75 Years Ago – October 1947 – Enabled by AT&T Long Lines connectivity, network radio has flourished since the 1920s, with new affiliates being easily tied in to New York City net facilities via the phone company’s vast long distance telephone infrastructure. However, such video universal connectivity does not exist, and in the fall of 1947 the inability of this common carrier to deliver network video to stations presents a major roadblock for the rapidly growing television industry.

In Q4 1947, AT&T was only able to provide video service between New York City and Washington, D.C. and the three stations now on the air in Philadelphia and Baltimore. Although the company had committed to extending video service beyond these initial four east coast cities, it informed the FCC that widespread TV network linkage was still “years away.” (AT&T had apparently woefully underestimated postwar TV growth and networking demands, planning in 1944 to lay only 600 route miles of coax, a number that was later revised to 12,000 miles.)

AT&T initially planned to utilize “tried and true” coaxial cable for its video network, but now was also experimenting with microwave radio as a faster deployment option. While some stations are content to receive network programming on film (kinescope recordings), others want live feds and are moving ahead with construction of their own intercity microwave systems.

OTHER NEWS FROM TV’S PAST:

94 Years Ago, October 1928 – “The problem of color television has at last been solved,” according to a report in Radio News magazine from Ronald F. Tilman, who witnessed a recent demonstration of TV pioneer John Logie Baird’s latest breakthrough. 

As Tilman reported: “…the vivid reality of the colorings was most remarkable, and adds very greatly to the effect. A bunch of flowers, blue delphiniums, was placed in front of the transmitter (camera) and appeared on the receiving screen in a most vivid blue. A human face was then transmitted, and when the tongue was put out, the pink color showed clearly, the face appearing in a different shade of pink…. [But] by far the most impressive part of the demonstration was a basket of ripe strawberries, the red fruit showing in an amazingly vivid fashion against the white basket.”

Baird’s camera used a scanning disc equipped with three rows of holes and with filters corresponding to each of the primary colors. A similar disc was used in the receiver, with red video obtained from a neon lamp and specially constructed helium/mercury vapor tubes providing green and blue fields. Complete technical parameters were not stated, but the scanning disc depicted in the report showed 20 holes (scanning lines) for each of the colors.

50 Years Ago, October 1972 – High marks are being given to the new CMX 600 videotape editing system, which allows instant adjustment to edit points and even the replacement of a single video frame. Broadcasting (now Broadcasting & Cable) magazine reported the use of the new technology in production of both a half-hour pilot and a 90-minute “made for television” movie. The pilot’s director estimated that with the use of videotape for capture and the CMX 600 for editing, delivery time for a half-hour show could be cut from the usual two weeks with film to 10 hours. The new technology could also cut production costs by as much as 25 percent.

Ampex reported the first international delivery of its new ACR-25 self-loading videocassette machine to a customer in England, with shipment of the $195,000 machine (about $1.4 million in today’s money) to 18 other offshore customers to follow. (The ACR-25 had premiered two years earlier at the 1970 NAB Show, with the first production model going to a Tulsa, Okla. station three months prior to the U.K. delivery.) 

25 Years Ago , October 1997 – As stations begin their digital transition, high-definition television’s future remains a bit murky, with some broadcasters considering delaying or forgoing HD altogether in favor of multicasting standard-definition program streams. Some in the industry worry that HD may never get off the ground if there is foot-dragging or digital multicasting becomes the norm.

In an exclusive interview with TV Technology, outgoing FCC chairman Reed Hunt shared his thoughts about the high definition vs. multicasting schism, as well as Internet streaming, which was also just beginning to leave the gate: 

“If [broadcasters] are willing to actually explore multiple channel broadcasting…and if they are willing to explore sending out data and changing the nature of the medium so that it’s extremely interesting…if they are willing to explore a fusion of broadcast digital TV with the Internet, then all of that is good for the economy and for the American people. It will provide more vehicles for public interest programming. Let it happen. Don’t tax it, try to regulate or micro-manage it. Applaud it.”

WASHINGTON—With the cessation of LPTV analog broadcasts last year, the FCC is marking the official end of analog TV broadcasting in the U.S. by updating or outright eliminating analog TV rules. 

The transition to all digital broadcasting in the U.S. stretched over several decades with the first deadline coming in 2009 with the end of full-power analog TV broadcasts. The second phase involved the auction of broadcast spectrum in 2017 and the multi-year broadcast spectrum repack, which ended in 2020. With the aforementioned cessation of low-power analog TV broadcasting, the commission is seeking public comment (NPRM) on what rules are irrelevant, obsolete and what rules need to be updated. 

Specifically it wants to consider deleting, updating, or otherwise revising commission rules for full power and Class A stations that no longer have any practical effect post-digital transition plus it  wants to restructure sections of the commission’s rules that cover technical licensing, operating, and interference rules for full power television. “The proposed restructuring will make the rules more streamlined and easily understandable for our licensees and the public,” the commission said.

In 2021, the FCC adopted a new Table of TV Allotments for full power television stations, and amended part of its rules (part 74) to remove references to channels and frequency bands that were no longer in-core television spectrum, and analog TV operations. The new Table codified commission actions taken over the past several years that modified the TV channel allotments because of the incentive auction and repack. Some of the changes were also due to the 2009 DTV transition. 

In July the commission issued an NPRM proposing to modify rules for digital operations that were previously applicable to low-power analog operations, updating geographic coordinates, modifying station identification requirements, requiring LPTV stations to transmit with a virtual channel that avoids conflicts with other stations, updating the process for filing applications with the commission, and making certain technical modifications.

Proposals include:

• The elimination of entire rules and portions of rules that provide for analog-to-analog and analog-to-digital interference protection requirements and other analog operating requirements;
• Amend section headings and language in rules to remove references to DTV, digital, and analog television service, as these distinctions are no longer necessary;
• Delete outdated rules that are no longer valid given changes in commission-adopted policy, such as the elimination of the comparative hearing process to award and renew broadcast licenses, and
• Update previously-adopted station license periods and delete obsolete rules governing the post-incentive auction transition period and update filing rules and correct outdated, confusing or incorrect information on forms and rules.

The NPRM can be viewed here. 

In 2022 we more or less take it for granted that broadcast television has to exist in a 6MHz-wide chunk of spectrum. This is the way it’s always been—or has it? 

Actually, this bandwidth figure goes back 86 years—to the summer of 1936 when the FCC was mulling over a new proposal that had just been delivered in a hearing by the Radio Manufacturers Association, the great granddaddy of today’s Consumer Technology Association. That organization’s Television Committee, comprised of some of the most knowledgeable scientists and television researchers from RCA, GE, the Haseltine Service Corp., Philco, and Farnsworth Television, had drafted the proposal, which began with this “decree” from Philco’s A.F. Murry:

“"The time has arrived for the radio industry to recommend tentative television standards, and to suggest frequency assignments to the Federal Communications Commission… A group of television engineers, representing all of the leading companies active in this field, have met under the banner of RMA, to formulate for you recommended television standards.”

The proposal called for VHF (42-90 MHz) channels “of not less than 6 mc (MHz) for the transmission of high-definition pictures—pictures which experience has shown possess sufficient detail to afford sustaining interest—pictures which will approach the quality of home movies”

The 6 MHz slots were to be utilized as follows:

• 0.25 MHz (lower guard band)
• 2.5 MHz (lower transmitted sideband)
• 2.50 MHz (upper sideband)
• 0.75 MHz (upper guard band)
• “negligible” spectrum for “sound side bands”

The committee also recommended negative modulation, a 4:3 aspect ratio, 3.25 MHz spacing between sound and picture carriers, a 60 Hz field rate and an 80:20 video-to-sync ratio. The line “standard” was a bit vague, however, with a recommendation for “between 440 and 450 lines per frame” and interlaced scanning.

(The proposal was based on use of then state-of-the-art double-sideband AM video modulation. Development of vestigial sideband transmission technology by RCA’s Wally Poch and Dave Epstein in 1937 would make a significant change in this “nascent” standards proposal. Formulation of a broadcast “standard” acceptable by all industry players would not happen for another five years.)

OTHER NEWS FROM TV’S PAST:

81 Years Ago – July 1, 1941: The first TV commercial aired, following the FCC’s “full commercial authorization” for the handful of stations then on the air. Pioneer NBC station WNBT was ready for the occasion with a rate card (television’s first) and a sponsor, the Bulova Watch Co., which purchased time on the station’s 2:30 p.m. sign-on and 11:00 p.m. sign-off test patterns. (The company reportedly paid NBC $9 for the airing of the commercial.) 

July 1 also marked the first time that set owners in and around New York City had a choice of three television stations, with CBS's WCBW, Dumont's W2XWV (experimental license), and NBC's WNBT all now back on the air following TV’s first spectrum repack.)

50 Years Ago – July 1972: Logistics for the acquisition of GE’s broadcast equipment division were being fine-tuned after its sale to Harris Corp. (now GatesAir). GE, along with RCA and DuMont, was a supplier of cameras, transmitters, antennas, and studio gear for the first-generation of U.S.TV stations. WETA-TV, the Virginia-based PBS outlet for the nation’s capital, petitioned the FCC for a “drop-in” VHF Ch. 12 assignment to replace its existing Ch. 26 allocation. 

It was hoped that the action—if approved—would set a precedent for other PBS stations operating on (then) less than desirable UHF channels. Critics cited potential for co-and adjacent-channel interference with stations operating in Richmond, Va., Wilmington, Del. and Baltimore. 

An industry pundit pegged the odds of Commission approval as about the same as getting rocket scientist Wernher von Braun to join WETA’s engineering staff. (After retirement from NASA, von Braun did relocate to the D.C. area, but took a position with Fairchild Industries in Germantown, Md.; WETA remained on Ch. 26.)

25 Years Ago – July 1997: More than 25 broadcasters pledged to have digital signals on the air by November 1998—just in time for the Christmas buying season. This commitment led to some rather frantic scrambling to identify space for the necessary second transmitting antenna, especially in larger markets. 

In New York City the issue was especially acute, as construction of a new “common” mast on the city’s World Trade Center was nixed due to a possible sale of the structure and reluctance by the owner to modify leases. CBS, with an existing lease and backup facility on the Empire State Building, was well positioned to add DTV transmission, but other NYC broadcasters weren’t as fortunate. While admitting it wasn’t the best location due to height and observation deck RF exposure issues, NBC considered installation of a DTV antenna atop its 30 Rockefeller Plaza headquarters. 

The move to DTV was also about to impact consumers recording off-air programming. Although JVC and Hitachi were producing consumer digital VCRs, these were intended strictly for recording from Dish and DirecTV satellite services. Sony promised a new digital model with a built-in tuner, the DHR-1000, but the >$4,000 price tag was something of a show stopper for many.

A century ago, the country (and most of the world) had fallen in love with the freshly-minted concept of radio broadcasting, and some individuals were already thinking about tapping this nascent tool for other purposes. 

Harry J. Powers Jr. was one of these. Grand opera (broadcast live, of course) was a staple of early radio, and Powers devised what he thought might be a way to cash in by adding “sight” to sound in a forerunner of today’s televising of live events to theater audiences. 

Realizing that 1922 low-res TV wasn’t up to this, Powers devised a scheme in which opera performances would be “pre-recorded” on film (silently, of course, as “talkies” were still five years away) and distributing these to multiple movie theaters where they would be projected in synchronism with a live radio broadcast. 

The opera performers and musicians would also be viewing a copy of the film and “lip sync” their radio performance to the projected images. Obviously, all projectors would have to start at exactly the same time and remain in sync for this to work. 

While Powers did not claim to have all problems solved in connection with his “radio talking pictures,” he was optimistic about their adoption. (In addition to maintaining synchronism, other issues such as the ability of anyone with a radio receiver to “ride free” seem to have doomed the scheme, and there appears to have been only limited interest in deploying it.)

OTHER NEWS FROM TV’S PAST:

75 Years Ago: Television was at the forefront in discussions involving industry groups and the FCC. Even though post-war TV broadcasting had barely cleared the gate, a spectrum shortage was forecast and it appeared broadcasters would likely be losing some of their newly-apportioned channels. (Ultimately, Ch. 1 (44 to 50 MHz), which had been designated for “community” (LPTV) broadcasting, was reassigned for land mobile use.). 

Co-channel and adjacent-channel interference (due to short spacing) were becoming more and more common as new TV stations began taking to the air. A possible solution proposed by the FCC’s television section head was to allow stations to increase power by “10-fold or even 100-fold” to try and override the distant signals interfering with local broadcasts. (TV station ERPs were capped then at 50 kW; however, most were operating at less than 20 kW.) 

RCA heralded the development of a new image orthicon studio camera that required only 1/10 of the light required by conventional iconoscope cameras. The company claimed it could produce “brilliant, sharply-defined” images with light levels in the 100 to 200 foot-candle range. 

RCA touted savings in both studio lighting and “oversized air conditioning plants,” as well as the elimination of eye-straining glare in the studio. RCA also began shipping a console version of its very successful 630TS television receiver introduced the previous year. The new 10-inch model came with a suggested list price of $450 (more than $5,000 in today’s money).

50 Years Ago: The big industry news reported in June 1972 also came from RCA. This time it was in the video display area. After 18 years of development of delta-gun shadow mask color CRTs, the company announced that it was dropping this design and moving to in-line gun, slotted mask tubes, a design favored by most of the industry then. 

The new design had much to offer, including greatly simplified convergence adjustments. (RCA developed the delta-gun tube in an early-1950s “crash program” to create an all-electronic color television system, and continued to make improvements throughput its lifespan.) 

Elsewhere, employees at EECO (the Electronics Engineering Co. of California), a supplier of precision timing systems for scientific organizations, were still basking in the limelight after having been honored at the 1972 National Academy of Arts and Sciences Emmy Awards Banquet for their development of serial timecode equipment for videotape editing. (The EECO timecode would morph into the SMPTE timecode that’s still in use.)

25 Years Ago: The fallout from the U.S. analog to digital TV broadcasting conversion continues, with questions arising about the FCC’s DTV facilities allotments and replication of existing analog service. Dr. Oded Bendov, then Dielectric’s vice president of antenna development, suggested that in some cases it might require ERPs as great as 5 MW to replicate service, even though the FCC had limited DTV stations to 1 MW ERP.

Art Allison, then senior engineer in the NAB’s Science and Technology department, also questioned the FCC’s assumption of outdoor 30-foot-high receiving antennas, as many viewers used indoor antennas. Allison also called attention to potential interference due to short spacing of stations in the new table of allocations. 

Sony and National Mobile Television demonstrated the first live broadcast of 4:2:2 SD television with a 16:9 aspect ratio. 

CBS’s Joe Flaherty urged broadcasters to make the digital transition as quickly as possible, warning that: “No standard and no spectrum assignments last long unused…and any lack of interest or inaction on the part of broadcasters and manufacturers will result in challenges to the digital spectrum assignment and in the proliferation of incompatible transmission standards by the computer industry and by the competitive media.”

Although radio broadcasting was barely out of the gate in the spring of 1922, some visionaries were looking beyond just an aural one-to-many form of communication.

 These included Los Angeles inventor Rudolph A. Dallugge, who in May that year filed for a patent on a television system. Although the patent describes mechanical scanning at both “camera” and “receiver” positions, Dallugge offered the possibility of using an electromagnetically-deflected cathode ray tube for display. No record exists of commercialization of his system.

Other Significant TV Tech Events that Happened in May:

75 Years Ago – May 1947: Television’s long-running “color war” was beginning to take shape, with RCA showing off an “all-electronic” color television system  just a couple of months after the FCC’s rejection of the 16-MHz-wide field sequential color system proposed by CBS. 

The demo, which took place at Philadelphia’s Franklin Institute, was accomplished via a tri-color television projector and images scanned from Kodachrome slides and 16 mm film. (RCA had yet to perfect a color CRT, and its live color camera was also still a work in progress.)  A record number of U.S. television stations were now on the air—12, including two still licensed as experimental. CPs had been issued for more than 50 others. 

At about the same time, reports were starting to be received about reception of FM stations at much greater distances than expected as radio broadcasters began to populate their new 88 to 106 MHz spectrum. Few, if any, saw a connection to the ongoing television rollout. However, with more and more new TV stations taking to the air, co-channel interference reports (and a “freeze” on new applications) would soon follow.

50 Years Ago –1972: The concept of a more-inclusive domestic communication satellite system was beginning to take off, with the FCC hosting a meeting to explore an “open entry” plan to circumvent domination of the new industry by AT&T and Comsat. 

Prospective satellite operating companies were joined in oral arguments on this very “hot potato” matter by both the DOJ and the Office of Telecommunications Policy. The heat was also on in the broadcaster/CATV area following a federal district court’s reaffirmation of the right of cable TV operators to retransmit copyrighted content from broadcasters without incurring copyright liability themselves (free carriage of broadcast content). CBS announced that it would appeal the decision. 

The consumer VCR was beginning to roll out, with Norelco announcing that it would be making some 23,000 units available in early 1973 through its U.S. distributor. Suggested price was $1,425 (almost $9,700 in today’s money). RCA released the results of a recent study revealing that nearly 55 percent of U.S. households now had color TVs.

25 Years Ago – 1997: Despite arguments about high implementation costs and little in the way of return, a move to digital television broadcasting seemed certain. Broadcasters and the NAB projected that DTV service would be available to 43 percent of U.S. television households within 18 to 24 months, and consumer receivers ready by Christmas 1998. 

However, questions were being raised about the availability of equipment and—what was to remain a concern for the next couple of decades—the lack of qualified workers needed to erect the necessary new towers and handle antenna installations. The move to DTV was also beginning raise questions in the CATV arena, as while the majority of U.S. households received TV via cable, there was no mandate for operators to carry the new digital signals. 

Lacking too was equipment for converting 8-VSB OTA signals to the 64-QAM modulation used in cable distribution. Operators were also wondering about carriage requirements for the additional program streams that broadcasters would be transmitting after converting to digital. 

Seattle public broadcaster, KCTS-TV, became the first North American purchaser of Sony’s HDC-750 HD camera, which had premiered at the previous month’s NAB Show. It only supported 1035-line video, but Sony promised a 1080i sensor by late 1998. List price was about $120K (nearly $215K in 2022 money). 

Editor's Note: In our continuing series on broadcasting history, James O'Neal takes a look back at technology milestones that occurred in April. 

February: Looking Back at Broadcasting's First 100 Years
March: Broadcasting: The Way We Were

As we approach the 2022 NAB Show, let's take a look back on some of the past highlights of this indispensable part of the broadcasting scene.

It’s not possible to go back a full century as a starting point, as broadcasting didn’t really take off until 1922, and there was no show—or National Association of Broadcasters—until the following year. 

Sufficient documentation does exist, however, for examining details of the show held to commemorate the 10th anniversary of broadcastings emergence as a societal gamechanger and major industry. (And though it may come as a bit of a surprise, the NAB Show hasn’t always been held in April and in Las Vegas. Show dates have meandered throughout the calendar, and it wasn’t until 1975 that it got to Nevada.)

90 Years Ago – 1932
St. Louis hosted the three-day NAB Show, which got underway on Nov. 14—just in time for a heavy snowstorm. Harold A. LaFount, acting chair of the Federal Radio Commission opened proceedings with an address in which he urged unity within the broadcasting industry to face the problems confronting it and to keep American broadcasting “the best in the world.” 

The new NAB president, Alfred J. McCosker, vowed to lobby for longer-term station licenses, as renewals then were required every six months. Sessions addressed other issues faced by Depression-era broadcasters, including copyrights, exorbitant network line charges and license fees for record turntables. 

Engineering sessions included a presentation by Washington radio attorney Louis G. Caldwell, who urged a move to long wave broadcasting by U.S. broadcasters to help alleviate band congestion and provide better service. (Long wave broadcasting, while successful in Europe and other regions, never caught on in the United States.) 

Television was not on the agenda, even though RCA/NBC had been conducting tests on the new medium since 1929, and had recently established a transmitter site atop New York’s new Empire State Building for testing the feasibility of VHF spectrum for TV broadcasting. Despite the “hard times,” the show boasted a record attendance of nearly 400.

75 Years Ago – 1947
Television was unquestionably the focus of the Sept. 15-18, Atlantic City Show, with RCA’s exhibition of a 6-bay antenna stretching almost all the way to the 150-foot ceiling of the city’s convention hall. The antenna and a mobile truck also on display were destined for Baltimore’s WBAL-TV start-up after the show. 

The 1947 event registered the highest attendance ever, with nearly 2,600 attending sessions and viewing equipment exhibits. In addition to TV gear, exhibitors also showed off facsimile technology, which was being touted as a delivery mechanism to get daily newspapers into homes. (The top two MHz—106 to 108 MHz—of the “new” FM band was originally designated for facsimile transmission.)

50 Years Ago –1972
The April 9-12 Chicago NAB Show marked the event’s golden anniversary and also the 23rd time it was hosted by the “Windy City.” Engineering sessions featured presentations on a number of contemporary topics, including maximization of video chain and transmitter performance (dual-redundant TV transmitters were just coming into their own). 

There was also a “faceoff” of sorts between members of an FCC panel and station engineers. When asked about special training Commission field inspectors received on broadcast operations, the FCC rep’s answer was “none,” which raised a comment from a station engineer about this being obvious, as he’d had to instruct an inspector on proper use of a field strength meter. 

Out on the exhibits floor, Amperex was celebrating the recent delivery of its 20,000 Plumbicon camera pickup tube, RCA was showing off its new TK-44B Plumbicon studio camera and TK-28 telecine camera, which could be supplied with either vidicons or Plumbicons. Personnel at the Ampex booth stayed busy explaining the feature set of the company’s new 2-inch cassette VTR, the ACR-25 (and how it was superior to RCA’s TCR-100). 

25 Years Ago – 1997
The move to digital television was high on the agenda at the April 7-10 Las Vegas NAB Show. A line in the sand had been drawn for analog switch-off by 2002, and this was not sitting well with attendees—especially operators of smaller market stations—due to the high cost of making the transition and uncertainty about recouping expenses. 

A continuing debate over the best digital standard was also permeated the show, with cases being made for both 720p and 1980i. (Kodak, still a big player in TV production and broadcasting, advocated sticking with film until video standards “shook out.”) 

Transmitter manufacturers reported a lot of interest in new digital-capable units; however, most of this was from “tire kickers,” with sales orders not expected until the following year. While there were plenty of digital-ready transmitters, broadcasters wanting to move to high-power solid-state UHF models would have to wait. 

As one large transmitter company UHF products line executive explained things: “We are not ready to mass produce solid-state [UHF] DTV transmitters at this point. No one in this business is.”

Ten years ago, America said goodbye to an old era in TV technology and went all-in on a new form of broadcasting. On June 12, 2009, the federal government discontinued analog broadcasting, and TV stations across the country began broadcasting solely in digital format — the birth of high-definition television (HDTV) as we know it today.

We’re now on the cusp of introducing the American public to the latest set of improvements in the evolution of TV — broadcasting technology that delivers Ultra HDTV video, customizable audio, improved reception and interactive features all via an over-the-air signal. Navigating this national transition will be a challenge, but looking back at the original digital transition offers a clear roadmap to success.

The transition to digital broadcasting took more than 20 years, start to finish, and proved the benefits of government and the private sector working together — a victory for companies in our sectors, the federal agencies that work with us and, ultimately, consumers. But it all could have gone spectacularly wrong.

DECADES IN THE MAKING

Japan had been studying HDTV since the 1970s and was ready to begin analog satellite — but not digital — HDTV broadcasting toward the end of the 80s. Not wanting to be left behind, in 1987 the FCC began working with industry leaders here in the U.S., forming the FCC Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service (ACATS) to explore how our country could spearhead the next wave of TV innovation.

Through an ongoing, candid conversation with consumers, government leaders and innovators, ACATS — along with the industry’s standards-setting organization, the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) — in 1995 set a standard for digital broadcasting that became the envy of the world, with HDTV as its centerpiece. Our American success story was a groundbreaking change — delivering captivating broadcast imagery, enabling exponential possibilities for content creators in Hollywood and beyond — that convinced the broadcast world our future was digital, not analog. Yet none of this could have happened without trust and collaboration from all parties.

Today, that level of cooperation seems remarkable. In an increasingly divisive political climate, building and sustaining that kind of momentum would be nothing short of miraculous. But it’s exactly what we’ll need to maintain our country’s global lead in innovation.The transformative potential of today’s cutting-edge technologies — from virtual reality to Ultra HDTV, artificial intelligence to robotics — far eclipses that of digital broadcasting. If we want to harness these technologies to strengthen our society and change our lives for the better, we’ll have to find common ground again.

CONSENSUS IS CRUCIAL

Three key elements stand out as reasons for our successful journey to digital television:

The first was its strong, thoughtful leadership model. As head of the ACATS, former FCC chairman Richard Wiley prioritized the need to establish consensus — listening carefully to all parties and “translating” each group of stakeholders’ concerns and ideas to one another. Chairman Wiley made a point of condensing what he’d heard into digestible pieces, so federal policymakers were informed of what was happening with private-sector companies but not inundated with weedy details.

Second, we established clear, shared goals at the outset. On one hand, the simplicity of our goal — build a system better than Japan’s and better suited to the lives of U.S. consumers — belied its complexity. On the other, the fact that our goal was so simple gave us the flexibility we needed to build a quality system, adjusting our approach as the technology itself evolved. Clarity and agility were crucial to implement these technologies quickly and safely.

Third, we prepared Americans for the transition to digital TV. We crafted extensive messaging around the transition, explaining to consumers how this technology made it as easy as possible for them to get more channels, better picture and better sound. We also shared our message with policymakers, giving them a glimpse of how digital TV would transform the media industry and strengthen the job market.

These factors might seem obvious, but in the whirlwind of disruptive ideas and the noise of partisan squabbling, it’s easy for the obvious to be overlooked. Paradoxically, implementing the next round of cutting-edge technology on a national scale — whether that’s the next generation of digital television debuting soon or a game-changing innovation such as self-driving vehicles — requires a return to the basics: consensus in leadership, clarity in goals and communication to consumers.

As the 2020 campaign heats up and our leaders begin to ponder their policy priorities for the coming decade, we urge them to look to the successes of the past. Only by building on these — the public and private sectors working together toward a common goal — can we lay a sure foundation for the innovation of the future.

Gary Shapiro is president and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association. Gordon Smith is president and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters. 

This op-ed originally appeared in Broadcasting & Cable. 

With the passing of Joseph Flaherty, former senior vice president of Technology at CBS last month, I had the opportunity to discuss Flaherty’s life and professional contributions with a few industry leaders. One thing I learned seems particularly apropos to where the TV industry stands today.

While Flaherty is credited as perhaps the No. 1 broadcaster advocating for development and adoption of a digital high-definition television standard and a treasured right-hand man to former FCC Chairman Richard Wiley who chaired the FCC Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service at the time, another theme emerged as I spoke to various associates about Flaherty.

That trend was pegging film for termination in the television industry. As Bob Seidel, CBS vice president of engineering & advanced technology, who was mentored in his early career at the network by Flaherty, wrote in marking his passing:

“His [Flaherty’s] foresight led to the replacement of 16mm film to gather news, supplanting it with Electronic News Gathering (ENG), thereby eliminating the painstaking and time-consuming process of exposing the film negative, transporting the film to the station, developing the film and transferring the film to television.”

Even Flaherty’s advocacy of a new digital HD television standard was motivated in part by the desire to get film out of TV production with the goals of saving time, expense and effort to produce episodic television, I learned in my conversations.

[Read: Remembering Dr. Joe Flaherty]

The lesson for today that the television industry can take from Flaherty is: Don’t fear jettisoning the past and embracing the future—not recklessly, but with forethought, planning and purpose.

Who could imagine NTSC rather than digital HDTV in today’s living rooms across America? What Hollywood TV producer or station news shooter pines for the days of film?

We stand at the threshold of the next generation of television with countless opportunities within grasp and little certainty about which will prove to be winners, and which will end up as mere footnotes in some future Wikipedia citation.

Regardless of the uncertainty, however, now is not the time to cling to the past but to embrace change prudently and begin to carve out another successful generation for television.

RAYMOND, ME– Antenna and RF systems provider Dielectric has landed several key TV and FM radio deals in the Philippines in partnership with 90 Degrees North, Inc., a video and audio production, broadcast equipment supply and systems integration firm based in Manila.

90 Degrees North struck a partnership to sell and install Dielectric products last year to address a gradual DTV transition that is scheduled for completion in 2023, and a renewed investment in FM radio infrastructure by many broadcasters.

[Read: 2018 NAB Show: Dielectric Highlighting ATSC 3.0-Compatible Spectrum Repack Antennas]

Since striking the partnership, 90 Degrees North has landed several large RF contracts in the country. The most recent contracts include a Dielectric UT8D4-50 filter, Branch Combiner, Constant Impedance Filter (CIF) and Combiner, and transmission line deal with Broadcast Enterprises and Affiliated Media (BEAM), a subsidiary of the Globe Telecom conglomerate; and a turnkey FM radio deal with government broadcaster Philippine Broadcasting Service (PBS) covering antennas, filters and accessories.

The BEAM project will leverage Dielectric filters and combiners to simplify their DTV transition, allowing the customer to simultaneously broadcast analog and digital signals without requiring a complete tear down and rebuilding process along the way.