VIENNA, Va.—The Media Institute said Richard E. Wiley, a prominent telecom attorney and former Federal Communications Commission chair, will step down as chair of its board of trustees on Jan. 31 after serving in that role for more than 30 years.

Succeeding Wiley as chair is another well-known media attorney, Kathleen Kirby, co-chair of the Telecom, Media and Technology practice at Wiley Rein, the Washington, D.C., law firm that Richard Wiley co-founded.

The Media Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization specializing in communications policy and the First Amendment.

Wiley intends to remain active in Media Institute activities, said the group, which has named him as chairman emeritus effective Feb. 1.

“For over 30 years, it has been my great privilege to chair The Media Institute’s Board,” Wiley said. “During this time, the Institute has always supported sound communications policy and the First Amendment. I now look forward to assisting our outstanding new leadership team of Kathy Kirby and incoming President Mike O’Rielly.”

Wiley is currently chairman emeritus of Wiley Rein, a law firm with one of the nation’s largest communications practices, which he co-founded in 1983. He served as chairman, commissioner and general counsel of the Federal Communications Commission from 1970 to 1977, and became recognized as a leading force in its initial efforts to foster greater competition and less regulation in the media industry, the Institute said.

He received the Media Institute’s inaugural Freedom of Speech Award in 1992 and its Lifetime Acheivement Award in 2024.

Kirby has been a media lawyer for more than 30 years. In addition to serving as partner and TMT co-chair at Wiley Rein, she serves on the firm’s executive and management committees.

She is a past president of the Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) and has been honored with industry leadership awards from the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) and the Broadcasters Foundation of America. She is a member of the National Freedom of Information Hall of Fame.

Kirby is regularly rated by Chambers USA, a legal data and analytics provider, as one of Washington’s “Leading Lawyers” in her field, the Institute said.

“I am honored and humbled to have the support of The Media Institute’s Board of Trustees to serve as the next Chair—the Institute’s mission remains critical at this pivotal time for media and communications,” she said. “Of course, I am especially grateful for the leadership and vision of Dick Wiley, whose lifelong commitment to thoughtful and principled media policy has shaped the Institute and inspired many, including me.” Kirby said.

Kirby is a long-time member of The Media Institute’s First Amendment Advisory Council and serves on the steering committee of its Madison Project.

“I will draw from Dick’s powerful example as I work with our incoming President and CEO, Mike O’Rielly, and our distinguished Trustees to promote understanding of and respect for free speech principles, and to bring together policymakers, regulators, industry leaders, academics, and journalists to address the emerging telecom, media, and technology issues that affect our democracy,” she said.

Said outgoing Media Institute President Richard Kaplar: “Serving with Dick Wiley has been the honor of a lifetime, and I’m extremely grateful for his outstanding leadership, good counsel, and steady support. At the same time I welcome Kathy Kirby, who has a long history with the Institute and shares its values. I’m confident that Kathy and President-elect Mike O’Rielly will lead the Institute to new levels.”

For more on the Media Institute, visit its website.

ARLINGTON, Va—Earlier this month, some two dozen television industry pioneers, technology leaders and friends gathered to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the formation of the Digital HDTV Grand Alliance.

Three decades ago, May 24, 1993 marked a significant milestone in the evolution of television technology, when seven companies—AT&T Corporation, General Instrument Corporation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Philips Consumer Electronics, the David Sarnoff Research Center, Thomson Consumer Electronics, and Zenith Electronics Corp.—agreed to merge their competing digital HDTV broadcasting technologies into a “best of the best” system, blazing the trail for how we experience high-definition television (HDTV) today.

The Grand Alliance consortium enabled the development and standardization of a new generation of television broadcasting and receivers that would deliver breathtaking picture quality and immersive audio, forever transforming the way we engage with visual content. 

Surpassing each of the previous candidate systems tested at the Advanced Television Test Center (ATTC) located at the PBS headquarters in Alexandria, VA, the new, combined system was then codified into an international standard by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC). The Federal Communications Commission adopted the ATSC Digital Television Standard (A/53) based on the Grand Alliance system on Christmas Eve 1996.

Key consortium figures toasting the milestone—and celebrating the impact of their breakthrough innovations on a generation of viewers, manufacturers and broadcasters—were Robert Graves (AT&T), Robert Rast (GI), Prof. Jae Lim (MIT), Aldo Cugnini (Philips), Glenn Reitmeier and Terrence Smith (Sarnoff), David Arland (Thomson), and John Taylor (Zenith). 

Also present from that era were former FCC Chairman and Advisory Committee Chairman Richard Wiley (considered the "Father of HDTV"), Mark Richer (then at PBS, now President-emeritus of ATSC), Peter Fannon (ATTC), and Craig Todd (Dolby). Technologists Jeff Krauss, Chong Lee, Eric Petajan, Takashi Sato, Paul Shen, and William Zou were also in attendance, along with publicist Pam Golden, and spouses.

In addition to the celebration dinner organized by Lim and emceed by Rast, Grand Alliance representatives participated in an afternoon NextGen TV briefing led by Reitmeier, supported by Cugnini and Taylor, and featuring special guest speaker ATSC President Madeleine Noland.

The ATSC 1.0 standard has been incorporated as an ITU-R Recommendation, and has been adopted for digital broadcasting in the United States, South Korea, Canada, and Mexico. Building on the pioneering efforts of the Digital HDTV Grand Alliance, the newest, next-generation digital broadcasting standard called ATSC 3.0 has also been incorporated as an ITU-R Recommendation, and is now being deployed in the United States, South Korea, Jamaica and the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago. 

NEW YORK—The Broadcasters Foundation of America has announced the renaming of its annual Lifetime Achievement Award to the Edward F. McLaughlin Lifetime Achievement Award, in honor of the iconic broadcaster, who passed away in 2018. 

The Edward F. McLaughlin Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes an individual who has made invaluable contributions to the television and radio industries. As previously announced, this year’s award will be presented to Richard Wiley during the Golden Mike Award gala on Monday, March 6, at the Plaza Hotel in New York City.

McLaughlin is widely recognized for discovering Rush Limbaugh, which led to the creation of the News/Talk format and the revitalization of AM Radio. He was a longtime supporter of the Broadcasters Foundation and its mission to provide aid to people in radio and television who are in acute need. He served as the Foundation’s Chairman for many years and held the title of Chairman Emeritus when he passed away in 2018.

“Ed was known as a leader and innovator,” noted Scott Herman, chairman of the Broadcasters Foundation. “He recognized talent and daringly pushed forth new ideas that propelled network and AM radio forward. It’s fitting that the Lifetime Award be named in his honor.”

As president of the ABC Radio Networks, McLaughlin implemented the multi-network concept, obtained the first exclusive live network radio rights to the Olympic Games, and acquired programs such as American Top 40 with Casey Kasem and American Country Countdown with Bob Kingsley. He founded EFM Media Management in 1987 to syndicate The Dr. Dean Edell Show and shortly thereafter launched the national syndication of local Sacramento radio host Rush Limbaugh.

“Ed was a champion for the broadcast industry and the mission of the Broadcasters Foundation,” stated Tim McCarthy, president of the Broadcasters Foundation. “He was admired for his entrepreneurship and respected for his forward-looking vision. This is one way we honor his memory.”

Among his many accolades, McLaughlin received the Broadcasters Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, posthumously in 2018. He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1995 and received the National Association of Broadcasters’ National Radio Award in 1996. He was the first chairman of the Radio Network Association and a long-standing board member of the International Radio & Television Foundation. McLaughlin was also a trustee of The Paley Center for Media.

For more information or to reserve a seat or table at the Golden Mike Award gala and fundraiser, please contact the Broadcasters Foundation at 212-373-8250 or info@thebfoa.org.

NEW YORK—The Broadcasters Foundation of America has announced that Richard E. Wiley, will be receiving the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award. 

Wiley is a former chairman, commissioner, and general counsel of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and one of the most prominent media and telecommunications lawyers. 

The Lifetime Achievement Award honors an individual who has made invaluable contributions to the television and radio industries and will be presented to Wiley during the Golden Mike Award gala on Monday, March 6, at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. The annual event is a major fundraiser for the Broadcasters Foundation, the only charity devoted exclusively to helping broadcasters in acute need.

“Dick’s commitment to fight for our industry in Washington has given broadcasters the opportunity to grow their business,” stated Scott Herman, chairman of the Broadcasters Foundation of America. “His strong belief in our industry has extended to his support of the mission of the Broadcasters Foundation to help those in our business who need it most. We are honored to present him with the Lifetime Achievement Award.”  

“I am honored to receive this Lifetime Achievement Award from the Broadcasters Foundation,” Wiley said. “Since arriving at the FCC more than 50 years ago, and co-founding our DC law firm almost 40 years ago, it’s been a privilege to work with broadcasters on landmark innovations including the development of high-definition TV. I’m proud to be a part of this great industry’s evolution, and to support the Foundation’s mission of providing a critical safety net for members of the broadcast profession.”

During his tenure at the FCC from 1970 to 1977, Wiley fostered increased competition and lessened regulation in the communications field. As chair of the FCC's Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service, from 1987 to 1995, he played a pivotal role in the development of HDTV, for which he won an Emmy.

“Dick has been a driving force in the advancement of the broadcast industry for both radio and television,” stated Tim McCarthy, president of the Broadcasters Foundation of America. “His achievements have allowed our industry to remain competitive in the ever-evolving media landscape, and we are delighted to recognize him for his many accomplishments.”

Wiley is currently chairman emeritus of the law firm he co-founded, Wiley Rein, LLP, which includes a premiere Telecom, Media & Technology practice and is celebrating its 40th year.  

He is credited with nurturing generations of legal talent and has received numerous accolades throughout his storied career, including being named a Washington “Visionary” by The National Law Journal, the “most influential media and telecommunications lawyer in the United States” by the International Herald Tribune, one of the top “100 Men of the Century” by Broadcasting & Cable, and the “Father of High-Definition” television by The Globe and Mail. He was honored by the Broadcasters Foundation in 2014 with the Lowry Mays Excellence in Broadcasting Award.

Wiley joins broadcast luminaries Lesley Visser, Charles Osgood, George Beasley, Ed McLaughlin, and Dick Clark, as a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award. As previously announced, Jack Abernethy, Chief Executive Officer of FOX Television Stations, will be the 2023 honoree of the Broadcasters Foundation of America Golden Mike Award.

For information, or to reserve a seat or table at the Golden Mike Award gala and fundraiser, please contact the Broadcasters Foundation at 212-373-8250 or info@thebfoa.org.

WASHINGTON—Mark your calendars for Monday, Nov. 30, for a virtual celebration of the 25th anniversary of the FCC Advisory Committee vote that ushered in the HDTV era.

The Zoom celebration, scheduled for 3-3:30 p.m. ET, will include an appearance by former FCC Chairman Richard Wiley, regarded as the father of HDTV.

The Grand Alliance responsible for developing the world’s first digital high definition television system demonstrated its work to the public for the first time April 10 during a press conference on the eve of the 1995 NAB Show.

Members of the Grand Alliance included AT&T, General Instrument, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Philips Consumer Electronics, David Sarnoff Research Center, Thomson Consumer Electronics and Zenith Electronics.

Wiley, a partner at Washington, D.C., law firm Wiley Rein, was recruited by then-FCC Chairman Dennis Patrick to chair the advisory committee. (TVTechnology conducted an interview with Wiley in May 2018 on the 25the anniversary of the founding of the Grand Alliance.)

In 1992, when it appeared the companies—each offering its own competing HDTV system proposal—could not agree on a solution incorporating the best elements of each, Wiley nudged and cajoled them during a make-it-or-break-it meeting at the Grand Hotel in Washington, D.C., till they agreed on a system. 

The celebration is open to the public. Registration for the Zoom event is available online.  

WASHINGTON — John Hane, president of Spectrum Co., isn’t quite sure whether it’s a bad dream or he’s a bit paranoid, but he’s seen this all before. Hane senses TV spectrum is at risk from another round of givebacks, and that ultimately there will be nothing left but VHF.

“Does it seem to anyone else that every 10 years or so we lose a really big chunk of spectrum?” he asked May 24 at the Advanced Television Systems Committee annual meeting at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington.

“PROGRESSIVE RECLAMATION”

During his 20-minute talk, Hane recalled the “progressive reclamation” of TV spectrum broadcasters have suffered at the hands of lawmakers and regulators. “In 1983, the FCC reallocated channels 70 to 83, the 800 MHz band, for land mobile. That spectrum was given away to large companies. Given away,” he emphasized.

In the late 1990s, the agency developed a plan to reallocate channels 52 through 69 — the 700MHz band — for cellular service, and once the analog-to-DTV conversion was complete, broadcasters lost those channels.

“And just now, we are in the process of clearing out another 84MHz, but we’ve really lost more than that because the repacking algorithm — TV Study — really bunched us closer together so we have less breathing room,” said Hane.

While no auctions are planned at the moment, Hane reminded his audience that few saw the incentive auctions coming. Further, even without a new giveback, deep-pocketed, politically connected companies like Microsoft are trying to nail down broadcasters to their UHF assignments to make way for unlicensed white space devices.

“We need to put an end to the cycle of losing spectrum,” he said, as the crowd broke into applause. “Because ultimately without spectrum we don’t really have much of a business.”

ATTRACT NEW STAKEHOLDERS

The ATSC 3.0 standard is how broadcasters break the cycle of spectrum surrenders because it enables TV broadcasters to use their spectrum more intensely, he said. However, it’s a mistake to think of intense TV spectrum usage simply as a matter of attracting more over-the-air viewers, which Hane is convinced will happen due to Next-Gen TV’s reliable OTA reception, 4K UHD images and immersive sound.

“With 3.0, we increase the stakeholders in OTA broadcasting by reaching more people directly and by building new businesses,” said Hane. “We have to provide a range of services to a range of different stakeholders, and bring more stakeholders into the ecosystem to protect it.”

Some of those new services include data delivery to help power the Internet of Things and new automotive applications. Broadcasters will be deploying 3.0 to a market that is growing from a few hundred million handheld devices to a few hundred billion IoT and automotive devices, he said.

[Read: DISH Teams Up With Spectrum Co. on Next Gen TV Trial in Dallas]

“We are just at the beginning of the wireless revolution … It is a big market,” he said. However, that’s not to say that broadcasters will become “full-up competitors” with AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile. “Our platform will be unique in its capabilities as how it is brought to the market,” he said.

The signal strength single-frequency networks can deliver throughout a market is a key part of reliable data delivery to support these new applications. Hane did not call for an immediate nationwide deployment, but said that SFNs have “to be on our planning horizon for our data customers, for our core service, for a market mobility” and to demonstrate broadcasters’ desire to use their spectrum “in an intense way and make money on it and bring other stakeholders in …”

Indeed, one of Spectrum Co.’s core missions is aggregating a critical mass of ATSC 3.0 bit capacity to support these types of new services, he said. “Because the market for communications services is national, we have to work together to compete in non-broadcast services.”

To the extent this business case develops, broadcasters will want to deploy SFNs, up their signal levels and push out their coverage areas, he said. “We have to work together because no broadcaster’s business is big enough to do that by itself.”

If successful in creating new services, including mobile, the revenues generated “can easily justify the cost of supplementing” big stick OTA delivery with SFNs over time — “not first out of the box,” he said.

But don’t wait too long, he cautioned, because wireless competitors covetous of broadcast spectrum and companies like Microsoft that wish to deploy services in white spaces are not going to wait for broadcasters. “They are going to try to take it away and pin us in while we are not doing it [deploying ATSC 3.0], and that is one of the main reasons why we need to move quickly,” said Hane.

“By upgrading our technology, working together to build new businesses [and] bringing in new stakeholders, we stay relevant and make more money,” he said.

O’RIELLY: “TIME IS NOT A LUXURY”

Hane was not the only speaker at the annual ATSC meeting to urge broadcasters to hasten their Next Gen TV deployment. FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly, a surprise speaker at the event, also encouraged broadcasters to move forward in an expeditious manner with their 3.0 rollouts.

O’Rielly, who visited Phoenix to see the “consumer-centric” 3.0 model market project being led by Pearl the week before the ATSC meeting, said time is not a luxury for broadcasters when it comes to Next Gen TV deployment.

“Television broadcasters are under enormous pressure right now, right here,” said O’Rielly. “The high-tech companies who broadcasters compete with daily for advertising and consumer attention are not going to stop and wait for ATSC 3.0 to be fully deployed.”

To make his point, O’Rielly recalled the story of a local car dealer who today on average gets 84 solicitations to advertise per month — the majority of which are from new digital outlets — where a few years ago he received only a handful from local stations. “If you are a broadcaster sitting on a fence [about] whether or not to deploy ATSC 3.0, you should be worried that the fence no longer exists if you take too long to decide.”

O’Rielly was introduced by former FCC Chairman Richard Wiley. Wiley was on hand to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the formation of the Grand Alliance, which included AT&T, General Instruments, MIT, Philips, Thomson, Zenith and the David Sarnoff Research Center and was responsible for development of the world’s first digital HDTV broadcast system.

“It was an intrepid assemblage of video pioneers who brought to the nation the wonders of widescreen, high definition television that’s been enjoyed by millions and millions of our fellow citizens over the past 25 years — at least,” said Wiley, who served as chairman of the advisory committee tasked by the FCC at the time with finding a path to advanced television.

“As revolutionary as the Grand Alliance and ATSC 1.0 was and still is, we stand today on a threshold of an even greater digital era.” Wiley said. “Of course, that is Next Gen digital television. So, today, we can celebrate and honor the past and present and look forward with great anticipation to what lies ahead.”

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

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WASHINGTON—This month marks the 25th anniversary of the formation of the Grand Alliance—a milestone in the history of television.

The alliance came about when a number of enterprises involved in developing an HDTV standard for the U.S. set aside their individual interests and agreed to work cooperatively to develop the world’s first digital high definition television system. Members included AT&T, David Sarnoff Research Center, General Instrument, MIT, Philips Electronics North America, Thomson Consumer Electronics and Zenith Electronics.

Encouraging them to find common ground and move forward together was Richard Wiley, former FCC Chairman (1974-1977) and partner at Washington, D.C., law firm Wiley Rein. Recruited by then FCC Chairman Dennis Patrick to serve as chairman of the FCC Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service, Wiley pressed, prodded and cajoled these high-tech interests to form the Grand Alliance and in so doing put the nation on the path to digital HDTV. In this interview, Wiley recalls that effort.

(An edited transcript.)

TVTechnology: When I think back to the period just before the Grand Alliance, I remember that Japanese broadcasters were rolling out a direct broadcast satellite system to deliver analog HDTV to viewers in that nation. Did that light a fire here in the United States to get serious about HDTV here?

Richard Wiley: I think Congress and the FCC had noticed that there was research and development going on not only in Japan but also to some extent in Western Europe about the possibility of advanced television.

So, I got a call one day from the chairman of the FCC, Dennis Patrick, who asked if I would head up a federal advisory committee [Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service] that would get the United States into this whole effort. They were concerned about being left behind.

You’re quite right. The Japanese had the MUSE analog system, which was pretty advanced. We saw pictures of it in operation at various conventions like the National Association of Broadcasters. So, they were moving.

TVT: What was your strategy as the chairman of the advisory committee?

RW: Basically, what I decided to do was try to have an international competition, inviting people to put forth by June 1, 1990, their individual entries. And they had to be entries that could be subject to testing under objective standards, including the MUSE system.

So, overall there were 23 entries –all of them analog. Many of them were not subject to testing; they were just kind of concepts.

We got it down to about seven systems that could be tested and put through a testing laboratory headed by Peter Fannon in Alexandria, Va. Over a long period of time, we tested each one of them.

TVT:They were all analog, but we ended up with digital television. Tell me about how that happened.

RW: Believe me, when we started out, nobody had digital in mind. It was all going to be advanced analog. That’s why we called it Advanced Television.

I had heard rumors and rumblings that there could be digital systems out there. I went up to New York one time to make a speech at a conference –not at all on high definition—and [former CBS SVP for Technology] Joe Flaherty came over to me. “We just saw a presentation on a digital system,” he said.

I said, “For goodness sakes Joe, tell them to get in here if there is such a system,” because June 1, 1990, we had to cut off the competition. The rules of the competition were you had to have a system to be judged in by that date.

So just before Memorial Day in 1990, the guys from General Instrument came east, and I went over to see their system a couple of blocks away from my office here on K Street.

They had developed a digital system. I said, “Well, give me a check for $175,000, which was the entry fee to do the testing and all the rest of it, like everyone else has done, and we will get you certified, and you will get in the competition.”

That was a big moment, I think.

TVT: There were A/D and D/A converters going back to the first digital time base correctors and frame synchronizers. But an entirely digital video systems was uncharted territory, it seems to me. What do you remember about that period when there was the decision to go digital?

RW: We tested seven systems, and they were all sort of developed on the fly. They were making improvements, so I wrote them a letter and gave them two options.

Testing cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and took well over a year. I knew they were going to be reluctant to go through it again.

But I also knew they were learning from each other and becoming closer, so my second alternative was why don’t you all get together and form –what my term was—a Grand Alliance.

Let’s put them all together and get a “best elements” system that would combine all of your entries.

TVT:How did they respond?

RW: They started thinking about the idea, and meeting on it. They had various meetings in different cities. One of them was in Chicago.

They decided to have a final meeting in 1992 at the Grand Hotel, of all things, here in Washington, D.C., to see whether they could do it.

I got a call from Robert Graves of AT&T, which was one of the companies with an entry, saying they had failed, and it wasn’t going to work. I said, “Stay there. I’m coming over.”

I went over and said I know what you disagree on –some wanted interlaced scanning, some wanted progressive scanning, but I said, “Can’t we all agree that we want over 1,000 lines of resolution?” They said yes.

“And we want widescreen.” They wanted that –16:9.

I said, “Guys, we can make this happen.”

Finally, I got them all to reconsider. The last one was MIT. Jae Lim was uncertain. I said, “Jae, call your people up in Boston. We’ve got to do this. This is our opportunity; the one thing that’s got to happen.”

He finally went along with it, but he wanted to have progressive scanning. And we dropped a footnote saying that would be something we would look at in the future.

Obviously, later Intel came along with a chip that obviated the difference between the two for the purpose of the set.

So, the Grand Alliance was formed. Obviously, it had to be built, and it had to be tested again –not only in the laboratory, but also in the field. That took another year to year and a half.

[Read: Grand Compromise Could Resolve DTV Transition]

Finally, after eight and half years we were able to come up with the final standard recommendation, went to the FCC in late 1995 and it was adopted by the commission in the fall of 1996.

The Grand Alliance was really what made this thing happen.

TVT:We’ve just gone through the ATSC 3.0 standardization process, and I am always fascinated by how these tech companies with competing interests can come to an agreement, especially when there are big bucks on the line. Can you tell me a little bit about the horse trading and how you got the individual companies in the Grand Alliance to come together and agree on the underlying technology of what we now call ATSC 1.0?

RW: I think peer review was the great thing we initiated there. We had all of these experts, and they had to get up in an open meeting, because the advisory committee had to operate under federal advisory committee standards and meetings had to be public and all open.

I think the fact that one company’s expert would get up in front of the whole group, drove people to a common result.

And, of course, I was in the background pushing everyone towards a single solution because otherwise we could have had a lot of litigation. I certainly wasn’t an engineer, so I certainly didn’t design the system, but the one thing I had my eye on was we all wanted high definition television.

That to me was the Holy Grail I was going to push for –digital high definition television.

TVT: How did you all get on the same page with MPEG-2?

RW: Well, I sent them that letter, and I started talking to them and urging them.

Along the way, a lot of people had different ideas. They wanted to have line doubling, and some people just wanted to have advanced television. They didn’t want high definition. They just wanted better television.

But Al Sikes, who was chairman of the FCC, and I agreed we should try to go for the gold and get the best standard we could possibly have, and that was digital high definition television.

So many of these systems were excellent, but when they got together and worked together, they made it even better.

TVT:What about 8VSB? How did that happen?

RW: We had committees and bake offs, that’s what they called it. They were done by the experts, and they came up with VSB as against the QAM cable system. And VSB got it.

At the very end of the game, some people suggested COFDM. So, I set up another special technical advisory committee. They tested it again. I think COFDM had great potential, but it was not quite as developed. So, the engineers I talked to all suggested staying with VSB.

TVT: Tell me a little more about the Advanced Television Testing Center and Peter Fannon having to test and evaluate the performance of all these new TV systems.

RW: It was a tremendous effort by Peter and his gang down there over the years. And they had to develop a whole testing mechanism, and then we had to redo it because digital came.

We had spent years developing the analog testing regime, and when we switched to digital, they had to come up with a new system. And the first entity that went in there was tested improperly –not by the laboratory, but by the engineers who brought it in.

The other people wanted to throw them out, but I didn’t want to disqualify anybody. I wanted to have them all to have the best brains possible.

So, we gave them a redo, and when I ordered the redo, I had a bunch of people come in here and argue with me about it and giving me all sorts of heat.

But I didn’t have any dog in the hunt. That was the good thing about it. There wasn’t anybody that I was cheering for. I just wanted to get the best system possible because otherwise we would really goof up our television system in this country, which everyone had enjoyed since the ‘50s when it first came out.

TVT: As you look back at the Grand Alliance and what was accomplished, are there any other thoughts you’d like to share on its 25 Anniversary?

RW: You know, the advisory committee was only 25 people. It was the Rupert Murdochs of the world. The head of CBS at the time, Larry Tisch.

But the heart of it really was the cream of our nation’s video engineering technology talent. Those are the guys who developed this in a peer-reviewed process. Those are the heroes in my opinion that made it happen.

[Read: ATTC Closing Marks End Of An Era]

I take a lot of pride when I see what a milestone it was in their lives. It was for me as well. It was a great development.

Editor’s note: Readers interested in learning more about how digital HDTV came to be in the United States may wish to read “Defining Vision” by Joel Brinkley.