PHOENIX — Five broadcast technology vendors, including Dielectric, Enensys, GatesAir, Harmonic and Triveni Digital, will help television broadcasters in Phoenix make the Pearl TV-led ATSC 3.0 Model Market Initiative a reality.

Stations owned by E.W. Scripps Co., Fox Television Stations, Meredith Local Media Group, Nexstar Media Group, Tegna, Telemundo Station Group and Univision are taking part in the initiative, which will test advanced business models made possible by Next Gen TV.

The initiative also will demonstrate that it is possible to transition to Next-Gen TV while maintaining legacy ATSC 1.0 DTV service.

“We are delighted to announce the first group of technology suppliers who will help make the Phoenix model market a reality,” said Pearl TV Managing Director Anne Schelle in a press release announcing the participation of the companies. “This is just [the] first round of key broadcast equipment vendors who are now at work to create an over-the-air ATSC 3.0 deployment.”

[Read: 2018 NAB Show Marks Next Gen TV’s Arrival]

The Phoenix model market will provide an open test bed for all of the stakeholders in the TV ecosystem, according to a press announcement. Several objectives are planned for the initiative, including: confirmation of basic TV service parameters and performance; determining the appeal of HDR and immersive audio to consumers; assessing TV application features and implementation requirements; testing interactive and addressable ad functionality; and determining consumer device and service appeal, the announcement said.

The initial technology deployment supporting the initiative includes:

• Dielectric UT8D7F-3K filter, a 3 kW low-loss, high-efficiency, eight-pole, UHF bandpass filter;
• Enensys ATSCheduler, an ATSC 3.0 broadcast gateway that encapsulated MMT and ROUTE IP streams into an ATSC 3.0 multiplex, allocating data to different sub-frame and physical layer pipes and managing SFN synchronization;
• GatesAir Maxiva AXTE-3 UHF air-cooled TV transmitter for ATSC 3.0 transmission in Phoenix;
• Harmonic Electra X ATSC 3.0 encoding and statistical multiplexer media processor to deliver multiple HEVC programs over DASH;
• Triveni Digital GuideBuilder XM signaling, announcement and transport generator and StreamScope XM advanced monitor and analysis system, both part of the company’s Broadcast Services Management Platform.

All participating vendors will be exhibiting at the 2018 NAB Show, April 7–12, in Las Vegas. Dielectric will be in booth C2613; Enensys will be in booth SU6521; GatesAir will be in booth N3703; Harmonic will be in booth SU610; and Triveni Digital will be in booth N1427.

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

IRVING, TEXAS & BALTIMORE—Nextstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group are welcoming the newest member to their consortium that seeks to promote broadcast spectrum aggregation, innovation and monetization, Univision Local Media.

The consortium was initially launched in March. It works on innovation, develops and explores products and services associated with ATSC 3.0 and monetization opportunities such as spectrum utilization, virtual MVPD platforms, multicast channels, automotive applications, single frequency networks and wireless data applications.

Both Nextstar and Sinclair praised Univision’s reach to the Spanish-American community for their goal of sharing ATSC 3.0 information with the public.

“We are encouraged by the leadership that Nextstar and Sinclair have shown in advancing the new ATSC 3.0 standard for our industry,” said John Eck, EVP and chief local media officer for Univision. “We look forward to partnering with them to identify new content and distribution opportunities that maximize the value of our broadcast spectrum and provide meaningful benefit to consumers and advertisers.”

The consortium has agreed to collaborate on a non-exclusive basis and will continue to look for other broadcasters to join, per the official press release.