WASHINGTON—As the Advanced Television System Committee marks its 40 anniversary at its annual meeting this year at D.C.'s Spy Museum, the group also sees the status of ATSC 3.0 as at a sort of crossroads—celebrating the success of NextGen TV— now on the air in more than 60 markets—while wondering how long before broadcasters can sunset 1.0 and give 3.0 some breathing room to realize its full potential. 

Opening the conference, ATSC President Madeleine Noland discussed the year's progress, noting that in addition to the adoption of 3.0 by the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago last year, two Mexican TV stations have just filed for 3.0 experimental licenses. In addition to South Korea and Jamaica—two other 3.0 countries—Canada, Brazil and India are also doing their own R&D on adopting all or parts of the standard.   

While presentations at the June 15 conference covered a lot of new and diverse ground, including new revenue streams from OTA datacasting, greatly enhanced emergency messaging methodologies, and the use of 3.0 signals as an adjunct to GPS, the unresolved issue of setting a deadline to shutter 1.0 was on the minds of many of the 240 broadcasters, manufacturers, academics, scientists, engineers and others at the all-day event.

Is It Really the Endpoint?
Setting a timeline for ending 1.0 is one of the stated goals of the FCC's "Future of Television" initiative announced by FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel at the NAB Show in April. This was the main topic of conversation between Noland and FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington.  

“I think that a lot of people in this room believe that ATSC 1.0 needs to have a hard sunset target, and that we should migrate to 3.0 at that point,” said Noland. “Is that something the current commission is ready to take up?”

“I’m not sure that turning off 1.0 is exactly what we should view as the endpoint of a successful transition,” SImington replied. “I think more that having differentiation between the 1.0 and 3.0 content, having people preferentially gravitate towards the 3.0 content, and having new universal penetration of 3.0 and new devices are the goals that would make it easy to get to a terminal date for 1.0, and it seems like it’s is easier to accomplish by a pull than by a push; that is setting a cutoff date.”

Simington opined that laying out a finite date for discontinuation of 1.0 would undoubtedly upset viewers, and that an evolutionary process for winding the service down might be better in the long run.

“Setting a cutoff date is always going to attract the ire of people who feel they will be left behind,” he said. “[When] there’s affirmative uptake by the viewing public on the benefits of 3.0, [then] every 1.0 set becomes obsoleted, and then hopefully, at that point turning off 1.0 becomes totally non-controversial because then everyone will have forgotten it was there.”  

When questioned by the audience, “what does the industry need to do to get a sunset date for 1.0?” Simington replied that this was something that would have to be agreed upon by a majority of his associates. “It would require a decision by other commissioners, so I don’t think I could win on that now,” he said. 

While Simington agreed that the country needed “to get away from 1.0 as fast as possible,” he observed that it would likely not be an easily accomplished goal.

“I think we’re unlikely to win the fight if pushed to establish a date,” he said. 

Early Sunset for Some Stations
Defining an endpoint for 1.0 can't come about without the availability of consumer devices in addition to TVs, a point that was driven home by Alex Day, vice president of Tolka Telecommunications which, along with Atlanta DTH is releasing the first NextGen TV-certified box this summer for $95.

“Affordable and easily accessible devices are needed to accelerate the 3.0 transition,” he said.

Some broadcasters may not have the ability to share in a lighthouse station setup, particularly rural public broadcasters. Lonna Thompson, EVP, COO and general counsel for America’s Public Television Stations (APTS), noted that a certain class of TV broadcaster doesn’t have to wait for the establishment of an official sunset date to cease 1.0 transmissions if certain conditions are met.

“Pubic television covers nearly 97% of the population in this country. We have a statutory universal service mandate,” said Thompson, explaining that public stations where the need to reach the public with OTA broadcasting, rather than where commercial viability exists. 

“Our state licensees have a mandate to cover the entire state, so we’re often sited in fringe areas of the state, not in urban areas. We have about 350 transmitters and a network of nearly 600 translators to try to reach rural areas around the country. Because of that, it’s difficult often for our stations to find simulcast partners.”

Thompson explained that due to this, the FCC was petitioned to exempt public TV stations to broadcast 1.0. and 3.0 and that while the exemption wasn’t granted, the commission did agree to issue a presumptive waiver of the 1.0 signal requirement if a broadcaster didn’t have a viable simulcast partner in its area. However, there were some conditions that had to be met, including the assurance that the station’s viewing audience had access to 3.0 receivers or conversion devices. 

“The FCC said you could do a 1.0 to 3.0 flash cut if you have a pre-emptive waiver, but you must give people without 3.0 devices such [conversion devices] at no or low cost” stated Thompson, adding that it made sense for public stations to provide the viewers with 3.0 devices for free in order to move things forward.

“The trick here is that the cost of devices must be covered by the public TV station. We need low-cost converter boxes. Their arrival is great news for us.“

'The Stakes Are High'
NAB President/CEO Curtis LeGeyt closed out the day’s activities with an address to conference attendees in which he praised the work of the ATSC and also observed that the transition needs to be wrapped up sooner rather than later.

“For more than a decade, you all have been working to develop a technology that is going to ensure the ongoing relevance of broadcast television for consumers all across the country,” said LeGeyt. “Make no mistake about it. From where I sit, the stakes are that high. When you think about the landscape in which we are competing today with Apple, Amazon… we simply will not be relevant without an upgraded standard, and we’re doing something that none of these others are doing, which is providing a local boots-on-the ground trusted presence, that’s free to anyone who wants to access us. 

"That is more important than it’s ever been, and I’m grateful for your efforts on the technological side to ensure we’re all the more relevant as we move forward than we have been over the past several decades. So, thank you for your work on that.

“I’m extremely excited about the FCC’s recent announcement on the future of television initiative. I want to underscore just how meaningful this is, to bring this transition from where it is today to the completion….the benefits of NextGen television are only going to be a reality for consumers only if we can get the entire country transitioned.”

On Wednesday evening, the ATSC awarded this year’s Bernard J. Lechner Outstanding Contributor Award to Glenn Reitmeier and the 2023 Mark Richer Industry Leadership Medal to India's Saankhya Labs. The association also recognized Lynn Claudy (NAB), Brian Markwalter (CTA), and Andy Scott (NCTA) for their diligence and tireless efforts on behalf of the association, naming them the “Ironmen of ATSC.”

With worldwide broadcast standards now combining traditional over-the-air terrestrial television with Internet Protocol, the ATSC is working on ensuring ATSC 3.0 and other digital terrestrial television (DTT) standards are part of a global wireless ecosystem that includes cellular standards such as LTE/5G as well as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

The U.S. based standards committee has released a white paper on its campaign to remind decisionmakers of the value, ubiquity and robustness of advanced broadcast standards such as 3.0 and DVB, the dominant broadcast standard in Europe. 

“The paper is a very public statement from the ATSC that basically expresses a strong desire to work closely with other digital terrestrial television standards development organizations in an effort to look at where technology can be converged and work on developing a unified voice on the world stage for broadcasting,” said Madeleine Noland, president of ATSC.

'Codifying a Shift'
Since there has never been a global terrestrial television format, DVB, ATSC and others have, in the past, been looked upon as competitors when promoting adoption worldwide. Such competitiveness is no longer the case, however, when broadcasting has become viewed by some as yesterday's wireless technology in a world now dominated by IP data streamed over cellular networks. But now with IP protocol part of worldwide broadcast standards, a new "data pipe" available via over the air broadcast brings with it a whole new set of opportunities. 

It’s important for broadcasters to continue to remind worldwide standards bodies of the relevancy of broadcasting, which brings the efficiency of the "many to one" broadcast model vs. "one to one" unicast, characteristic of the IP model. This is especially so in an environment where the spectrum currently used by broadcasters is coveted by wireless providers.   

“Broadcasters worldwide are facing challenges with the advent of new media consumption but we're facing new opportunities together with the notion that you can now deliver IP data over your broadcast network,” Noland said. “Broadcasters worldwide can work together to develop some of these opportunities that will benefit everybody. This paper is codifying a shift that's already been taking place between what would appear to have been a very competitive landscape in the past.”

Along with recognizing the value of broadcasters’ traditional ties to their local communities, there are also the technical advantages that broadcasting brings to the table, something that has been proven time and again during weather-related emergencies.   

“Broadcasters share a common infrastructure design, largely anchored by high power, high tower (HPHT) transmission facilities,” the ATSC said in its paper. “This infrastructure is often among the most resilient, designed to withstand natural disasters so that information can be transmitted when it is most needed.”

Ongoing Efforts
The ATSC plans to discuss its proposals with an eye towards the ITU World Radiocommunication Conference 2023 in November. The work towards converging worldwide broadcast standards has been ongoing for more than a decade, according to the ATSC.

“The effort to forge a next-generation broadcast standard that encompasses all the major standards development organizations (SDOs) dates back over 10 years,” starting with the Future of Broadcast Television (FOBTV) Summit in November 2011 in Shanghai, the association said. “The initial goal of FOBTV to foster work on a best-of-the-best next-generation television system has not been realized to date, but since its formation the group has served as a forum for communication and exploration of new technologies and ongoing efforts underway within the various SDOs.”

One of the keys for tying broadcast technology into other wireless formats is through the development of a "broadcast core network"  that is agnostic to the DTT system, a concept ATSC is working on.

The broadcast core network "is being designed for standalone, broadcast-only operation and/or for converged operation with other data delivery networks, e.g., 802.11, 5G, LTE, 3G, SMPTE 2110, CBRS, Satellite (LEO-MEO-GEO), LoRA, IoT, etc.," the ATSC said. 

"BCN will accommodate cases where an uplink is always available, never available, or sometimes available. The goal of the BCN is to enable broadcasters to offer regional data delivery services, such as software updates to game consoles, recall updates to managed automobile fleets, and more. Among these use cases is redundant or enhanced GPS signaling (eGPS)."

This convergence of worldwide broadcast standards with 3GPP (aka “3rd Generation Partnership Project,” an umbrella term for a number of standards organizations which develop protocols for mobile telecommunications) could bring to reality a scenario in which cellular and broadcast protocols could work together in ensuring consumers are always using the most robust and reliable wireless reception available. 

However, broadcasters will have to unite behind a common goal to make DTT an essential part of a global telecommunications ecosystem first, the organization warned. 

“DTT broadcasters are operating in a global ecosystem of data delivery networks,” the ATSC said. “Data session steering, switching, and sharing across heterogeneous networks can improve spectrum usage efficiency by using the most appropriate network(s) for each given data session in a dynamic fashion. Indeed, 3GPP envisions a 5G ecosystem of heterogeneous global data networks. Next-generation DTT systems are the most efficient physical layers for one to-many data delivery in the world—for TV and non-TV uses, and for fixed and mobile uses. 

“This technology edge can be leveraged for convergence with other data delivery networks, e.g., the Internet and LTE/5G, but fragmentation creates a fundamental barrier to including DTT in this heterogeneous ecosystem,” the ATSC continued. “As a means of more than just survival, the more exciting potential for this segment is to integrate the next generation digital transmission technologies into the generalized convergence. Convergence among the major DTT technologies would facilitate convergence with other networks (and may be necessary for long-term success).”

Richard Friedel, chairman of the ATSC, said broadcasters were approached by 3GPP to develop a plan for such a convergence. “This was an initiative on their part,” he said. “So that means they're interested enough that they're going to try to make something happen.”

Friedel added that with concerns over spectrum efficiency and sustainability, the strength of broadcast technology becomes more evident than ever. “The absolute lowest cost of delivery of a bit of information to consumers is through a broadcast methodology,” he said.

Next Gen TV is upon us.

After many years of work in standards development by the Advanced Television Systems Committee on Next Gen TV, aka ATSC 3.0, the final pieces are coming together for consumers and the broadcast industry to enjoy win-win benefits and realize the promise of digital television.

Over-the-air broadcast television and “over-the-top” broadband are converging, and soon both will rely upon the world’s first IP-based delivery system that can blend broadcast and broadband internet content and service options.

The result will be a plethora of use cases that will delight consumers and offer new service offerings and business models for device vendors and content providers.

For this brief blog, let’s gloss over the blizzard of acronyms and technical jargon that explain how all this is being accomplished, and instead articulate the real-world benefits to consumers and industry.

NEW EXPERIENCES, NEW OPPORTUNITIES

Consumers will be dazzled by a new level of sights, sounds and services enabled by the ATSC 3.0 suite of standards. They’ll see more brilliant colors and higher resolution imagery – not just more pixels, but better pixels, indeed smarter pixels. High-definition and 4K ultra-high definition video will be backed by immersive 3D audio that reaches the viewer not only from their horizontal periphery, but also from above and below.

Integrated, customizable content will be made possible as regular audio-visual content sent via broadcast can be spliced with special content, such as audio in a selected language, sent via broadband. Audio personalization will be possible, in which a viewer can choose to enhance dialogue while, for instance, an intergalactic battle rages in the background. Do overly talkative American sports commentators bother you? They can be minimized at the touch of a button.

Screens big, small and mobile will receive robust signals that deliver uninterrupted content whether users are indoors, outdoors, using handheld/mobile devices on foot or moving at high speeds on trains and automobiles.

Broadcasters’ long-standing commitment to public service will be enhanced by improved closed captioning capabilities and by advanced emergency alert options made possible by the Advanced Warning and Response Network.

This enhanced consumer experience, of course, offers content and service providers a brand-new palette with which to develop innovative, flexible service models. Premium offerings that fully exploit ATSC 3.0’s capabilities will find an avid following.

ATSC 3.0 allows broadcasters and content producers to take full advantage of this brand new palette of UHD, high dynamic range, wider color gamut and immersive audio, along with continued delivery of existing libraries of legacy content. And it creates the opportunity for dynamic ad insertion and targeted advertising on an opt-in basis that doesn’t violate viewers’ high expectations for privacy.

In fact, Pearl TV– the business alliance of TV broadcasters exploring consumer acceptance of ATSC 3.0-enabled service offerings – has encouraging findings and is currently testing related, tailored services and audience interactivity.

STANDARDS, TECHNOLOGY AND POLICY ALSO CONVERGE

The typical triumvirate of technological progress – standards, technology and policy – have also converged to enable the win-win of consumer benefits and industry business opportunities in an emerging era for digital TV as we’ve never experienced before.

The full gamut of standards developed under the ATSC 3.0 process are, for the most part, complete and “stable,” i.e., few changes are expected at this point. (See the standards progress on the ATSC infographic, linked here.) These standards were developed over years of work by a diverse array of industry participants from around the world – hence the standards have benefitted from both deep expertise and broad consensus.

(Readers may know that ATSC 3.0 relies on the core capabilities of COFDM (coded orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing), which offers distinct advantages for data transmission that will enable ATSC 3.0-related content and services to flower in the near future.)

I personally had the opportunity and pleasure to work closely on the standards that addressed the “presentation” layer, the part of the standard that comprises the cool stuff consumers will enjoy like HDR for instance, and I can attest to an exhilarating ride and a welcome denouement to the process.

Meanwhile, the industry participants in that standards development process have been busy in their own shops creating the next generation of end-user devices and broadcast equipment – screens, receivers, audio systems, user interfaces, production equipment, transmitters, and more – that provide supporting technology.

Finally, policy makers have endeavored to keep pace in this fast-moving, innovative environment. In the U.S., the Federal Communication Commission has vowed to complete its rulemaking work for voluntary implementation of ATSC 3.0 by year’s end. And, following the TV industry’s voluntary sale of spectrum to cellular carriers via auction, the subsequent relocation of TV broadcasters to new frequency channels – known as “repacking” – is underway. The stars have aligned – with the completion of the repack expected to coincide with the widespread launch of Next Gen TV powered by ATSC 3.0.

In short, all the pieces will soon be in place for a new era in digital TV.

LOOKING AHEAD

It would not surprise me if B&C eventually trades its ampersand for a backslash and adds “internet” to its moniker to reflect a bold new era in which formerly disparate content and delivery systems combine to dazzle consumers and offer them new, useful and delightful services thanks to ATSC 3.0.

A member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society, Madeleine Noland joined LG Electronics in 2013 as a team member in the LG Office of the CTO. In addition to her ATSC role as chair of S34, she is chair of the ATSC Companion Devices and Interactivity S33-3 Group, vice chair of ATSC System Requirements S31 Specialist Group, and vice chair of the ATSC Advanced Emergency Alert Implementation Team.

This story originally appeared in TVT's sister publication B&C. 

For a comprehensive list of TV Technology’s ATSC 3.0 coverage, see our ATSC3 silo.

WASHINGTON—LG Electronics’ Senior Director of Standards and Technology Madeline Noland is the 2016 recipient of the Advanced Television Systems Committee’s Bernard J. Lechner Outstanding Contributor Award. Noland, the first woman to be honored with the award, was presented the award during the 2016 ATSC Broadcast Television Conference at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center.

According to the ATSC, the Lechner Award is given to an individual member whose technical and leadership contributions to the ATSC have been “invaluable and exemplary.” Named after the first recipient of the award, this yearly prize is selected by the ATSC Board of Directors.

“Madeline is a natural leader with remarkable management skills,” said Mark Richer, ATSC president. “She uses these skills to forge agreements on challenging technical issues within the collaborative standards development process. Her outstanding leadership in the development of ATSC 3.0 is a key factor in the rapid advancement of the next-generation broadcast standard.”

Noland serves as the chairman of the Specialists Group on Applications and Presentation for ATSC 3.0 (TG3/S34). She leads the effort to develop key ATSC 3.0 features, including vetting of emerging standards for Electronic Service Guides, Content Advisories, Emergency Alerting, Personalization and Companion Devices. She also serves as vice chair of the S31 Specialists Group, helping to frame system requirements for ATSC 3.0.

Previous winners include the previously mentioned Lechner, Dr. Richard Chernock, Art Allison, S. Merrill Weiss, and most recently in 2015 Luke Fay. Check out the full list of winners here.