Broadcasters in the U.S. are rapidly migrating from ATSC 1.0 to NextGen TV. With ATSC 3.0, broadcasters have the ability to transform the television experience, offering better reception, higher quality video and audio, interactivity, innovative service guides, datacasting and a host of other exciting new features to viewers and business partners. 

However, the transition to ATSC 3.0 is complex, especially concerning the intricacies of channel sharing agreements. Stations in a local market must work together to determine the details of service level agreements, network clearances, hosting agreements and more. Once the legalities are agreed upon, there are still several challenges broadcasters face from a technical standpoint. 

As a leading provider of ATSC 3.0 solutions, with a comprehensive understanding of the ATSC 3.0 environment and extensive real-world deployment expertise, Triveni Digital has gained significant practical experience in NextGen TV. Let’s look at the essentials of ATSC 3.0 deployments and key discussions that need to take place in a channel sharing environment.

EXAMINE INTERMARKET DISTRIBUTION VARIABLES

An important conversation that needs to take place between TV stations is who does what. Stations need to decide who will distribute what programs within the designated market area (DMA) and in what quality before they can proceed with delivering NextGen TV. This is essential for establishing Service Level Agreements (SLAs), bandwidth utilization, rating measurement and translation tools. It’s common for one station to act as host and receive downstream information from other stations. Beyond choosing the host station, determining the intermarket distribution variables can be challenging for various reasons. 

One issue is bandwidth limitations. A common scenario is for station A to have a subchannel that will be distributed by station B. This begs the question whether station B has enough bandwidth to distribute the subchannel and at what quality of service. Will the subchannel be available in HD? Will it be 720p or 1080p? 

The conversation might then evolve into how to get programs from one station to another. A reliable communication such as fiber link or microwave is recommended. If the stations are not already connected, they could utilize an internet service provider to transport uncompressed audio and video over the network from point A to point B.

CHECK TRANSMISSION READINESS

In a channel-sharing environment, it’s critical to ensure the transmitter is ATSC 3.0-ready. While some stations may have already upgraded their transmitters during the repack, it’s still necessary to check with transmitter and exciter vendors to confirm licenses are up to date for ATSC 3.0 service delivery. If this step is forgotten during the preparation time frame, the launch of ATSC 3.0 services could be delayed.

During this phase, broadcasters should also test whether facilities are equipped to handle the power levels required for ATSC 3.0 transmissions. A common situation is for a low-power broadcaster to become an ATSC 3.0 host station. To extend their reach to more households, the station must increase its transmitter power.

CONFIGURE THE ATSC 3.0 BROADCAST CHAIN

Correctly installing and configuring the ATSC 3.0 broadcast chain is another essential step. The ATSC 3.0 broadcast chain comprises a wide range of equipment, including an ATSC 3.0 transport stream encoder, video/audio encoders, packagers and a broadcast gateway/scheduler. It’s important during setup to deploy a broadcast stream analyzer, stream verification software and more. In the deployment phase, an end-to-end service monitoring solution is needed. 

Configuring the ATSC 3.0 broadcast chain is important to ensure that ATSC 3.0 delivery components, such as multisubframe and multi-PLP delivery, as well as interactivity, work smoothly. Here are a few tips for configuring the ATSC 3.0 broadcast chain:

• ATSC 3.0 stations should define the number of services within the MODCOD (modulation and coding). This involves configuring the broadcast chain to ensure RF is optimized for each transmission.  
• Consider that there are multiple physical layer pipes (PLPs) in an ATSC 3.0 channel sharing environment. Some broadcasters may want to handle their own PLP to maintain control over their broadcast, which needs to be defined. Additionally, stations may want to create a second PLP to use in a more robust (i.e., mobile) environment in the future. This should be outlined clearly between all of the channel sharing stations to guarantee optimal bandwidth use. 
• Furthermore, stations must examine their PSIP generators and configuration. By moving ATSC 1.0 programs to other ATSC 1.0 lighthouses, PSIP configuration changes are needed, and additional PSIP licenses might be necessary. To move one program from station A to B, PSIP needs to be modified. 
• It’s up to each station to decide if they want to implement content security or signing. Those stations that choose to implement content security and signing have to perform a test with an encryption company and the ATSC 3.0 broadcast chain provider to ensure it works smoothly and accurately.  
• Another vital question for stations to ask is whether they want to support optional broadcast applications, such as virtualization or interactivity. When ATSC 3.0 is more commonly deployed, these applications will allow stations to fully personalize and brand their broadcast transmission. 
• Lastly, to optimize bandwidth usage, utilizing an encoder and packager that supports statistical multiplexing, in coordination with the transport stream encoder, may be advantageous in the transition phase. As stations add more services, subchannels and data delivery in the future, statmux will continue to be essential for boosting bandwidth utilization efficiency. 

TEST SYNCHRONIZATION AND TIMING

Synchronization and timing are imperative in the ATSC 3.0 environment since the entire workflow is IP-based. There are many stations that currently rely on GPS. However, GPS isn’t effective if the equipment is running in the cloud. Even a slight difference between the two clock references can cause the lip sync or EPG timing to be off, resulting in service degradation. To confirm the broadcast gateway and exciter are in sync, stations need an accurate clock reference. An NTP or PTP external synchronization reference will avoid timing issues that can affect service quality. 

CONCLUSION 

The final step for ATSC 3.0 channel sharing stations is to test ATSC 3.0 service delivery. At least one of the stations involved in a channel-sharing agreement should have an ATSC 3.0 broadcast stream analyzer to monitor the real-time behavior of ATSC 3.0 service delivery, as well as verify that broadcast applications are showing up properly. 

The ATSC 3.0 environment is infinitely more complex than ATSC 1.0, but the result is highly rewarding: ATSC 3.0 stations can support innovative service guides, addressable content delivery, interactive program enhancements and data broadcast applications. By partnering with a technology provider that offers interoperability with third-party technology vendors and experience in NextGen TV deployments, stations can streamline the transition and start delivering better TV. 

Ralph Bachofen is vice president of sales and marketing at Triveni Digital.

As U.S. broadcasters transition to ATSC 3.0, one of the biggest challenges the industry faces is the shortage of available spectrum to deliver a diverse multiplex of channels and the availability of low-cost, last-mile internet connectivity. The repack is complete, but broadcasters need to avoid disrupting the current business workflow while successfully transitioning to ATSC 3.0. The only practical solution is one based on channel sharing. 

To start a channel share, the logistics of cross connecting two or more stations is not complex. The broadcast industry has a wide range of tools to facilitate this. Cross connecting two or more stations will increase a station’s opex, and the price magnitude will vary between markets. 

The transition to ATSC 3.0 is starting in mid-size markets mostly because broadcast spectrum is available, and the price of high-speed internet is not cost prohibitive. Stations in top-10 designated market areas (DMAs) will have readily available low-cost internet but little to no available spectrum; therefore, they will require very careful planning and a very high-density broadcast delivery solution to start broadcasting NextGen TV. 

Conversely, stations in markets 150 and higher will likely have plenty of broadcast spectrum but very few and costly internet choices. This article will discuss strategies for enhancing ATSC 1.0 signals to leverage the available spectrum capacity, along with must-have capabilities in an encoding solution to ensure optimal efficiency for high-quality video delivery over the internet to smoothly usher in the ATSC 3.0 era.

OPTIMIZING LEGACY 1.0 SIGNALS AND IMPROVING OVERALL SPECTRUM CAPACITY

By leveraging several key technologies and video profiles—either separately or in combination—broadcasters can streamline channel-sharing workflows while preserving picture quality. 

The first technology that is crucial to enhancing the quality of broadcast signals is statistical multiplexing or “statmux,” a process synonymous with creating a variable bit rate (VBR) video profile by linking the multiplexer with the encoder in a feedback loop. Compared to constant bit rate (CBR), VBR greatly preserves video quality no matter the complexity of the content. If stations are not leveraging VBR technology in their multiplex today, they will be soon as this technology is responsible for delivering a 33% or more bandwidth saving with four or more streams when compared with the same multiplex using CBR only. Statmux technology has improved over the years but within the last two years has made a significant jump, allowing for several advantages not possible before, but more on this later.

ATSC 1.0 broadcasters may choose from 18 video profiles but three dominate the landscape: one SD and two HD. The source and coding profile to deliver video will impact how much bandwidth is needed to deliver a channel. It’s worth noting that TF1 in France has removed all SD formats, upconverting its old libraries making an all HD multiplex. The consumer response has been positive. DVB broadcasters like TF1 also have the advantage of using a more robust codec than ATSC 1.0. 

Fortunately, ATSC 3.0 stations will jump to HEVC and be able to choose from a much wider variety of profiles to drive more than one PLP (physical layer pipe) delivery. Downconverting HD profiles can save as much as 20% to 60% in bitrate savings. Additionally, the AVC video codec offers a 50% bitrate reduction compared with MPEG-2, and stations operating in big markets like Los Angeles, are using it now to preserve video quality with less bandwidth for ATSC 1.0 transmissions. This trend is expected to continue as channel density requirements continue to increase while consumers replace their older equipment.

MUST-HAVE ENCODING CAPABILITIES FOR ATSC 3.0

High-efficiency encoding is a critical component for broadcasters in general, but more so for channel-sharing operations considering the move to ATSC 3.0. To make the most of spectrum capacity, there are a few essential capabilities to look for in an encoder. 

For instance, the encoding solution must offer inputs for merging SDI and IP content, as stations will be delivering or combining their signals with other ATSC 1.0 and or ATSC 3.0 facilities for the foreseeable future.

The encoding solution must also be capable of supporting multiple types of codecs, including MPEG-2, AC-3, AVC, HEVC and AC4. This is important because today a station might be using one codec, but tomorrow their business could change, forcing an adjustment. Complex channel-sharing operations will likely require some additional licensing, wiring more inputs to sources, as well as the ability to simultaneously transcode and encode more services in the same statmux pool. 

Furthermore, stations may wish to create split feeds for cable market delivery using a completely different bitrate and/or codec. Broadcast transmissions necessitate high-density multiplexing, with encoding video at the lowest possible bitrate. Conversely, cable operators expect very high quality no matter the bitrate to ensure pristine quality or to provide ad replacement. These are diametrically opposing processes and running both simultaneously will require significantly more processing power, path diversity and complexity, which usually stretches the available equipment beyond its capability for maintaining reliable service.

Broadcast budgets are shrinking, some in favor of more streaming capability. Stations are also looking to reduce capex budget by leasing smaller or fewer facilities, limiting engineering rack space. With ultra-high-density encoding solutions, stations can effectively address both capacity and efficiency concerns with encoders powered by high-performance, next-generation servers. The processing capabilities possible today are far beyond most of the systems deployed as little as two years ago, allowing stations to support more channels, including UHD.

Broadcasters are on-air 24/7, 365 days a year, so redundancy is imperative. If stations aren’t on the air, they’re not making money. Uptime is now characterized in seconds or number of frames per year. It is common practice for system architectures to replicate the entire air chain starting right after the output from master control all the way to the tower. With this responsibility comes the necessity to monitor both paths for maintaining high availability. This necessitates the systems to be protected in a high-security environment with remote access so operators can enjoy more freedom to work from anywhere within the reach of Wi-Fi.

CONCLUSION

Flexibility is critical to navigate these unprecedented times. ATSC 3.0 is a very complex system with enormous advantages, but the COVID-19 pandemic has made the transition from ATSC 1.0 to NextGen TV slower than predicted. The challenges to overcome are immense but not impossible, they just take longer to resolve. By partnering with technology providers who can offer flexible, high-performance, software-based solutions with local support, broadcasters can ensure that the transition will keep running smoothly, while providing exceptional quality.

Statistical multiplexing technology, next-generation audio/video codecs and techniques like video profile down-conversion will all play an important role in the transition to ATSC 3.0. We expect the AVC specification in ATSC A/72 will be leveraged more in ATSC 1.0 operations to either double picture quality or enable the delivery of additional channels as stations enter channel-sharing agreements.

The encoders made today far outperform the capability and capacity of the ASIC-based encoders sold five years ago. Though the old units keep working, the new designs offer industry-leading video quality and workflow flexibility, in a reliable software-based video appliance that now includes support for mixed profile (MPEG-2 and AVC) all in the same statmux pool, a capability not possible in the old silicon designs. This advancement will provide the boost required in ATSC 1.0 to ease the conversion to ATSC 3.0. 

Joel Wilhite is senior systems design engineer at Harmonic. 

WASHINGTON—Post-auction channel-sharing becomes official May 18. The date was published today in the Federal Register, reflecting the March 23 unanimous vote by the Federal Communications Commission to allow channel-sharing arrangements, or “CSAs,” to be hammered out after the auction, and to include low-power TV licensees and translators. Before the vote, CSAs were codified only as an option for auction participants.

“This action will assist secondary stations that are displaced by the incentive auction and the repacking process to continue to operate in the post-auction television bands,” the ruling states.

LPTV and translator licensees initially were allowed to share channels among themselves in a late 2015 Report and Order. (See “LPTVs and Translators Can Channel-Share” Dec. 17, 2015.) The same R&O extended the digital transition deadline for LPTVs from Sept. 1, 2015, to mid-July of 2021, so low-power licensees wouldn’t have to upgrade and then move to a new channel or even go dark within a couple of years.

The March 23 ruling was significant for LPTVs and translators, which were not allowed to participate in the auction and are not guaranteed a channel assignment in the repack. According to the LPTV Spectrum Rights Coalition—a group formed by LPTV and translator licensees to represent them throughout the auction process—said “3,150 LPTV and TV translator licenses and new permits” will be displaced, and possibly as many as 4,000.

The repack officially commenced April 13 with the release of the “Auction Closing and Channel Reassignment Public Notice,” which states that “LPTV and TV translator stations may remain on their existing channels in the 600 MHz band until they are notified that they are likely to interfere with a forward-auction winner that is ready to commence operations. This could mean continued operations for many years until wireless licensees commence operations. The commission has also committed to provide operating displaced LPTV and TV translator stations with the opportunity to file a displacement application to move to another channel or to seek to channel share with another station.”

Further, it states that a forthcoming public notice “will outline the requirements and approximate timeline for the filing of applications for such displaced stations,” and that the auction software would be used to find available channel assignments for LPTVs and translators. To that end, the commission recently announced an update to said software, TVStudy, the channel-repacking program based on the FCC’s OET-69, the formula used to calculate interference among TV signals for the digital transition of more than a decade ago. The update, version 2.2, was described as a step toward locating channels for LPTVs and translators, though it had not yet accounted for the 987 full-power and Class A stations that will be moving over the next 39 months.

Also see....
April 14, 2017
“Repack TVStudy v2.2 Targets LPTVs”
Vers. 2.2 is said to produce “interference studies for low-power television stations assuming all post-auction transitions have been completed,” though “it does not accurately account for full-power and Class A television stations’ pre-auction and post-auction channel assignments during the transition period.”

April 13, 2017
“987 Stations Displaced, 175 Broadcasters to Split $10 Billion”
The auction results are in and the new TV channel assignments are out. A total of 987 TV stations will be moved in the upcoming 39-month repack, and 175 broadcasters who sold spectrum in the auction will split the $10 billion offered up for it by wireless providers. With today’s release of the Federal Communications Commission’s “Auction Closing and Channel Reassignment Public Notice,” the 90-day shot clock also begins on repack construction and modification applications and reimbursement estimates, making them due July 12, 2017. Vers. 2.2 is said to produce “interference studies for low-power television stations assuming all post-auction transitions have been completed,” though “it does not accurately account for full-power and Class A television stations’ pre-auction and post-auction channel assignments during the transition period.”

March 23, 2017
“FCC Extends Channel-Sharing”
The FCC unanimously voted to let LPTVs and translators share a channel with full-power and Class A licensees, providing them with more options to stay on the air once the musical-channels repack process begins. The vote also affirmed established carriage rights within these arrangements.

LOS ANGELES —PBS SoCal KOCE, the flagship PBS station for Southern California, including Los Angeles, announced it earned $49 million in the FCC incentive auction and will invest the one-time revenues in content, broadband distribution platforms and its financial well-being. The station said it would continue broadcasting the full line-up of PBS programs on “all four of its current channels over the air, via cable and satellite and online.”

“Our priority as the primary PBS station for greater Los Angeles is to ensure we can deliver PBS programs to the 18 million people across the six counties in our region well into the future. We retained the bandwidth necessary to accomplish that,” said Andrew Russell, president and CEO of PBS SoCal. “The one-time auction revenues allow us to achieve another important objective: to invest in expanding our mission by providing more services to more people across the region.”

PBS SoCal said it would retain most of its coverage through a channel-sharing agreement with KSCI. The reinvestment plan includes “increasing investment in PBS and other programming, making strategic investments in content production and broadband services that reach more audiences via mobile and web, and building a strong financial foundation for PBS SoCal’s future by restructuring debt and creating an investment fund that generates annual revenues.”

Russell continued, making a pitch to Viewers Like You: “PBS SoCal remains deeply committed to serving Southern California and advancing the PBS mission. While these one-time auction revenues will help us expand our mission, we are grateful for the individuals, foundations and corporations whose collective ongoing support comprises more than 80 percent of our annual budget. Your support continues to be essential – particularly as our important federal funding is under threat – to ensuring the news, public affairs, arts and science programs that are critical for an educated and informed citizenry.”

The PBS SoCal announcement noted that “the president’s budget proposes the elimination of federal funding for public broadcasting, which amounts to $1.35 per citizen per year and underwrites programs such as “Daniel Tiger,” documentaries from Ken Burns, “PBS NewsHour” “Frontline” and “Masterpiece Theater.”

“There is no viable replacement for federal funding of public broadcasting,” Russell said. “The one-time funds from the spectrum auction will not come close to closing the large fiscal gap that would be left by the loss of annual federal support. Federal funding is vital seed funding that helps stations raise the local support that represents more than half of our annual budgets.”

RAYMOND, ME.—Dielectric said it would unveil the TFU-GTH-BB, a high-powered, broadband pylon UHF antenna with integrated ATSC 3.0-ready technology, at the 2017 NAB Show.

Developed from Dielectric’s range of pylon antennas, the TFU-GTH-BB’s broadband design supports up to 10 DTV channels (60 MHz). Its channel capacity will be useful for stations planning to share a common tower in the upcoming TV channel repacking. Dielectric said its array offers the bandwidth characteristics of a panel antenna with a fraction of the wind load, and can be top- or side-mounted.

Dielectric has also designed the TFU-GTH-BB antenna with the next-generation ATSC 3.0 standard in mind. Dielectric’s unique FutureFill technology, also to be unveiled at the 2017 NAB Show, can be integrated into the TFU-GTH-BB design. This provides a route for broadcasters anticipating the new multichannel, mobile and IP-enabled streaming opportunities afforded through ATSC 3.0.

“To accomplish this, ATSC 3.0 requires higher data rates and greater channel capacity to deliver an improved quality of service,” said John Schadler, vice president of engineering for Dielectric. “FutureFill boosts the signal strength so that it can saturate the coverage area more heavily and cost-effectively than would be possible by increasing the transmitter size or power level.”

Schadler said FutureFill would be offered in many other current and future Dielectric antennas moving forward, including pylon and panel antennas. FutureFill’s adjustable null fill can be increased to boost the signal strength without negatively impacting the antenna’s VSWR performance – meaning, extreme voltages that adversely affect signal power are eliminated.

For broadcasters that want to begin broadcasting mobile DTV and other ATSC 3.0 services, FutureFill is included as a standard feature on the antenna at no additional up-front cost. For broadcasters that aren’t yet ready to broadcast in ATSC 3.0, FutureFill can be implemented at a later date as a field upgrade, without having to take the antenna down from the tower. A Dielectric-certified field engineer and/or crew can perform the one-day service at the tower site, without additional hardware costs.

Dielectric exhibits at Booth C2613.

WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission today unanimously voted to let LPTVs and translators share a channel with full-power and Class A licensees, providing them with more options to stay on the air once the musical-channels repack process begins. The vote also affirmed established carriage rights within these arrangements.

“This new flexibility will further assist secondary stations that are displaced by the… repacking process” and “may reduce construction and operating costs for resource-constrained secondary stations, including small minority-owned stations,” said Shaun Maher of the FCC’s Media Bureau.

Displacement by the Numbers
The post-incentive auction TV band will be reduced by 14 channels, from Ch. 38 to Ch. 50, inclusive. (The TV band previously extended to Ch. 51 but those licenses were frozen after their wireless neighbors—who won 18 TV channels in the 2008 auction—reported interference.) Stations now assigned to UHF frequencies on Ch. 38 or above will have to move to fewer, lower frequencies in a channel repack following the March 30 close of the auction.

With regard to the numbers, according to the FCC’s Dec. 31, 2016 station count, there are:

1,033 full-power commercial UHF stations
351 full-power commercial VHFs
289 full-power educational UHFs
105 full-power educational VHFs
393 Class A UHFs
24 Class A VHFs, totaling
1,600 UHF LPTVs
366 VHF LPTVs
2,911 UHF translators
878 VHF translators

All told, there are 6,226 broadcasters operating in UHF spectrum, which extends downward to Ch. 14, so not all of them are on the relinquished frequencies

According to the FCC’s own estimate, 1,274 full-power and Class A stations will have to move. According to the LPTV Spectrum Rights Coalition—a lobby formed by LPTV and translator licensees to protect their interest through the incentive auction process—said “ 3,150 LPTV and TV translator licenses and new permits ” are sure to be displaced, and possibly as many as 4,000.

The full extent of displacement will not be made public until after the final phase of the auction concludes March 30, when the commission will issue its “Auction Closing and Channel Reassignment Public Notice.”

In the meantime, the National Association of Broadcasters continues to hammer against the FCC’s hard 39-month deadline for completion of the. TheNAB filed a petition for reconsideration of the FCC’s repack rules March 17. There had been no response as of this writing. ~D.D.McAdams Channel-sharing began as an option in the TV spectrum incentive auction that allowed stations to sell their own 6 MHz license and share with another willing station. LPTVs and translators previously were allowed to share with each other, but not with full-power and Class As. Neither were LPTVs and translators allowed to participate in the auction, nor are they guaranteed a channel in the reduced, post-auction TV band. (See sidebar.)

Today’s Report and Order allows sharing among and between LPTV, translator, Class A and full-power TV licensees; and it allows new channel-sharing arrangements, or CSAs, beyond those hammered out for the auction process. These so-called “second-generation” CSAs can be an extension of an existing partnership or a new agreement with another party.

With regard to pay-TV carriage rights, the R&O extends the same carriage rights to stations in a second-generation CSA that they had going into it. The rule was crafted to prevent stations from using channel-sharing as a “shortcut to obtaining cable carriage rights,” Maher said.

Democratic Commissioner Mignon Clyburn and Republican Commissioner Michael O’Rielly split the sheet on this one. Clyburn advocated for allowing LPTVs new must-carry opportunities. O’Reilly was like, no way.

Said Clyburn, “What disappoints me is that today we have actually closed the door on the very rare instances in which a secondary station could gain must-carry rights as a result of channel-sharing. In doing so, we have stricken from the Order a simple acknowledgement that the benefits of channel-sharing for secondary stations outweigh any theoretical increase in the number of secondary stations cable operators may be required to carry.”

O’Reilly stressed that in maintaining the status quo with regard to carriage rights, the FCC was “deciding not to reopen that can of worms here.”

“Must-carry rights are not being expanded,” he said. “The item maintains the status quo with regard to must-carry. Whatever rights the station had to trigger must-carry previously are retained and no new rights are created.”

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai invoked a “Care Bear” analogy about “caring and sharing,” and went on to say his colleagues pretty much covered the benefits therein.

Clyburn, always an advocate of diversity in media, called LPTV stations “a relative bright spot when it comes to broadcast ownership diversity.

“Women owned 13.9 percent of low-power television stations compared to just 6.3 percent of full-power commercial television stations in 2013.

“Similarly, the commission’s own data found that Hispanics own 3 percent of full-power stations compared to 10 percent of low-power television stations,” she said.

“The more meaningful story should actually be what channel-sharing means for those who love broadcast television as well as the opportunities it presents for the nation’s smallest broadcasters,” Clyburn said.

See more TV Technology coverage at our spectrum auction silo.

ATLANTA—Gray Television did not say Tuesday morning which of its 64 TV stations would be affected when it announced expected auction proceeds of $90.824 million. The company did say, however, that operations would not be materially affected, which means the company may be working out channel-sharing arrangements.

“The actions necessary to receive the proceeds will not lead to job losses and otherwise are not expected to produce any material change in operations or results for Gray or for any individual market in which we operate. We will announce the affected station(s) at a later date,” the company said in a press release Tuesday morning, the day after the Federal Communications Commission waived the prohibition on auction-related communications among broadcasters.

Gray has 64 call letter TV licenses in Designated Market Areas ranging from No. 61 Knoxville, Tenn. to No. 161 Paris, Texas. It has duopolies in several markets, including No. 63 Lexington, Ky.; No. 75 Springfield, Mo.; No. 105 Lincoln, Neb.; No. 111, Augusta, Ga.; No. 192 Twin Falls, Idaho; No. 197, Scottsbluff, Neb.-Cheyenne, Wyo.; and triopolies in two: No. 209 North Platte, Neb.; and Minot-Bismarck-Dickinson-Williston, N.D.

Bidding in the fourth-stage reverse auction—where broadcasters provisionally accepted $10 billion for 84 MHz of spectrum—concluded Jan. 13. Bidding in the fourth-stage forward auction—where wireless providers bid to buy that spectrum—began Jan. 18, and quickly met the closing criteria of the auction with $18.2 billion in bids, making the fourth stage the final one.

Auction proceeds as of round 40 of the final-stage reverse auction, which is still in progress, were $19.5 billion. Broadcasters will split more than $10 billion of that amount, plus another $2 billion will be put toward a TV station relation fund and the administrative cost of the auction, leaving roughly $7.5 billion for the U.S. Treasury, about half of the amount Congress estimated to be put toward unemployment in the 2012 Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act. (See “Obama Signs Spectrum Auction Authority Bill” Feb. 23, 2012)

See more TV Technology coverage at our spectrum auction silo.

WASHINGTON—The eased channel-sharing rules allowing TV stations to select a back-up partner, and to communicate with potential sharing partners without fear of violating the incentive auction rules, go into effect Dec. 2.

The Federal Register published the revised channel-sharing rules on Monday, triggering the 30-day effective date of Dec. 2, 2015. The Federal Communications Commission adopted the rules Oct. 21 in a Second Order on Reconsideration that modified intitial rules to make it easier for broadcasters to hammer out channel-sharing agreements before the auction commences March 29, 2016.

The rules added the option of selecting a back-up sharing arrangement in the event that both channels involved in a CSA are frozen during bidding in the reverse auction.

“It would enable both parties to a CSA to participate in the auction while mitigating the risk that the auction system could freeze both stations in the same round and thus deprive both stations of a post-auction host or ‘sharer’ station,” the commission said.

The commission was concerned that some stations would not participate in the auction if there was a risk of going off the air all together.

“By allowing the parties to secure a fallback arrangement in the event that both parties relinquish their spectrum usage rights in the auction, this clarification will help promote wider participation in the auction by broadcasters that require assurance that they will remain on the air in the DMA,” the FCC rules stated.

The commission rejected broadcaster requests to allow “contingent multi-party CSAs across multiple markets,” on the grounds that allowing them would cross antitrust rules. Stations are strictly prohibited from communicating with one another about participating in the auction with the exception of those stations in a CSA or a back-up CSA that is filed with the FCC by the auction application deadline, Dec. 18.

This prohibition runs from Dec. 18 to the close of the auction. Post-auction CSAs will be allowed within a permitted window of time, an FCC spokesman said.

Stations can only communicate with the back-up CSA party if both parties to the original sharing arrangement end up frozen out of the TV band.

“If… the auction system determines that the station can never be assigned a feasible channel in its pre-auction band in the current stage, then parties to a back-up CSA may communicate regarding bids and bidding strategy and must cease communication of this type with the party to the original CSA.”

If a host station of a CSA is frozen but wishes to continue participating in the auction, it may communicate with its provisional sharing partner.

Also see…

October 15, 2015
“Incentive Auction Application Window Opens Dec. 1”
Broadcasters who want to participate it the TV spectrum incentive auction will have 18 days to file their applications. The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday released its Applications Procedures Public Notice, which includes the dates of the application window.

For more information on the Spectrum Incentive Auction, join TV Technology, B&C and auction experts discussing what must be anticipated in the months to come regarding planning for, and participating in, the auction, in a live Webinar on Thursday, Nov. 5 at 2:30 p.m. ET. Please register at https://nbmedia.wufoo.com/forms/spectrum-auction-preparation-pp86mny0bbremz/.

WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission is getting busy. The just-released agenda for its Oct. 22 public meeting includes several incentive auction-related items, one on foreign ownership and another on flexible use in the 24 GHz band.

The commission will consider a Second Order on Reconsideration on channel-sharing. The intent is to “to provide additional flexibility to broadcasters interested in the incentive auction channel sharing option by clarifying that ‘back-up’ channel sharing agreements are permitted under the rules, and providing more time for successful incentive auction bidders to transition to shared facilities after the auction.” Docket No. 15-137.

The commission also will consider a Third Report & Order and First Order on Reconsideration that adopts rules to govern interservice interference between broadcast television stations and wireless licensees in the 600 MHz band after the auction, and sets out protection criteria for television stations and wireless operations in the band. Docket No. 14-14.

Another Report and Order on the agenda addresses when and in what areas 600 MHz band wireless licensees will be deemed to “commence operations” for the purposes of establishing when the secondary and unlicensed users must cease operations and vacate the spectrum in those bands.

Foreign ownership will be the subject of a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would streamline the review process for broadcast licensees and applicants, and standardize the review process for broadcast, common carrier and aeronautical licensees and applicants.

A final Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposes to create new flexible use service rules in certain bands above 24 GHz to support multiple uses, including mobile wireless.

WASHINGTON—Multiple television stations will have the legal option of sharing a 6 MHz channel after the TV spectrum incentive auction next year. This is a first in the history of U.S. broadcast television, and Federal Communications Commission officials laid out their envisioned framework for channel-sharing in a Webinar on Thursday. There will be no set limit on how many licensees can share a channel, said Dorann Bunkin, chief policy counsel of the FCC Media Bureau’s Video Division, and a legal advisor to the commission’s Incentive Auction Task Force.

“But under our channel-sharing rules, each party must ‘retain spectrum usage rights adequate to ensure a sufficient amount of shared capacity to allow [the parties] to provide at least one SD program stream at all times,’” she said.

Sharing a channel is one of three options for broadcasters participating in the auction, scheduled to begin March 29, 2016. They can elect to go off the air, relinquish their 6 MHz of spectrum but retain their license and share, or move to a lower VHF assignment.

Erin Griffith, attorney advisor in the Auctions Division of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, described the sequence of events in the application process:

“Opening prices will be announced at least 60 days before the application deadline. The reverse auction application window will open in fall of 2015, with exact dates [to come.] A licensee must [identify] for each station, every bid option for which it would consider bidding in the reverse auction. Applicants are not required to bid on the options they identify; and cannot later bid for any option they fail to identify.

“Once applications are submitted and accepted… On March 29, 2016, applicants must commit to a preferred initial relinquishment bid option—which would be going off the air for a licensee whose preferred option is to give up its channel and share. By doing so, the bidder commits to relinquish the relevant spectrum usage rights at the opening price.”

The channel-sharing arrangement, or CSA, can follow stations through other options, e.g., in a scenario where station No. 1 elects to go off Channel 49 and share with station No. 2 at Channel 21, and station No. 2 accepts a bid to go to a VHF, both can share that VHF, Bunkin said.

The party that relinquishes spectrum to share with another station is the “sharee;” the host broadcaster is the “sharer.”

Channel-sharing stations remain primary FCC licensees. They are entitled to the same cable and satellite carriage rights, Bunkin said.

Broadcasters will be able to decide how to divvy up the 6 MHz. The FCC will not require the bitstream to be divided equally, only that each channel-sharing licensee must be able to provide at least one SD stream at all times.

There will be no “forced marriages” between sharing partners, Bunkin said. The non-shared partner can seek to change its status.

A sharee may change community of license if it can’t satisfy the community of license’s signal requirement from the sharer’s site. A sharee may not make a community-of-license change that will change its designated market area, although it can locate its transmitter in another DMA if it covers the sharee’s community of license.

Full-power and Class A stations may share with one another. A Class A sharee that relinquishes its channel to share with a full-power licensee will be able to have a full-power signal, but will remain a Class A in all other respects, including carriage rights.

A full-power sharee that moves in with a Class A is subject to Class A rules governing power levels and interference, but remains subject to all other rules and policies applicable to full-power stations, including carriage rights.

Commercial and non-commercial educational stations can share, including those on a reserved channel. An NCE, whether a sharee or a sharer, will retain its NCE status. A reserve-channel NCE may transfer its license only to another qualified NCE entity.

Broadcasters hammer out their own agreements, but a CSAmust affirm that each party provide at least one SD stream at all times. It also must contain provisions outlining each licensees rights and responsibility regarding the physical facility, shared transmission facilities and allocation of bandwidth within the channel. It may include contingent rights, such as puts, calls, options, rights of first refusal, etc.

A CSA also may be term limited. Bunkin said the FCC is looking at how to handle second-generation sharing agreements.

“We will be making rules on that,” she said.

A licensee proposing a sharing arrangement with itself need not prepare a CSA for the commission.

A quiet period will be imposed on all stations participating in the auction at the end of the application window with the exception of stations with an executed CSA.

“Parties to an executed CSA filed with a reverse auction applications may communicate with each other about their bids and bidding strategies during the auction,” the FCC’s channel-sharing presentation stated. “This exception only applies to an applicant that submits an executed CSA to the commission prior to the applications filing deadline.”

The quiet period will apply to stations with unexecuted or post-auction CSAs.

A sharee will have 90 days from receipt of auction proceeds to terminate operations on its pre-auction channel. It may request a 90-day extension of that deadline. The sharee must submit a construction permit application that includes the executed CSA 60 days before termination deadline.

An applicant that executes a CSA after the auction also may have a 90-day extension of the termination deadline. By 60 days before the termination deadline, it has to submit its construction permit application, including its executed CSA (redacted where appropriate)

Winning “sharees” will not get a piece of the $1.75 billion repack fund.

Sharing among non-Class A low-power television stations is being taken up in a separate rulemaking, Bunkin said.

Also see…
August 11, 2015
“Incentive Auction To Cost $226 Million”
The commission adopted procedures laying out the logistics of the two-part auction.

March 11, 2014
“L.A. Stations Decode Channel-Sharing Question”
The report reflects the findings of the two participating stations and to the extent that similar combinations of stations arise elsewhere, this testing may serve as a baseline assessment of channel sharing.