NEW YORK—NextGen TV broadcasts were launched in New York City on October 16, making ATSC 3.0 signals available in the nation’s largest TV market for the first time. 

As part of the launch, public television’s WLIW21 of The WNET Group converted to the ATSC 3.0 standard and is hosting NextGen TV broadcasts for six local channels.

The launch means that viewers in the #1 television market in the country will be able to receive NextGen TV, aka ATSC 3.0, broadcasts from WCBS (2), WLIW (21), WMBQ-CD (46), WNBC (NBC 4), WNET (13), and WNJU (Telemundo 47) 

WLIW21 is simulcasting the signals but they will appear on their originally assigned local station lineups on all NEXTGEN TV receivers.

“WLIW21 is the first full power station to convert to NEXTGEN TV in the largest television market in the US — this is broadcast television history in the making,” said Neal Shapiro, president and CEO of The WNET Group. “We welcome the opportunity to collaborate with WNBC, WNJU and WCBS on ATSC 3 as we navigate the challenges and opportunities of this digital evolution. I’m confident this partnership will ensure the best possible outcome for our New York area viewers.”     

The WNET Group was uniquely positioned to become the host or “lighthouse” in this commercial/non-commercial station partnership as the local operator of two full-power signals because it had moved WLIW21 to One World Trade Center in 2019 in anticipation of the upcoming ATSC 3.0 technology.

As part of the launch The WNET Group said that datacasting and location services are being explored to support mission-driven public television programming for educational and underserved audiences.

Heartland Video Systems has been the project consultant and integrator for The WNET Group.

As ATSC 3.0 continues to roll out across the country broadcasting in more than 70 cities, NextGen TV is expected to reach 70% of US television households in 2023.

TV Tech has been tracking all the launches of NextGen TV broadcasts around the country. Our complete coverage of the issue is available here and our complete list of markets that have launched 3.0 signals can be accessed here. 

NEW YORK—With the channel repack entering its final year, Durst Broadcasting—which manages the broadcast antenna facility atop One World Trade Center—announced this week that it had successfully completed phase four of the repack. The organization urged New York City residents to rescan their TV sets in order to receive the channels in their new spots on the spectrum band.

The channel repack is a result of the 2017 FCC spectrum auctions, which requires nearly 1,000 U.S. television broadcasters to move to new channels to make way for new wireless companies to occupy former broadcast spectrum. For New York, where most of the TV stations host their antennas on top of One World Trade Center, Durst has been planning and coordinating the transfer for years, according to John Lyons, assistant vice president and director of broadcast communications for The Durst Organization.

“We have been working with the broadcasters and equipment suppliers for well over a year to make this transition a smooth one,” Lyons said. “Thanks to the efforts of the New York City broadcast community, equipment supplier RFS Myat and systems integrator DSI RF Systems Inc., we were ready for this operation on Aug. 1 as scheduled. Within a few minutes, the stations were on their new channels.”

The stations involved include:

WCBS

WLIW

WNBC

WNJU

WNYW

WWOR

WRNN

WPXN

Planning for the repack began before the World Trade Center Broadcast site became operational in mid-2017 and involved the installation of a redundant combiner and antenna systems that allowed all the stations to continue operations while Durst updated existing hardware.

Consumers who watch television over the air will need to rescan their TV sets in order to receive the new channels. Subscribers to satellite or cable TV do not need to rescan. Viewers should also rotate their antennas toward One World Trade Center for the best reception.

For more news and insight on the repack, visit TV Technology'srepack silo.