcasters can attract increased advertising revenue.

In addition, Congressional staff members will provide updates on pending legislation to increase diversity media ownership

Scheduled speakers for the event include FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks; Caroline Beasley, CEO of Beasley Media Group and an ACDDE chair; Anna M. Gomez, a representative of the Hispanic National Bar Association and an ACDDE chair; and more. The full agenda is available online.

“Path to Media Ownership and Sustainability” will take place from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. ET on Nov. 6. The event will be connected virtually via WebEx, as well as available to the public via streaming at www.fcc.gov/live. Open captioning will be provided for the event. 

After the initial COVID outbreak, broadcasters focused on firefighting—adopting emergency measures to keep teams safe and maintain creative output. In light of the resurgence in cases, media companies are having to plan for continued remote working. Production and post-production workflows, which started out as business continuity measures, will have to become long-term solutions. 

Here are three key areas where cloud workflows can help maximize efficiencies and facilitate this transition.

ASSET STORAGE

Despite multiple ways of working and different business needs, all broadcasters have one thing in common—assets, and lots of them. While dealing with the challenges posed by the pandemic, this content presented both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, when production was halted by the initial outbreak, media companies could make use of their back-catalogue to fill the gap. On the other hand, the success of this approach relied heavily on how easy the content was to access. 

During lockdown, broadcasters whose content was stored on-site quickly realized that this made their archive difficult to leverage. Now media companies are focused on shifting libraries to systems that make content more accessible and searchable. By transitioning assets to the cloud in bulk and making use of innovations such as AI-powered metadata tagging, post-production teams can easily search for content remotely. 

Cloud storage is not just for archived content; recent footage needs to be managed effectively too. Whilst isolated from the office, many post-production teams found themselves needing to access thousands of hours of content to deliver projects imminently. They began working from home with hard-drives, which contained enough assets for the first few weeks. They then had to resort to the time-consuming process of uploading and downloading content, often struggling with broadband speeds that couldn’t support their workflows. 

Putting an end to this inefficient process of shifting files around is one of the most common requests from clients. The solution is utilizing cloud-based technology to create proxy workflows, which provide flexible access without extensive data transfer time for large video files. These proxy workflows are significantly more efficient, leaving editors with more time to spend doing what they do best.

A FLEXIBLE WORKFORCE

There is no doubt that the coming months and years will see huge changes in the way that organizations manage their teams. Remote workflows will need to be at the forefront of any changes to broadcasting infrastructure. Previously, this seemed like an impossible task for organizations weighed down by huge files and complex systems. Now, advances in cloud-based workflows mean that broadcasters can become more responsive to the changing needs of their workforce. 

With virtual editing technology no longer restricted by processing power requirements, the challenge for post-production teams is to choose the right remote tools for your organization’s working methods. First, broadcasters need to identify their business focus and the type of workflows their team implements. 

Browser-based web-edit tools are great for high-volume quick turnaround content. However, the adoption of these tools can be a challenge for large teams because they require editors to learn completely new workflows. It’s important for broadcasters to weigh the impact of retraining staff in these instances. Alternatively, remote access solutions can replicate an editor’s on-site workspace at home. Whether broadcasters opt to send proxy versions of content directly or completely mimic the user-interface will depend on their infrastructure needs. 

Regardless of the technical requirements, the key to implementing any new system is to enable broadcasters to put their team at the heart of infrastructure changes. By giving content creators the same flexibility to work from home as professionals in other sectors, clients have seen an improvement not only in productivity but in creativity as well. 

INFRASTRUCTURE AGILITY

Many broadcasters will scale up their workstation capacity over time, but that often leaves physical infrastructure sitting idle during quieter periods. Teams working at maximum capacity one week don’t always need the same level of infrastructure once an event ends or the news-cycle shifts.

Physical infrastructure represents a significant financial commitment and broadcasters need to be confident the investment is worth it to scale up. Unfortunately, this requires a certain amount of certainty, and that has definitely been in short supply during 2020. Investing in physical workstations that aren’t being utilized is the editing equivalent of keeping a cab outside with the meter running. 

In contrast, cloud-based infrastructure allows users to add and remove workstations in a matter of minutes. By deploying and managing workstations remotely, broadcasters can be truly responsive. Tracking which workstations are in use and which users are connected will completely streamline workflows.

AN ADAPTABLE FUTURE FOR BROADCASTING

Flexibility has been broadcasting’s biggest virtue over the last few months. The traditional annual schedule has been turned upside down and events have been thrown into disarray. With guidelines altering weekly and a shaky return to the sports calendar, the industry has seen the importance of responding quickly as circumstances change.

Broadcasting continues to show huge resilience in the face of difficult circumstances. Over the course of 2020, early responses and emergency business continuity measures have transformed into interim processes. Now, broadcasters need to take the next logical step into long-term cloud-based workflows. 

Any return to normal in the near future seems unlikely. By the time we reach a post-COVID future, the media industry will have completely adapted to the challenges of social distancing. However, the long-term value of cloud-based infrastructure extends far beyond the pandemic. Making changes now will enable broadcasters to leverage their assets more effectively, offer attractive flexible working options for their staff and future proof their infrastructure. The industry will always be subject to change, now is the time to prepare for it.

Tim Burton is managing director for 7fivefive.

WASHINGTON—The FCC is moving forward with the proposed Fiscal Year 2020 regulatory fees that would collect $339 million, despite multiple arguments over different aspects of the plan from both cable operators and broadcasters.

The FCC is required to assess regulatory fees every year as a primary form of support for the commission. In May, the FCC proposed the $339 million total for fees, with an increase in fees for broadcasters as well as an increase in fees for DBS operators, bringing them closer to the fees paid by MVPDs. This latest action approves that proposal.

The FCC is determining the increase in broadcaster regulatory fees by switching up its method for calculating the fees. Previously, full-power TV station fees were based on the Nielsen Designated Market Area groupings. Now, after using a hybrid approach in 2019, the FCC is completely basing fees off of the actual population covered by a station that is calculated at .78 of one cent times population.

Many broadcasters and the NAB were against the proposal of raising broadcasters’ fees, particularly this year as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the bottom line of many stations. 

The increase for DBS fees—from 72 cents per sub to 89 cents per sub—is a continuation of a regulatory fee policy that the FCC has been employing since 2015 that is bringing the annual regulatory fee for direct broadcast satellite operators closer to the level of MVPDs. Both sides of this argument, cable operators and DBS, had issues with this.

NCTA and ACA Connects, on the side of cable operators, wanted the fees to be raised to level with that of MVPDs, but the FCC said that its yearly increase is still a “reasonable” process. For the DBS side, AT&T and Dish sought to stop the fee increases, arguing MVPD issues do not impact them, an idea the FCC rejected.

NAB issued a comment from Senior Vice President of Communications Ann Marie Cumming in response to the FCC's decision:

"NAB believes strongly that the commission's methodology for calculating regulatory fees is deeply flawed and would not survive judicial review. However, we very much appreciate Chairman Pai and his staff correcting certain errors in the proposal's original calculations to result in reduced fees for many radio broadcasters. NAB urges the commission to convene stakeholders to take a closer look at its approach to regulatory fees to ensure that they are fairly and equitably applied for all entities that utilize commission resources." 

The FCC says that all regulatory fees are due in September.

The full Report and Order from the FCC is available online. 

WASHINGTON—The FCC has made a special point to remind broadcasters, cable operators, satellite TV services and other video program distributors that reach peoples’ homes that they need to be aware of their responsibilities to make televised emergency info available to viewers that have disabilities.

This came via a Public Notice on the commission’s rules, specifically section 79.2. Section 79.2 defines emergency information as “[i]nformation, about a current emergency, that is intended to further the protection of life, health, safety and property” and how to respond to the emergency.

For the blind or visually impaired, the Public Notice notes that emergency information provided in the video portion of a regularly scheduled newscast or a newscast that interrupts regular programming must be accessible by aurally describing the emergency information in the main audio portion of the programming. When emergency information comes during programming that is not a newscast, an aural tone on the main audio stream must accompany the visual information. Secondary streams must also carry the aural information/tone. In regards to MVPDs, they must ensure that any application that enables the viewing of programming on second screen devices be able to transmit the aural information as well.

Responsibilities related to those that are deaf or hard of hearing include providing the emergency information available as part of the audio portion of the programming to be accessible through closed captioning or other methods of visual presentation; though closed captioning and visual presentation can not block each other. Those without the electronic newsroom technique for captioning are still required to provide closed captioning services for emergency information, and the FCC recommends that VPDs take steps to establish internal protocols to obtain closed captioning services.

And while not required by the FCC’s rules, the commission encourages that emergency information be accessible to people with cognitive disabilities through techniques like using plain language and pictorial information.

The FCC also provided the resources for filing complaints for violations of these emergency information rules, including www.fcc.gov/accessibilitycomplaints.

For more information, the full public notice is available online. 

WASHINGTON—As the COVID-19 pandemic continues into its fifth month, there is wide-ranging support for broadcasters to have greater access to loans that will help them continue to provide the key services to their communities so that they can stay informed.

In a new blog post, NAB Senior Vice President of Communications Ann Marie Cumming shared that numerous organizations have come out in favor of the Local News and Emergency Information Act that has been introduced to Congress and, according to Cumming, has bipartisan support.

The bill would expand eligibility for forgivable Payroll Protection Program loans for media outlets based on a local, per station or newsroom basis. In previous bills that aimed to provide relief to broadcasters during the pandemic, there has been debate as to whether stations owned by large corporations should be eligible for such loans.

Among those offering their support to this new bill are the AFL-CIO, FreedomWorks, National Hispanic Media Coalition, U.S. Cattlemen’s Association, Rural Agricultural Council of America, the National Urban League, National Association of Farm Broadcasting, NewsGuild-CWA and Native Public Media.

“Local TV and radio stations play an important role in providing communities with news and emergency information,” said Native Public Media. “It is crucial that Congress include broadcasters in the next coronavirus relief package. NPM stands in solidarity with local broadcasters.”

“Broadcasters look forward to working with Congress to ensure that this legislative language is included in coronavirus economic relief efforts to help preserve local media and journalism,” Cumming concluded in her post.

The complete post is available on the NAB’s blog. 

LYSAKER, Norway—A new global survey of broadcasters has found 92% expect to adopt 5G technology over the next two years.

The poll, carried out on behalf of Nevion, surveyed 225 broadcasters across Europe, Australia, China and North America with the aim of understanding how they envision using 5G and their perceptions of the technology.

It found that over a third (39%) of respondents expect their organization will be ready to adopt 5G within a year, while a further 53% believe they will be able to do so within the following year.

The survey also found 94% of broadcasters think that their country has the infrastructure ready to adopt 5G, but only 46% of broadcasters have tested 5G’s capabilities within their organization.

Almost two-thirds (65%) of respondents said they would consider adopting 5G for remote production, while 61% would consider using it for distribution as a potential replacement for DTT, satellite or cable. Broadcasters would also consider using 5G technologies for OTT services (33%) and contribution (29%).

While broadcasters are mainly considering 5G for remote production, only one-fifth (20%) think 5G’s ability to provide a more portable and flexible primary link for (some) outside broadcast production is its biggest benefit. However, 42% think the biggest benefit from 5G will be providing a cost-effective back-up for contribution links.

Andy Rayner, chief technologist, Nevion, commented: “It’s positive that broadcasters are expecting to move forward at pace with 5G. However, there is still a lot of work to be done before it can be implemented into live environments, and given the current climate worldwide, testing and developments may have slowed down. Over the next year or so, it will be a case of broadcasters looking in earnest at the potential of 5G in the value chain and testing the technology’s capabilities within their organizations—something over half of broadcasters are yet to do.”

WASHINGTON—A D.C. thinktank told the FCC last week that if broadcasters want changes to ownership rules in order to allow them to market “broadcast internet” via ATSC 3.0, they’ll need to pay up. 

In a letter to the commission, Michael Calabrese of New America’s Open Technology Institute (OTI) said that while it generally supports the rollout of ATSC 3.0 (aka NextGen TV), a new proposal announced by FCC Commissioner Brenda Carr last month to revise rules to give broadcasters an opening to offer new streaming services or lease out spectrum to third parties should be carefully considered. ATSC 3.0 combines over-the-air broadcasting with IP, allowing broadcasters for the first time to offer streaming and other IP-based services to over-the-air viewers. 

Calabrese said that the proposal “suggests to us that the proceeding has little if anything to do with ATSC 3.0 services to consumers and everything to do with reconfiguring the rules to permit local TV stations to aggregate and lease their no-cost broadcast spectrum to mobile carriers or others who would compete with mobile carriers. 

“Nothing in the NPRM seems oriented to encouraging broadcast station licensees to use their spectrum to broadcast new services—ATSC 3.0 or otherwise—but instead seems oriented to pave the way for them to aggregate and lease out their spectrum to third parties likely to use it for 5G or other narrowband or broadband internet access services indistinguishable from services widely available using many other flexible-use bands of spectrum.”

OTI takes issue with two parts of the proposal. For one, the organization says the NPRM needs to better define the requirement that broadcasters have to continue to provide a minimum of one “standard definition signal” and whether such requirements stand up in an era when ATSC 3.0 promises resolutions of up to 4K.

“Although the Draft NPRM asks about the resolution that broadcasters today typically use for compliance, it should also explicitly ask whether standard definition should continue to qualify as ‘advanced television service,’” Calabrese said.

Second, the imposition of a 5% ancillary fee—which was originally put in place during the DTV transition—should be reconsidered in light of the new proposals. The fee is imposed on revenues broadcasters collect from so-called “diginets,” over-the-air channels many broadcasters provide in addition to their main signal. 

Calabrese said that “the fee should be substantially higher than 5% given the enormous potential value of TV spectrum if, as the Draft NPRM would apparently permit, it could be leased to mobile broadband carriers or others for uses unrelated to broadcasting.”

The FCC will vote on the proposal at its June meeting. More information on the proposal is available here. 

WASHINGTON—The U.S. House of Representatives seems determined to expand the eligibility of Small Business Administration loans to broadcasters and other media outlets, passing the HEROES Act last week.

The HEROES (Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions) Act, among its provisions, would give individual local TV stations, radio stations and newspapers (even if they are part of large broadcast groups) access to loans associated with small businesses, including the Paycheck Protection Program.

“NAB applauds House passage of the HEROES Act that includes expanded access to Payroll Protection Program loans for local media outlets,” said NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith in a statement. “As local radio and TV stations and hometown newspapers struggle with historic advertising losses, it is critically important they have access to resources to support lifesaving journalism that keep families and communities out of harm’s way.”

There are reports, however, that despite the HEROES Act passage in the House, it is unlikely to pass in the Senate.

Still, there are two separate, bipartisan bills that were announced last week in both the House and Senate that offer the same type of small loan access to broadcasters. No votes have yet taken place on either of those bills.

Broadcasters, as well as many politicians, have been pushing for expansion of small business loans so they can keep operating, as broadcast is viewed as a critical service during the COVID-19 outbreak. 

WASHINGTON—(UPDATED 5/14): Media outlets, from TV stations to radio and newspapers, would be eligible for the Paycheck Protection Program as part of an expansion of access to U.S. Small Business Administration loans if a new coronavirus relief plan from the House of Representatives, as well as a similar bill introduced by a bipartisan group in the Senate, is passed. 

The details of the expansion of PPP are as follows:

• It would provide TV and radio broadcasters, as well as newspapers, the same treatment hotels and restaurants received under the original CARES Act PPP, with eligibility based on a physical location basis; 
• It would require a local station to fit within the SBA size standard for the broadcasting industry, or under $41.5 million in revenue annually; and 
• It ensures that expanded PPP funds would remain at the local level through additional oversight

Members on both sides of the aisles in the House and Senate have been calling for additional support for media outlets during the coronavirus pandemic, citing their importance in providing information to communities. Other organizations, like the NAB and National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters were also pushing for expanded government support of broadcast stations.

Some groups, however, like the American Television Alliance, have been wary of giving small business loans to TV stations that are often owned by large conglomerates.

In a statement, NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith thanked members of Congress for their action.

“Hometown broadcasters and community newspapers are providing vital news and information during these unprecedented times to keep families and communities safe, while struggling with record advertising revenue losses,” Smith said. “Broadcasters look forward to working with all members of Congress to ensure that such legislative language is swiftly enacted.”

Smith applauded the work of both the House and Senate.

WASHINGTON—About a month delayed and in a widely different landscape than what would have been under normal circumstances, NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith gave his annual NAB Show State of the Industry during the NAB Show Express Welcome Event.

Smith addressed the most pressing issue facing the industry—and the global community at large—the coronavirus pandemic. He acknowledged the personal and business challenges that have been brought about by COVID-19, which he said has even resulted in some broadcasters having to shut down entirely.

“We don’t know how long this pandemic will last, or what the lasting effects of it might be on our economy,” Smith said. “But there is one thing I do know … broadcasters endure. Right now, you are in the darkest valley, but know that for most Americans, you are their beacon of light and hope. You are on the front lines of this battle, and I want you to know that NAB stands together shoulder to shoulder with you.”

Smith notes that it has been a key role in broadcast's 100-year history to be a voice for communities through difficult times, calling this time one as important as ever.

He praised the work of broadcasters to support their communities to support small businesses and restaurants, raise funds and organize food drives. He points out that broadcasters are also supporting children’s education with virtual classrooms, as well as providing education on COVID-19 by airing PSAs from both the NAB and independent organizations.

“The response from broadcasters—who themselves are fighting for their lives and livelihoods—has been nothing short of phenomenal,” Smith said.

Smith then spoke on the work that the NAB is doing to help support broadcasters, including the push for legislation for the federal government to support local broadcast stations, as well as encouraging the FCC to adapt regulatory requirements in this unusual time.

“We won’t stop fighting for you and the relief you need to stay on the air,” he said.

“Our great industry has endured for the past hundred years because of the indispensable and irreplaceable role broadcasters play in every town and city across the nation,” Smith continued. “And we will endure for at least 100 more, because you are the backbone of our country. You are truly what makes America great. And we are in this together.”

To watch Smith’s speech on-demand, visit the NAB Show Express website. 

WASHINGTON—The FCC is allowing broadcasters to go digital when it comes to local public notices, after the commission approved new regulations that will allow for online notices over previous requirements for print and on-air notices.

In a unanimous vote during the FCC’s May open meeting, the news rules were meant to streamline and standardize the set of requirements for broadcast applicants to meet their local public notice requirements.

Certain applications, like for license renewal or transfers of control, TV and radio stations are required to give notice to their communities so they can participate in the broadcast licensing process. Prior to this new order, requirements were different among broadcasters—some had to provide written notice in the print edition of a local newspaper, others had to broadcast on-air messages, while some had to do both.

With the new rules, the newspaper requirement is replaced by posting a written public notice online on a publicly accessible website that includes a link to the application. On-air notices, meanwhile, should direct listeners and viewers to the FCC’s online databases for viewing and commenting on the application.

In addition, the new order eliminates pre-filing announcements and clarifies the local public notice obligations of international broadcast stations and low-power FM stations.

The commission says that the new rules simplifies public notice requirements and reduces the costs and burdens of existing procedures.

NAB's Senior Vice President of Communications Ann Marie Cumming shared the following statement on the FCC's vote:

“NAB thanks the FCC for unanimously approving the simplification of rules governing broadcasters’ public notice of license renewals and modifications. Today’s vote will help bring the licensing process for local radio and TV stations into the modern age. Local broadcasters appreciate the efforts of Chairman Pai and the FCC to modernize archaic rules and ease outdated regulatory burdens.”

WASHINGTON—In an effort to help broadcasters and pay-TV providers who have had to lay off employees due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the FCC announced today that it would waive hiring rules under the commission’s Equal Employment Opportunity recruitment regulations. 

Normally, broadcasters with five or more full-time employees and multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) with six or more employees have to engage in “broad recruitment” outreach when seeking new hires, to comply with EEO rules. The waiver will allow companies to avoid having to follow the EEO rules in hiring if they rehire employees who were laid off during the pandemic within nine months after termination.  

“Given the unique importance of broadcasters and MVPDs in providing access to breaking news and critical information relating to the pandemic, the public interest, convenience and necessity would be best served by encouraging these entities to maintain, or quickly resume, normal operations,” the commission said. “Facilitating the expeditious re-hiring of full-time employees laid off as a result of the pandemic to job vacancies created by the pandemic supports this important goal.”

The waiver is effective immediately.

WASHINGTON—An effort is underway to distribute washable cotton masks to essential employees of U.S. broadcasters, those responsible for maintaining operational continuity of operations, during the coronavirus pandemic.

In Georgia, members of the Georgia Association of Broadcasters received an email this week that stated, “FEMA is providing every broadcast facility in Georgia the opportunity for free cotton masks to protect their employees as they perform their broadcast responsibilities during COVID-19. Please click the link below to fill out the form to request masks for your station.” It added that masks would be sent in packages of 10.

In New Jersey, Paul Rotella, president/CEO of the New Jersey Broadcasters Association, told TV Technology's sister publication Radio World that FEMA plans to ship him a supply for broadcasters, and he has been communicating with member stations about how to distribute these once they arrive. He said NJBA will make them available to non-member stations as well.

Rotella said the National Association of Broadcasters has been helpful in coordinating this effort between the federal government and state broadcasters.

NAB spokeswoman Ann Marie Cumming told RW Tuesday, “We appreciate the effort by the Department of Homeland Security in support of broadcasters and other communications providers keeping people informed and safe during the COVID-19 crisis. The timing and logistics of distributing the masks is still being worked out, but the intention is for the masks to be distributed to essential employees of broadcasters—those responsible for maintaining the operational continuity of stations—in each state through the state broadcasters associations.”

PLUS: 230 Charter Communication Employees Test Positive for COVID-19

RW reached out to FEMA for more info and will share any reply.

WASHINGTON—The FCC's approval to open up 1,200 MHz of spectrum in the 6 GHz band drew criticism from those representing the interests of broadcasters, like NAB, and the praise from unlicensed wireless device backers, such as the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA). 

The FCC Report and Order authorizes indoor low-power operation of unlicensed wireless devices, such as Wi-Fi 6 modems, across the 6 GHz band (5.925 to 7.125 GHz), which is used by radio and television stations for electronic newsgathering as well as other incumbents, including utilities, public safety entities and wireless backhaul concerns, that rely on the band for microwave transmission. It also authorizes standard-power devices in 850 MHz of the band.

According to the FCC, an automatic frequency coordination system will prevent the standard-power devices from interfering with incumbent servers.

The SBE, however, is critical of the vote because in its view the agency has failed to protect incumbents. “The problem with FCC's decision is that it absolutely does not protect incumbent services, including BAS, CARS and LTTS licensees in the 6425-6525 MHz band from interference that will disrupt or preclude electronic news gathering,” said SBE General Counsel Chris Imlay,

“As SBE noted in comments and in an ex parte submission—which the FCC quoted from but essentially ignored in the Report and Order—among the flaws in the rules adopted by the Commission are: (1) The power level is far too high for indoor applications; (2) There is a complete absence of any duty cycle limitation. (3) There are insufficient out-of-band emission limits. (4) There is no possibility that unlicensed broadband mobile devices can sense a temporary receive location in a stadium or other indoor location. (5) The indoor application limitation for U-NII-6 and U-NII-8 devices is unenforceable.”

“The bottom line with any unlicensed device is that if unauthorized deployment or unauthorized device configuration cannot be addressed prior to the point of sale, the rule is not enforceable, post hoc,” he said. 

Reacting to today’s vote, NAB Executive Vice President of Communications Dennis Wharton expressed disappointment that the agency would permit unlicensed, uncoordinated use across the band, as well as dissatisfaction with how the FCC went about making its decision.

“Unlike in other recent proceedings, the commission did not bring stakeholders together to seek compromise. Moreover, the order represents an inexplicable departure from existing precedent,” said Wharton.

“Rather than require unlicensed proponents to prove they will not cause harmful interference, the commission shockingly forgoes any independent analysis that interference won’t be too bad or happen too often. This ‘fingers crossed’ approach is bad policy and not what is required under law,” he said.

WISPA President Claude Aiken, however, lauded the FCC action. “Three-quarters or more of all internet traffic moves over unlicensed devices and networks, keeping us connected, informed and, especially for the day’s recent events, safe. To say that it is important is a gross understatement,” he said.

Aiken pointed out that unlicensed spectrum “is stressed to the max” and there has been no sizable allocation of spectrum for unlicensed use in 20 years. Saying the agency “did the right thing,” he praised the FCC for weighing the evidence and determining unlicensed devices can safely share the band.

“This at a time when IoT, AI, smart home and other unlicensed-dependent technologies flood the marketplace; the deployment of 5G rapidly takes shape; and the Black Swan of the world’s new pandemic-induced, stay-at-home connectivity paradigm has put crushing demands on our networks and unlicensed ecosystem,” he said. In Aiken’s view, the commission’s action will help remedy the situation.

However, Wharton pointed specifically to possible negative ramifications of the action for the public during the COVID-19 pandemic.  “The COVID-19 crisis has prompted Americans to flock to credible, lifeline local television and broadcast network news in record numbers. If today’s FCC decision is wrong, it will irreparably undermine broadcast newsgathering just as it is needed most," he said.

PLUS: NAB: 6 GHz Facts Being Ignored by OTI, Others

The Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) applauded the FCC for its vote, saying opening the spectrum will bring “radical change for the Wi-Fi industry,” making possible greater speed, lower latency and more network capacity.

“Extending Wi-Fi into the 6 GHz spectrum band can provide more Wi-Fi capacity than all the other bands put together,” said WBA CEO Tiago Rodrigues, adding that using Wi-Fi 6 technology in the band will deliver wireless service that’s equivalent to 5G networks.

“In terms of the capability and capacity of networks, Wi-Fi 6E, will rewrite the rules of what is possible,” he said.

PLUS: FCC Spectrum Plan Could Add $183B to Economy, Per WiFiForward

The FCC also adopted a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in which it wants comments on a proposal to allow very low-power devices, such as VR and AR devices, that support high data rate applications into the band. It also wants comments on increasing the power level of indoor access points. 

WASHINGTON—The American Television Alliance (ATVA) does not believe that broadcast conglomerates should have access to small business aid, but as the tide seems to be going that way, has now asked that Congress hold broadcasters receiving funding responsible for staying on the air.

ATVA wants Congress to include with any small business aid given to broadcasters a condition that requires the station provide their signals without interruption.

“If Congress decides to allocate these critical tax dollars to major broadcasting groups, it should require that they not only provide their signals to all consumers, but also refrain from blacking out their signals to customers of any cable, telco or satellite provider for three years,” said ATVA spokesperson Jessica Kendust.

Organizations, including the NAB, the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters and bipartisan groups of the Senate and House, have been making cases that any future stimulus packages, as well as the benefits available for small businesses (like the Paycheck Protection Program), help local media and broadcast outlets as they help provide critical information on the coronavirus pandemic and have been impacted by the loss of ad revenue during this time.

ATVA’s position, however, is that local TV stations are being reclassified as their own business by the large conglomerates so they can meet the qualifications for small businesses (500 employees or less). ATVA argues that this is not accurate, as when ATVA member stations need to negotiate a contract with a station owned by a large broadcaster, they negotiate with the headquarters, not the individual station.

“Broadcasters are claiming that the service they provide is so important to the public interest that taxpayers must preserve it, even if that means providing ‘small business’ loans to multibillion dollar conglomerates,” said Kendust. “If Congress agrees, it should ensure that such programming remain available to every American, including cable and satellite subscribers who cannot receive it over-the-air. We are not suggesting that broadcasters go uncompensated for providing their signals—but if taxpayer dollars are going to subsidize keeping them on air, then those broadcasters must ensure their signals are actually available to all viewers.”

UPDATE: NAB responded with its own comment from Executive Vice President of Communications Dennis Wharton:

“NAB is disappointed that the American Television Alliance—a front group for AT&T, Charter, Dish and other Big Pay TV companies—is leading a cynical effort to deny local media badly-needed access to SBA loans during the coronavirus crisis.

“Americans from coast-to-coast are flocking to local broadcasters in record numbers for credible, lifesaving information during the COVID-19 crisis, while advertising revenues at local stations have plunged. Meanwhile, as ATVA attempts to exploit this global pandemic for political purposes, its Big Pay TV funders have cut off communication services for out-of-work customers, despite promises to the FCC, as well as ignoring obligations to provide local TV signals in markets underserved by local print journalism.”

The full statement is available on NAB.org.

WASHINGTON—If broadcasters are going to be sharing the 6 GHz band with unlicensed, low power indoor (LPI) devices, creating a “safe zone” to remove threats of interference is an action that the NAB believes should be taken.

This idea comes from an ex parte filed by the NAB after meetings with representatives from the FCC commissioners’ and chairman’s offices in regards to the proposed rule that would open up the entire 6 GHz spectrum band for unlicensed devices to operate in.

The 6 GHz band is primarily made up of broadcast ENG crews, and the NAB believes that granting permission to these unlicensed LPI devices to utilize the spectrum causes potential interference issues, a major disturbance particularly as broadcasters' ability to provide information to viewers has been heightened during the current coronavirus pandemic, the NAB argued.

The draft order does conclude that unlicensed devices can cause interference issues, but concludes the risk “to be insignificant.” This determination, the NAB claims, was done with no independent analysis, or at least none that was shared. The NAB also takes issue with an unclear definition of what the FCC deems as “insignificant interference.”

As a potential resolution, the NAB wants the FCC to not allow low-power devices to operate in U-NII-6, a part of the spectrum where broadcasters currently have the bulk of their authorized mobile operations, per NAB.

“This would allow the commission to make 1,100 MHz of spectrum available for unlicensed—a massive amount—while still preserving 100 MHz for broadcasters to continue to do their most important job without the threat of interference,” the NAB wrote.

Even if the FCC is set on freeing up 160 MHz channels for unlicensed devices, the NAB says it could do so for seven channels for 1,120 MHz and still leave 80 MHz at the top of the 6 GHz band not authorized for LPI. The NAB also says that it would be willing to consider alternative locations in the band.

Other points of argument in the NAB’s ex parte included how the FCC will be able to impose the “indoor-only” operation rule for LPIs; how a contention-based protocol does not work as intended with outdoor ENG operations; and for the FCC to convene a meeting to discuss and compare the analyses on the potential impact of opening the 6 GHz band.

“NAB broadcasters across the country and their viewers cannot rely upon mere judgement rather than independent analysis of a highly technical issue,” the ex parte reads. “As a result, we believe that allowing a safe zone of less than 7% of the overall band where LPI cannot occur at this time at least provides both the commission and broadcasters some protection as the band is forever altered.”

The full ex parte from NAB is available online. 

MELBOURNE, Fla.—Craig Fugate has dealt with tornadoes, hurricanes and a range of other natural disasters during his career and knows the value that broadcasters bring in those situations. In a recent blog post, he once again praised the efforts of TV and radio broadcasters as they have proven to be a vital resource in the current coronavirus pandemic.

Fugate was the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency under President Barack Obama (May 2009-January 2017), and has also served as the director of the Florida Emergency Management Division under Governor Jeb Bush and Governor Charlie Crist.

In the blog, Fugate said that broadcasters are “essential in this war against COVID-19.”

“This isn’t about being local, state or federal, this is about America, and local broadcasters are part of the American team,” Fugate said. “Broadcasters are your most reliable source for information in times like these. Broadcasters are one of you, and together, they will be there with you when COVID-19 waves its white flag. They have kept people safe in times of crisis for decades, and they won’t stop now.”

Fugate’s full blog is available on www.wfit.org. 

WASHINGTON—Broadcasters got a thank you on Monday, April 6, from FCC Chairman Ajit Pai for their efforts to help support their communities during the coronavirus pandemic.

“As always, in times of emergency, broadcasters are stepping up to serve their communities and help keep people informed, healthy and safe,” Pai said. He praised actions that include airing thousands of PSAs on the coronavirus and the importance of social distancing, airing of educational programming, holding fundraisers and expanding on their COVID-19 reporting.

“I want to especially recognize those reporters who are on the front lines, often putting themselves in harm’s way, to obtain vital information on COVID-19 to ensure their viewers and listeners have the most up-to-date and accurate information,” Pai continued.

The FCC highlighted some of the specific efforts by broadcasters in the last few weeks, including Capitol Broadcasting’s WRAL-TV raising $275,000 for a relief fund for North Carolina restaurant and hotel workers laid off because of the coronavirus; Meredith partnering with local businesses in Phoenix to connect job seekers with available positions, including work-from-home jobs; MyNetworkTV airing grade-specific public school lessons in Washington, D.C.; and Townsquare airing special town halls in Trenton, N.J., featuring medical experts and advocates for local businesses.

Other networks and broadcasters have offered other important services that are too many to list.

Here are the words of Patrick McCreery, president of Meredith Local Media Group, during a recent interview about the steps broadcasters are taking to keep newsrooms and field crews as safe and healthy as possible during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“You know, many of us who are in this business, this is why we do it. These are the defining moments that we look for where we run to the information not away from it, and it makes me very proud to be a broadcaster at this very moment in time,” he said.

Viewers—even elusive millennials ages 18 to 34—appear to be recognizing this dedication during the coronavirus crisis as they turn in droves to local TV news for critical pandemic information. My TV Technology colleague Michael Balderston reported in his March 25 story, “Millennials Flocking to Local TV News During Coronavirus,” that a new TVB report reveals local TV news viewing Monday through Friday among this age group during the first week of March climbed 52% compared to the same week in 2019.

While it’s good to know this generation is tuning in during the outbreak and may be developing a new appreciation for local TV news, newsrooms would do well to remember that many in this generation also are working in local news covering the pandemic and, perhaps, feeling for the first time in their careers what it’s like to work during an emergency.

“One of our larger challenges, is the people factor,” said Bob Hannon, director of production at Waterman Broadcasting in Fort Myers, Fla., during another recent interview. “We have a lot of young staffers here in their first jobs, first time away from home.

“It’s very easy to get scared. It’s very easy to get depressed. If you are single, and you get quarantined, you’re stuck in your apartment for two weeks and you’re not able to go out, that can have a devastating effect.”

Hannon, (who is 59) reluctantly likens part of his role now at Waterman to a father sitting around the dinner table talking over a weighty family matter—but in this instance, it’s his younger staff and the virus. Discussing their concerns, talking about actions being taken by the station and asking what’s on the minds of staff can go a long way towards allaying fears and boosting morale, he said.

“That 10 to 15 minutes it takes is the most valuable time of the day,” said Hannon. “You keep your staff informed. You keep your staff enjoined, and it goes much, much smoother.”

Wise counsel during this stressful time for everybody at the station—whether they’re 25 or 65.

WALTHAM, Mass.—More than half of the executives from 80 leading media industry companies attending a webinar on remote monitoring and broadcast operations this week believe they will need a permanent ability to live stream with broadcast quality from remote locations, such as homes.

The poll, taken during a Zixi-sponsored webinar titled “Pivoting to Remote Monitoring and Broadcast Operations,” comes at a time when media operations, especially those in New York City, have been grappling with how to keep workers safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It found 53% of the executives believe current statewide shutdowns will last for another two months, while 16% say the shutdowns will last more than six months. Two-thirds said they believe the crisis and its impact on operations is not a one-time event.

More than 80% said their media organizations need a permanent remote workforce capability to address future outbreaks of the coronavirus crisis or other possible future incidents, according to the poll.

PLUS: Pandemic Brings TV to the Forefront

In its release of the findings, Zixi, which specializes in technology to enable live broadcast-quality video over IP connections, also announced it was offering new and current customers complimentary use of its cloud-based Zen Master video control plane for three months. Using the control plane will allow media personnel working remotely to provision, orchestrate, monitor and manage live video streams.

“While an abundance of Zixi’s customers have virtualized their workflows and have been able to reduce onsite employees as much as 80%, many media organizations have not and are now scrambling.” said Gordon Brooks, executive chairman and CEO, Zixi. “The number of companies that have broken the glass on what were long range plans is keeping us very busy and we hope making a difference.”

More information is available on the Zixi website. 

WASHINGTON—According to NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith, broadcasters will do what they can to ensure that there are no service interruptions during the coronavirus pandemic, but he acknowledges that it takes two to tango.

Speaking on C-SPAN’s “Communicators” show, Smith said that his membership knows, and he has expressed during this time, the importance of broadcasters to share critical information and to not have service interruptions right now. “[H]opefully our friends on the cable and satellite side will also stand down until we get this behind us and avoid service interruption if at all possible,” Smith said. “That is our history and I have no reason to believe that won’t continue.”

TVT’s sister publication B&C has more on Smith’s interview. 

WASHINGTON—FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, during a conference call on March 16, shared his praise for how TV and radio broadcasters have served as a source of critical information during the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

“I’m grateful for the steps that broadcasters are taking to inform the American people about this pandemic and to educate them about the steps they can take to protect themselves and slow the spread of the virus,” said Pai.

He specifically acknowledged the NAB for making the Coronavirus Response Toolkit available to radio and TV stations, as well as Spanish-language broadcasters for providing key information for Spanish audiences.

Still, he asked broadcasters to build on their efforts, encouraging the creation and airing of public service announcements using prominent entertainment, news and sports personalities to help promote practices like social distancing.

“We need this vital message to be delivered by Americans who are familiar to different segments of our society, and broadcasters are ideally suited to the task,” Pai said.

In addition, he called on broadcasters to work with cable and satellite operators so that they can avoid service disruptions during the next 60 days. He says this could include things like short-term extensions to expiring retransmission consent agreements.

During the call, Pai also acknowledged that the coronavirus is likely to impact the post-incentive auction repack. He said that the FCC has taken action that will provide broadcasters with “appropriate flexibility” to address disruptions. Broadcasters also reportedly offered ideas for how the FCC could help them address operational challenges during the pandemic.

WASHINGTON—The Department of Homeland Security says that broadcasters will continue to be able to access their studios for operation during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, as federal law defines them as “essential service providers.” This detail was part of a letter sent out by DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency that was shared by the Alabama Broadcasters Association.

“The statute allows essential service providers access to their places of operation in order to ‘respond to an emergency or major disaster,’” the letter reads. “This means that essential broadcast station personnel should be allowed access to their studios, transmitters, towers and other places of business for purposes of staying on the air.”

The DHS letter describes broadcasters’ role in sharing information about COVID-19 as critical. The provision to stay open applies to individual stations in their local communities and stations that are part of a statewide network. It also states that stations must be ready to function as part of the Emergency Alert System.

Station personnel are recommended to carry station identification with them at all times in the event they are questioned; they can also use the DHS letter.

The ABA has made the letters available to its members behind its usual password access login. Those outside of Alabama can contact their state broadcast association for copies of the letter, as every state has reportedly received them.

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif.—A “Broadcasters’ Panel” has been a fixture at the HPA Tech Retreat program for years, with representatives from networks, station groups and industry organizations sharing their thoughts on contemporary TV industry developments and issues. This year was no exception, with Dave Folsom from Pearl TV; Fox TV’s Richard Friedel; Del Parks from the Sinclair Broadcast Group; and the NAB’s Skip Pizzi assembling to field questions from moderator Matthew Goldman of MediaKind in a Wednesday morning session.

Topics this time ranged from the Phoenix Model Market project to the evolution of IP and cloud for broadcasters.

Goldman kicked off the discussion by asking Folsom to describe the Phoenix Model Market and explain why it was important in the effort to rollout NextGen TV.

“It’s the result of the FCC in the late fall of 2017 coming out with a Report and Order allowing broadcasters to make use of the newly-developed ATSC 3.0 standard,” replied Folsom. “How do you make that [initiation of 3.0 service] happen? Pearl, which is made up of nine large station groups, decided to create a model market, or model station, in Phoenix to see how this transition could be done without adding spectrum. We also provide a forum for manufacturers of technical equipment for the new standard to test their equipment, as well as for receiver manufacturers to test their products.”

Goldman asked how NextGen TV would be implemented, as TV broadcast spectrum space is at a premium now with the loss of channels in connection with the current repack.

“When we went from analog to ATSC 1.0, this was mandated by the government,” said Goldman. “That’s not happening now. Without the aid of additional channels and bandwidth, how will the transition to the new service be possible without negatively impacting over-the-air service?”

“It’s going to take a little bit of legerdemain,” said Folsom. “There is a little bit of extra bandwidth in [the ATSC 1.0] signal that we have now. If we can, by market, essentially clear one channel at a time of those individual services and move them and share them on other channels, to the viewer there will not be any difference.

“This will free up a channel, and this channel can carry up to five services because new codecs are much more efficient,” Folsom continued. “This will provide the mechanism—on a rolling basis—to clear spectrum for new services without losing your ATSC 1 audience.”

With so many options for video delivery available now, why should consumers even care about a new over the air broadcast standard, Goldman asked the panel. 

“For the consumer, one of the largest impacts that [NextGen TV] will have is that it finally addresses the idea of broadcast and broadband convergence,” Pizzi said. “Today, smart TV’s are already connected to the internet and a conventional television source, but you’re switching between the two. ATSC 3.0 puts those two together in a continuously variable way.”

“It’s about better pictures and sound,” Friedel added. “This is really going to impact the industry. There will also be a bunch of new business opportunities to capitalize on.”

Sinclair’s Parks thought that NextGen TV would return television broadcasting to a more local and live presence.

“When you look at where entertainment—syndicated television—is going, it’s really not going anywhere,” said Parks. “Much of the shows produced are for streaming services. Linear TV is migrating to live broadcast … very local and very live sports, news and local programming. It’s just not viable for Hollywood to produce syndicated programs like they used to. It just doesn’t work.”

“OTT is anything but live and local,” said. Pizzi. “This live, local-focused service [brought about by NextGen TV] can co-exist on a more even parity in terms of quality and interactivity with those other services” said Pizzi. “NextGen TV really gives broadcasters a level playing field going forward.”

THE MOVE TO DATA

The discussion then shifted to the relationship of NextGen TV to cloud and its relevance to broadcasting.

“I think the cloud is very important,” replied Sinclair’s Parks. “I don’t believe we’ll get to a NextGen TV distribution system without moving to the cloud. NextGen is not just about delivering pictures, but about delivering data. The cloud is extremely important to our operation.”

Pizzi added that NextGen TV was about delivering data both to and from the consumer and he saw the cloud serving as a collection point for this data, which could be used for rating programs and other functions. 

The panel then turned to the difficulty in finding qualified broadcast engineering personnel, as stations and production facilities alike move further and further into IP.

“They aren’t making broadcast engineers anymore,” said Friedel. “The truth is that we’re really building our own, and I think everyone else is too. We try to find bright young people and we teach them. We don’t have much of a choice. 

“The good news is that it’s allowing us to change the diversity of our employment too,” he continued. “A lot more women are attracted to the IP industry [than to broadcasting]; the same is true of minorities too. This will help us create better programming and better serve our communities.”

The discussion ended with Goldman asking how broadcasters were faring in light of the move to streaming and away from conventional television.

“Business is still pretty strong,” said Friedel, citing viewership for the recent Super Bowl. “The economics are there. We’re still delivering an audience. I hate to bring up politics, but Bloomberg is spending a lot of money in targeting his advertising, and you see his poll numbers are just skyrocketing. I don’t think this business is quite dead yet.” 

LAS VEGAS—ATSC 3.0, aka NextGen TV, is expected to be rolled out to the top 40 U.S. markets in 2020. The new TV standard will offer a number of new features and technologies that are getting a good many consumers excited for it to become available in their market.

Magid, a consumer-centered business strategy company, conducted a study of consumer interests toward NextGen TV in October 2019 that revealed a “strong appeal for NextGen TV among consumers, particularly early adopters and millennials,” according to Bill Hague, executive vice president, Media Strategy Group, Magid. Specifically, 42% of respondents said they would likely purchase a new TV if it was needed to better enjoy the NextGen TV features.

Some of those features that stuck out to consumers included consistent audio, offering normalized audio levels across programs; 4K HDR video; immersive audio; and multiple audio tracks, which can include specific feeds for sports broadcasts (or none at all), different languages or dialogue options.

Those 42% of consumers whose next TV purchase may be based on NextGen TV are learning what some of their options might be at CES 2020, which has seen LG Electronics, Sony and Samsung reveal new TV models that are NextGen TV-compatible, part of a plan to launch a total of 20 such models in 2020. This has garnered the praise of broadcasters from the Phoenix Model Market, a group focused on the transition to NextGen TV.

“Throughout the year and into 2021, more and more programming will become available in 4K Ultra HD with High Dynamic Range and with immersive audio to provide consumers with an amazing new experience,” said Anne Schelle, Pearl TV managing director, which is coordinating NextGen TV development with the Phoenix Model Market. “This is not an easy or immediate transition. There are myriad of rights issues, collaboration opportunities, channel sharing agreements and many other details that broadcasters are now working hard to execute. The final piece, of course, is the availability of consumer receivers—which is why the announcements this week at CES are so vitally important.”

The Phoenix Model Market, along with Pearl TV, has its own presence at CES 2020, highlighting consumer research findings of their own and an application framework for use by broadcasters and receiver manufacturers at the ATSC booth (11329, Central Hall). Pearl TV’s Schelle is also slated to give a presentation with representatives from ATSC, NAB and two TV manufacturers called “What NextGen TV Means for Tech,” on Jan. 9 at the Venetian Resort (Marcello 4406, Level 4).

For a comprehensive source of TV Technology’s ATSC 3.0 coverage, see ourATSC3 silo.

LONDON—Short-form content is growing in popularity among viewers and content producers, including broadcasters. Ampere Analysis indicates that the U.K.’s BBC and Channel 4 are two of the first major international broadcasters to hop on the short-form bandwagon.

Per a recent report from Ampere Analysis, short-form series make up 9% of all video-on-demand series globally; in addition, 11% of upcoming VoD commissions are short-form. Platforms like Snapchat, Facebook Watch and Quibi are the leading providers of short-form content, but broadcasters are starting to dip their toes into the format, led by the aforementioned BBC and Channel 4.

Specifically, Ampere reports that Channel 4 plans to spend £1 million on new short-form content, most notably in its comedy series. The BBC is also investing in short-form comedy content. The plan will be distribute these series via iPlayer.

Outside of major broadcasters, Ampere found that comedy, reality, news and entertainment were the most popular content for short-form content. Facebook is currently the most popular, but new services like Quibi are quickly on the rise. Also, Asia is the predominant market for short-form content, with 31% of all existing short-form originals coming from South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong or China.

“Short-form content is growing strongly, and we expect to see it boom—both in English speaking markets and Asia where it’s well-established,” said Olivia Deane, an analyst at Ampere. “Attractive to large and small players alike, short-form offers the opportunity to experiment with high production values at a smaller scale. SVoD newcomer Quibi, only producing short-form content, is already the largest commissioner of bite-size television. Quibi, along with other smaller niche platforms, has an exciting opportunity to chase the existing audiences of streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon. This is a market the mainstream broadcasters don’t want to miss out on, and both Channel 4 and the BBC are making forays into the world of short-form shows.”

For more information, visit www.ampereanalysis.com.

PARIS, DENVER, SINGAPORE & SAO PAULO—Streamers like Disney+ and the upcoming HBO Max and Peacock rely heavily on their own or licensed content libraries to draw in subscribers. Nearly all broadcasters have access and use their content libraries to some extent, but according to new research by ATEME, many are failing to do so effectively.

Among those broadcasters surveyed in ATEME’s study, 98% said that they use their content library to create new channels for specific events. However, 82% of those are impeded in creating these channels quickly, unlike their streaming competitors. For 44% of the broadcasters, it can take them up to three days to create a new channel; for 38% it can take up to a week.

Overall, according to ATEME, 36% of broadcasters are failing to properly utilize their content libraries.

“With a continuous influx of competition from all angles, broadcasters must begin to do more with their content libraries,” said Remi Beaudouin, chief strategy officer with ATEM. “Creating new, virtual channels would allow broadcasters to take advantage of topical and cultural events, such as awards season, during which they could use their back catalog to quickly develop one-off channels to celebrate winners as they are announced.”

That virtual broadcasting solution is becoming a popular one among broadcasters, ATEME found. About 60% are currently utilizing virtual broadcasting to create one-off channels, while of those currently not doing so, 70% say they will within the next year. Many broadcasters, 66%, are also considering moving to the cloud to make the creation of virtual programming easier.

“Virtual broadcasting can be highly beneficial for broadcasters as it allows them to create tailored channels in just a few hours and use their catalog to better effect,” said Beaudouin. “As traditional broadcasters continue to face opposition from streaming platforms, adopting virtual broadcasting is an ideal way to compete with their services as 50% of broadcasters see one of the biggest advantages of its use as the ability to offer a package other broadcasters currently aren’t. It will also enable them to cater to the increased variety the modern TV viewer has come to expect.”

WASHINGTON—As the debate on whether to allow STELAR to expire at the end of the year or be in line for another extension continues, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which shares jurisdiction over STELAR with the Commerce Committee, has issued a series of questions for the major broadcasters to help them detail why it is time for STELAR to expire.

STELAR is a license that allows satellite providers to import distant network-affiliated TV signals into markets that are not able to get them without having to individually negotiate with broadcasters. It is set to expire on Dec. 31. Broadcasters are primarily on the side of letting it expire, while MVPDs are hoping for another extension.

The Senate held a hearing last week on the subject. Commerce Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said at the hearing that he thought STELAR was critical for providing video services to rural residents, and has designs on beginning an extension plan by Nov. 13.

Sen. Graham on Friday, Nov. 1, sent individual letters to ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC in which he inquires about each’s plan to transition from STELAR to a free market, providing specific questions that he is seeking to have back by Nov. 12.

“My constituents, and those of other Members of Congress, need assurances that during this transition to a free market their favorite network news and prime time shows will continue to be available to them on their current satellite provider,” Graham wrote in the letters. “More clarity is needed from all the major networks and satellite providers on how network shows will continue to be available to satellite customers for the next calendar year during which a transition to a free market can occur.”

Here are the questions that Sen. Graham is seeking answers to:

1. Will their respective networks provide a one-year license to satellite providers for network-owned shows in exchange for a "market-by-market" usage fee from each provider, including for use by long-distance truckers and RV owners, who also rely on the license?
2. Will the network agree, for that transition period, to charge a rate comparable to the compulsory license rate charged by the Copyright Royalty Board for 2018?
3. Will the network work with their affiliates to negotiate during this transition year, on a carriage agreement for "full local-into-local on both Dish and DirecTV for deals beginning in Jan. 1, 2021?
4. For areas without local affiliates, will the network commit to negotiating with Dish and DirecTV on a carriage agreement beginning no later than Jan. 1, 2021?
5. Will the network keep the committee informed on its progress toward such agreements?

The National Association of Broadcasters released a response from CEO and President Gordon Smith in support of Graham’s efforts.

“Broadcasters across the nation thank Sen. Graham for his leadership and recognition that STELAR’s expiring distant signal license is outdated and that the U.S. Copyright Office has recommended that it not be renewed,” said Smith. “Long having outlived its usefulness, STELAR’s distant signal license now serves as incentive for dominant pay-TV platform AT&T DirecTV to serve its satellite subscribers with out-of-market rather than local broadcast channels.

“The practical impact of this outdated law means that from Maine to Montana and from Kentucky to Texas, DirecTV pipes in broadcast network programming from New York and Los Angeles while denying viewers access to their hometown TV stations. This is a business decision that AT&T is making to underserve these viewers through continued use of STELAR’s subsidy, and we thank Sen. Graham for offering a better path for local viewers and local communities.”

No official decision on STELAR has been made.

NEW YORK—Ten years ago, few might have been able to predict the dominance of Netflix and other streaming services, not to mention that networks and studios would launch their own platforms where they would exclusively show original programming, but here we are. Now, industry forecasters wonder just how far people’s preference for these types of services and other non-traditional offerings will go.

Deloitte recognizes that in this rapidly changing world, trying to make an accurate prediction is difficult. So instead, in a new study, Deloitte lays out four possible scenarios of what the TV and video industry could look like in 2030.

The first scenario is what Deloitte calls “Universal Supermarkets.” This would see a few global digital platform companies assuming the lead roles in aggregation and distribution from national broadcasters. Similar to large supermarkets, digital platform companies would offer global and national content, with differentions coming from exclusive productions and sports rights.

In this scenario, broadcasters would still have a place in the industry as providers of localized content, including news. Other details involved with this scenario include the further development of AI to help with user-specific content selection and digital platforms use direct models of ad trading, which cut off broadcasters from revenue shares.

“Content Endgame” is another scenario that would have content owners emerge as the leaders, withdrawing and withholding content from digital platform companies to distribute on their own channels, establishing direct consumer relationships.

Deloitte describes this scenario as one where “variety of content has decreased, but the quality of global productions has reached new dimensions.” Broadcasters remain as they have shifted their focus entirely to the creation of strong local formats, supplying their productions to the big content owners. Digital platform companies, however, have been pigeonholed as strictly distribution channels focused on technical delivery. In this situation, consumers are paying for their preferred content, not a specific platform.

Then there is “Revenge of the Broadcasters.” Here, national broadcasters have successfully made their digital transformation to secure their place in the TV and video ecosystem, creating digital platforms that support direct customer relationships and deliver on-demand content. Broadcasters would employ new services like targeted advertising and recommendation functions, as well.

Digital platform companies would still exist in this scenario, with national broadcasters focusing on local quality content and digital platforms taking care of global productions and blockbusters. This would still allow for viewers to choose between linear and non-linear content from global or national sources.

The final scenario is called “Lost in Diversity,” where a diverse ecosystem has developed with no dominant method. This would feature a variety of distribution platforms with steady turnover of who is impacting the market and a richness of content. There would be partnerships between global and local players, while also having a distinction between content production and distribution.

“Everyone does everything in this scenario,” Deloitte wrote, with consumers only being loyal to content, not any specific platform. This allows broadcasters to generate revenue in a number of different ways, keeping them largely independent.

Overall, Deloitte’s scenarios paint a picture of digital platform companies being the major disruptors in the industry, while broadcasters and content producers face the most potential change. They argue that broadcasters and content producers can’t rely on their current market positions. Instead, they need to be open in creating alliances, even with direct competitors. Investment in technological skills will also be critical.

The full Deloitte study is available here.

LONDON—The bill to broadcast the NFL, NBA, MLB and other popular sports leagues around the world represented more than a quarter of the content spending in 2018, according to a new study from Ampere Analysis. Specifically, $38 billion was spent on sports rights acquisitions last year, making up 26% of all content spending and nearly doubling from the $20 billion spent in 2012.

Most of the spending on sports rights in the U.S. is made up of deals with the NFL, NBA and MLB. These deals have led to the U.S. spending more on sports rights than any other global market, despite a smaller portion of TV revenue (11%) devoted to sports rights than compared to the major Western European markets (17%). Ampere expects this to change over the next six years as rights deals for the three major leagues will expire and are estimated to generate another $4 billion per year.

While major sports leagues like Ligue 1, Bundesliga and La Liga also help drive the sports rights spending in Europe’s top markets, those countries also have invested more in secondary events and competitions, which are maintaining the same pace of growth as major leagues, according to Ampere.

Ampere also pointed out while OTT players are starting to break into sports rights, they are still considered minority players based on their overall spend.

Overall, Ampere believes that there is still room for growth in spending on sports rights in both emerging markets and established ones like Europe and the U.S.

“Even as major leagues turn their attention to international markets outside of Western Europe and the U.S., our analysis shows that there is still opportunity for many of the major competitions in their domestic markets,” said Alexios Dimitropoulos, senior analyst at Ampere Analysis. “Although there are significant competitive pressures on TV revenues due to the rise of new online competitors, the impending direct-to-consumer fragmentation of the market may also open up opportunities for sports rights bodies—who will increasingly hold some of the few premium rights that money can still buy.”

NEW YORK—In its official filing of counterclaims to the lawsuit brought about by broadcasters ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC in July, David R. Goodfriend and Sports Fans Coalition NY Inc.—the stand-ins for the Locast streaming service—make the argument that the plaintiffs have “colluded and misused copyrights” to increase their profits and are now improperly going after a protected non-profit to avoid damage to their bottom line.

Locast, which was founded in January 2018, describes itself as a non-profit service that provides access to local broadcast stations’ content at no charge to its subscribers, citing the 1976 Copyright Act as to why they do not need to pay for the programming. The original lawsuit challenges this claim.

In its counterclaim, Locast alleges that the plaintiff’s claims are “objectively baseless and constitute an unlawful sham.” It says that it fits the description of a non-profit organization protected under section 17 U.S.C. § 111(a)(5) of the Copyright Act; that the claims against Goodfriend are impermissible as her serves SFCNY without compensation; and that the lawsuit is being used as an intimidation factor to shutter the Locast service, as broadcasters waited a year-and-a-half after the services launch to file any claims.

“Plaintiffs have colluded to limit the reasonable public access to the over-the-air signals that they are statutorily required to make available for free, and have opted instead to use their copyright improperly to construct a pay-TV model that forces consumers to forgo over-the-air programming or to pay cable, satellite and online providers for access to programming that was intended to be free,” Locast writes in the filing.

“The pay-TV providers get rich. Plantiffs get rich. The public gets fleeced.”

The counterclaim states that the plaintiffs are essentially confirming this argument in their original lawsuit when they say that Locast “is devaluing their consent rights.”

Locast also describes that the lawsuit has damaged both the reputation for Goodfriend and impacted business dealings and support from potential donors. According to a New York Times report, Locast claims the broadcasters have threatened "business retaliation" against entities that consider working with Locast.

Prior to the lawsuit being filed in July, AT&T had donated $500,000 to Locast and integrated in into DirecTV boxes.

No response has yet been given by the broadcasters to the counterclaims.

Here is the full counterclaim filed in the U.S. District Court—Southern District of New York.

WASHINGTON—The FCC has voted on a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing changes to update the FCC's rules to bring broadcast application public notifications into the digital age.

TV and radio stations had been required to file "certain applications" in "a local newspaper," or "on air" and in some cases both, depending on the type of application, the primary reason being to direct them to the station's studio, where they could review the documents.

But with the rise of internet usage and the FCC's migration of those station application documents from their studios to an online database (some written notice requirements remain), the FCC under chair Ajit Pai said that needed to change and has now come up with a plan, which the commission adopted at the Sept. 26 open meeting and will still need to be subject tor public comment before a final order is voted:

•"Replace the newspaper publication requirement with written public notice posted online on a publicly accessible website (either the station's site or an affiliated site) with a link to the application;

• "Simplify and standardize the public notice requirements for on-air announcements (they must direct the public to the FCC database);

• "Clarify certain local public notice obligations, such as those pertaining to international
broadcast stations and low-power FM stations; and

• "Streamline and update the Commission’s rules concerning public notice for stations designated for hearing."

"I am pleased that this item recognizes that local public notice of licensing activity is required by statute, and searches for ways to use modern tools to make it more effective," said commissioner Geoffrey Starks. "Specifically, I support the item’s proposals to continue to require both on-air and written notice of certain licensing proceedings and
questions on the best way to offer such notice online. I am hopeful that a robust record will develop on these issues."

Commissioner Michael O'Rielly said the FCC needs to eliminate or modify "all" government burdens on broadcasters so they can compete with unregulated competitors. He said he strongly supported the item and hopes the FCC can move to an order quickly. Commissioner Brendan Carr agreed. Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel called it a "smart update.