SAN DIEGO—Verance, a global watermarking company that powers AI provenance and broadband features for broadcast television, is launching a new solution based on open watermarking standards that will help companies combat misinformation and and AI-generated disinformation.

The solution enables social media platforms to authenticate broadcast content in user uploads, enhancing public trust in media and reducing the societal risks of disinformation. It uses Verance Aspect to enable broadcast content to be reliably authenticated by social media platforms, devices and disinformation analysts.

"These tools we are providing to enable reliable authentication of broadcast news content through open standards like ATSC watermarking and C2PA provenance are essential,” explained Nil Shah, CEO of Verance. “They represent a significant step toward maintaining public trust and ensuring the integrity of the information that shapes our world in this contentious election year and beyond."

The technology stems from fully open watermarking standards developed and published by the U.S.‑based broadcast standards organization ATSC and the provenance authentication technology standards consortium C2PA. Each standards organization has broad participation across the global media, technology and consumer electronics sectors.

Using these industry standards, broadcast adopters of Verance Aspect can enable recipients of their content to determine whether it has been modified, as well as to locate an authentic version of the published asset. This validation step, which can be fully automated, allows the recipient to determine whether the media seen misrepresents what was originally broadcast, Verance reported.

Major broadcasters across the U.S., including Graham Media Group, Gray Television, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Capitol Broadcasting Company have already deployed ATSC watermarking using Verance Aspect. ATSC watermarking has also been incorporated into the DVB and HbbTV interactive television specifications, which are used in dozens of countries across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands.

Additionally, C2PA is beginning to be adopted as a means of authenticating content on social media platforms, with LinkedIn and TikTok having recently announced plans to use it to authenticate media uploaded by users.

Verance Aspect employs ATSC watermarking to access C2PA manifest services for broadcast content. C2PA authentication requires signed metadata that cannot be transmitted through existing content distribution paths. ATSC watermarking enables recipients of broadcast content to locate the absent C2PA metadata by embedding imperceptible URLs throughout the broadcast audio and video that survives any distribution path.

The ATSC watermark standards have supported metadata-driven solutions like C2PA since their inception in 2017. The recent release of C2PA specifications (v2.1) introduces support for watermark-based recovery of C2PA metadata and identifies ATSC watermarking as a compatible technology.

This standards-based approach enables broadcasters and platforms to create interoperable implementations of the underlying technologies, encouraging global cooperation on addressing disinformation challenges accelerated by rapid deployment of powerful generative AI systems.

A number of broadcasters applauded the initiative. "Concern about deep fakes in the media is a growing concern for the public and political leaders,” said Anne Schelle, managing director of Pearl TV. “Good news: the broadcast industry proactively addressed this issue years ago and it’s being implemented now. The NextGen TV ecosystem provides consumers with security assurance for over-the-air television broadcasts. Extending that assurance to social media and web browsing using ATSC watermarking and C2PA provenance is an essential next step to maintain consumer trust in broadcast news."

"At Gray, we believe in the power of trustworthy journalism,” David Burke, senior vice president and CTO of Gray Television, added. “By integrating Verance Aspect watermarking with C2PA standards, we're not just protecting our content; we're reinforcing the credibility of broadcast news in an age where AI-driven misinformation is a significant threat. This technology is an important part of ensuring the public receives verified, unaltered information."

"As AI continues to evolve, so too must our strategies for safeguarding the truth. This collaboration is significant as the industry battles against disinformation," said Christina Hartman, vice president and head of Scripps News for the E.W. Scripps Company. Scripps works with Verance through its relationship with Pearl.

Mike Kralec, senior vice president and CTO for Sinclair, said, "Ensuring our viewers have the highest confidence in our programming is critical to our business. We believe C2PA, through its ability to authenticate the name of content creators or distribution services, can play a central role in future end-to-end technical architectures and workflows. We applaud C2PA and Verance for recognizing that authentication of creators and distributors is absolutely essential to the advanced workflows our industry will rely on in the future."

"We are pleased to have the opportunity to cooperate with C2PA and our membership on extending the use of ATSC standards to ensure that broadcast content can be presented to viewers with an assurance of authenticity," added ATSC president Madeleine Noland.

PARIS—Ateme and Verance have integrated Verance's Aspect Watermarking within the audio chain of Ateme's TITAN transcoders, the companies said.

The move makes possible widely distributed NextGen TV interactive experiences and gives North American broadcasters the chance to drive new business models, create personalized offerings and investigate new ways to monetize the standard, they said.

Verance Aspect is the company’s implementation of ATSC open watermarking standards. It launches broadcast applications by carrying metadata and triggers associated with NextGen TV interactive broadcast experiences across all distribution paths, including ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 over-the-air, cable/satellite and over-the-top services, to reach all connected televisions, the companies said.

Sans the watermark, 80% of U.S. households would be unable to take advantage of these capabilities, they said.

Integrating the watermark in the transcoder’s audio chain enhances interactivity, taking advantage of many NextGen TV use cases, including start-over functionality, sports betting, fantasy sports, personalized news and weather, targeted advertising and advanced emergency alerting, they said.

“With more and more broadcasters deploying NextGen Broadcast, they want to see a return on their investment," said Julien Mandel, Ateme solution marketing senior director, Contribution & Distribution Segment.

Calling the integration “a significant milestone in delivering personalized and engaging content experiences,” Verance CEO Nil Shah said it will “empower broadcasters with unparalleled opportunities to deliver personalized content, explore new revenue opportunities and embrace the transformative capabilities of NextGen TV.”

More information is available on the Verance and Ateme websites. 

With the beginning of the 2024 campaign season and elections just around the corner, video watermarking expert Verance announced in November a collaborative watermarking initiative it’s spearheading along with the help of TV and digital news organizations as well as CE manufacturers to combat deepfakes.

The idea is to give viewers a way to tell if the media they are consuming has been tampered with or modified during distribution. 

While on-target—a recent poll showed more than half of Americans are concerned about the impact of deepfakes on the election—the effort raises a troubling question. Does the public even have enough confidence in the media to believe what it reports in the first place, regardless of whether the video is legit or a deepfake?

Consider the findings of a September 2022 Gallup poll. Thirty-eight percent of respondents had no trust in the media. Only 14% of Republicans said they trusted the media, while 27% of independents said they did. Driving the average of all respondents who trust the media to 34% were Democrats, seven out of 10 of whom said they trusted the media. Overall, only 7% of respondents said they had a “great deal” of trust and confidence in the media.

Perhaps Pew Research uncovered the reason why. Polls conducted in February and March 2022 found that 76% of the public said journalists should work to give every side of an issue “equal coverage.” Journalists on the other hand didn’t show a similar level of commitment to “bothsidesism,” as Pew dubbed it. Only 55% of journalists told Pew all sides of an issue should receive equal coverage.

Or maybe it can be chalked up to the public’s general inability to distinguish between fact and opinion. A February-March 2018 Pew Research poll gave respondents five fact-based and five opinion-based statements and asked them to identify what type of statement each was. Only 26% could correctly classify all five statements. Twenty-four percent got four right. The results for correctly categorizing opinion statements were somewhat better, but still poor. Thirty-five percent identified all five opinion statements correctly, and 24% got four correct.

While Verance’s effort to protect the public from deepfakes is commendable, it seems a bit like putting the cart before the horse. It proposes to use technology to solve a problem that is much more deeply rooted.

Before the public can ever trust a watermark the media provides for its content to head off deepfakes, they first must begin trusting the media in greater numbers. Maybe good places to start are more balanced coverage, a hard separation of fact and opinion and clearly identifying each.

SAN DIEGO—With concerns running high about deepfakes misleading voters during the upcoming election season, Verance has unveiled a watermarking system for digital authentication and tracking of trusted news sources of video.

The company’s watermarking system comes as concern grows among the public about the impact of deepfakes on the election. An Axios-Morning Consult poll conducted in August found more than half of Americans expect misinformation spread by AI to impact who wins.

Major news organizations are taking steps to bolster their vigilance against deepfakes. For instance, CBS News has recently launched a new fact-checking unit for AI to combat misinformation from deepfakes.

Verance currently is conducting advanced talks with TV and digital news operations and consumer electronics giants about creating partnerships for the trusted news source watermarking system. The watermarks embedded in video content would be detected by receivers in the home, enabling viewers to decide about the authenticity and accuracy of information, the company said.

The system will give viewers the ability to determine if the media they are watching has been tampered with or modified during distribution. It also equips them with access to fact-checking sources, the company said.

The watermarking system will be available to political campaigns, government and corporations as well. Working with manufacturers of TVs and other consumer devices, these entities can protect viewers from deepfakes and other misinformation, it said.

“It is important to enlarge the body of authenticated news content to reduce the influence of content that could be fake, especially in a hotly contested election year,” said Verance CEO Nil Shah.

“Without universally trusted authenticity tools in this new era, the internet’s societal benefit as a means of accessing knowledge will precipitously decline. This presents a serious problem not only for large technology platforms such as Facebook and YouTube but also traditional news media that increasingly rely on the internet for sourcing and verification.”

The system is in line with an Executive Order President Joseph Biden released Oct. 30 that builds on voluntary commitments already made by technology companies, the company said.

The order requires industry to develop safety and security standards before AI products can be introduced to the public and gives federal agencies a to-do list to oversee AI deployment. It directs the Department of Commerce to issue guidance to label and watermark AI-generated content to help differentiate between authentic interaction and those generated by software.

Deadlines set out in the order range from 90 to 365 days for implementation. First up are safety and security items.

More information is available on the company’s website.

SUWANEE, Ga.—Hisense will introduce mass market ATSC watermark detection for NextGen TVs across its ATSC 3.0 product line, the company and Verance said. 

The addition of the watermark will make it possible for broadcasters to deliver new interactive experiences to 3.0-equipped Hisense ULED and Laser TVs via cable, satellite or antenna, they said.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Hisense, which is once again proving to be an industry leader in developing innovative NextGen TV solutions. Its embrace of the Verance Aspect watermark will serve as a driving market force for consumers to fully realize NextGen TV functionality,” said Verance CEO Nil Shah. 

The Verance Aspect watermark implements the ATSC audio A/334 watermark specification. Hisense is the first consumer electronics company to launch watermark detection commercially, thus bringing interactivity to its NextGen TV sets, they said.

Broadcasters including the watermark signal in their services enable their content to pass transparently through all distribution paths and set-top boxes. Hisense NextGen TVs will detect that signal to trigger a rich set of interactive viewer experiences, such as opt-in sports betting, fantasy sports, watch parties, personalized news and weather and advanced emergency information, the companies said. 

Without the Verance watermarking more than 80% of U.S. households that receive TV via cable, satellite or over-the-top distribution are unable to receive NextGen TV interactive services, they said.

“We are excited to expand NextGen TV interactive services to all of the viewers of national networks, local stations and cable networks regardless of how they receive their television signal, all while bringing many new interactive services to Hisense consumers,” said Douglas Kern, Hisense USA head of product marketing.

More information about the watermark is available on the Verance website.

SAN DIEGO, Calif.—Verance, a provider of standards-based watermarking technology, has announced the development of a new tool to prevent fingerprint-based Dynamic Advertising Insertion (DAI) issues with Netflix and other SVOD platforms.

DAI technology enables broadcasters and advertisers to deliver different ads to different viewers in broadcast systems. With the new technology from Verance, SVOD platforms can now privately identify their content to TVs to ensure that their content is neither measured nor manipulated via the insertion of unauthorized dynamic ads.

This is a specific response to some industry fears regarding Nielsen’s DAI technology. Fingerprint-based systems are not always able to differentiate content from streaming services with content from syndication. For example, “Seinfeld” appears across national syndication, basic cable and Netflix. With Nielsen’s DAI tech now incorporated into smart TVs, DAI commercials for ad-supported broadcasters could inadvertently be placed in a Netflix stream.

Verance worked with manufacturers, programmers and distributors to create the technology that allows SVOD platforms to send private messages notifying TVs that no measurement or ad insertion should take place. These messages are kept private to prevent Nielsen or others from using the information gathered to infer viewership.

“We believe this will create a path forward for the subscription VOD and ad-supported broadcast world to co-exist,” said Nil Shah, Verance CEO.

For more information, visit www.verance.com.  

CLEVELAND & SAN DIEGO—The Telos Alliance and Verance have announced Verance’s Aspect watermarking is now available in Linear Acoustic’s LA-5300 Broadcast Audio Processor, designed specifically for ATSC 3.0 broadcast use.

The LA-5300 provides loudness control, upmixing, Dolby AC-4 decoding and encoding, bitstream analysis and monitoring for NextGen TV audio applications.

“The transition to ATSC 3.0 is an exciting time for TV content creators, distributors and broadcasters, but as with any change of this magnitude, it will present challenges as well as opportunities,” says John Schur, president, Telos Alliance Solutions Group.

“By expanding our partnership with Verance beyond the Linear Acoustic AERO.100, 2000 and 8000 to include the LA-5300, our partners now have a full range of products for the delivery of compelling new consumer features.” 

The LA-5300 audio processor can handle up to four programs, which means it can provide unique encoded streams for the main program audio, SAP and video descriptive services in a 1RU form factor.

The Verance Aspect watermark works for both ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 broadcast environments. It was selected as part of the 3.0 standard to maximize the reach of interactive TV services in broadcast television, the company said. 

The Hybrid Broadcast Broadband Television Association (HbbTV) adopted ATSC 3.0 watermarking into its Phase 2 Application Discovery over Broadband specification, which was published in September 2019.

The availability of Aspect in the LA-5300 processor allows programmers to activate interactive services, including addressable advertising, fantasy/predictive gaming and sports betting within Aspect-enabled smart televisions across all distribution paths, said Verance.

“Today’s announcement reinforces our commitment to delivering innovative solutions that drive revenue and viewer engagement in today’s and tomorrow’s broadcast environments,” explained Nil Shah, CEO of Verance. “We have a longstanding and successful partnership with Telos Alliance and are pleased to expand our product suite and support our partners as they transition to NextGen TV.” 

For more information, visit www.telosalliance.com/linear.

SAN DIEGO—Video watermarking is now a capability of Verance’s Aspect platform, the company announced. Based on the commercial implementation of the ATSC video watermarking specification, the Aspect platform now supports both audio and video watermarks for multiple standards and works in the ATSC 1.0 broadcast environment.

Verance says that the audio and video watermarking technology of Aspect enables users to activate Dynamic Ad Insertion across all devices and distribution paths; it has 100% positive identification of live and time-shifted content, able to distinguish between DVR playback and VOD; frame-accurate timing; tuned to be invisible to the viewer; and interoperable with existing and future DAI services, including ATSC, HbbTV/DVB-Targeted advertising and Project OAR.

Both the audio and video watermarks allow information required for DAI activation in a TV set to pass through distribution environments with ease, including over HDMI links and through existing distribution equipment and set-top boxes.

Aspect also allows for the video watermark to complement the audio watermark even when special features for DVR and VOD are deployed. For instance, Verance says that in instances of fast-forwarding or rewinding when the audio is muted, the video watermark allows TVs to capture station identifier and time code information and insert a replacement ad with frame-level accuracy.

Verance will showcase its video and audio watermarking technology at CES 2020, which takes place in Las Vegas, Jan. 7-10.

SAN DIEGO—As part of the company’s efforts related to advanced emergency alerting (AEA), Verance has announced that it has officially joined the Advanced Warning and Response Network (AWARN) Alliance. This voluntary, international coalition of technology firms and trade associations work to utilize NEXTGEN TV for AEA and post-alert news and information.

What Verance says it expects to contribute to AEA technology that already assists with providing videos, images, maps and real-time updates is its Aspect watermarking platform, which ensures that metadata and triggers associated with next-gen experiences like AEA can reach 100% of connected TVs across all distribution paths, including ATSC 1.0, 3.0, over-the-air, cable, satellite and OTT services.

“On behalf of our coalition, I am very happy to welcome Verance to the AWARN Alliance,” said John Lawson, AWARN executive director. “Aspect watermarking can play a vital role in fulfilling our mission to deliver AEA to the widest possible audience and enable more lives to be saved during emergency situations.”

Richard Glosser, Verance’s head of business development added: “The power of our combined technologies ensures that critical alerts and ongoing information will reach the right households at the right time, including in today’s ATSC 1.0 broadcast environment.”

SAN DIEGO—Standards-based watermarking specialist Verance Corp. will add support for Project Open Addressable Ready (Project OAR) to its Aspect watermarking platform, the company said today.

A multi-industry consortium has undertaken Project OAR to establish standards that enable better advertising experiences for viewers via dynamic advertising on internet connected TVs and devices, the company said.

At the moment, Project OAR specifications have not been made public. However, it is expected that watermarking technologies will play a role in the accurate delivery and decisioning of addressable TV ads.

“Project OAR has made remarkable strides in bringing the industry groups together and readying a solution for today’s environment,” said Verance CEO Nil Shah. “Addressable advertising is poised to transform the television industry, and watermarking will accelerate its benefits.”

Supporting the project extends Verance Aspect’s existing support for ATSC watermarking, the company said. That watermarking makes it possible to deliver hybrid broadcast-broadband features via ATSC 1.0 and 3.0.

The Verance technology makes it possible to activate dynamic ad insertion at scale. It offers seamless precision to enable announcement, discovery, insertion and synchronization of ads for live and time-shifted viewing as well as frame-accurate ad synchronization and the ability to reach 100% of connected TVs and devices via all distribution paths.

Verance is working with broadcast equipment vendors to include Project OAR watermark embedding capabilities in their products by the end of the year.

More information is available on the Verance website.

For a comprehensive source of TV Technology’s ATSC 3.0 coverage, see ourATSC3 silo.

SAN DIEGO—As part of relationships with News-Press & Gazette Broadcasting, the National Association of Broadcasters and Pearl TV, broadcasters in Santa Barbara, Calif., Cleveland and Phoenix are deploying the Verance Aspect watermark, per Verance Corporation.

The Verance Aspect is designed to give broadcasters two-way connections, census-like audience measurement and household-level addressability, allowing for greater interactivity and personalization. Verance states that Aspect enables these capabilities to reach 100 percent of TVs across all distribution paths, including ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0.

News-Press & Gazette’s KSBB-TV in Santa Barbara included Aspect in February 2019 within the NAB-led ATSC 3.0 interoperability test at the station. Based on the successful embedding and detection of Aspect within the test, the watermark will continue to be embedded by KSBB moving forward.

In Cleveland, the Tribune Media-owned WJW is incorporating the Aspect watermark in an ATSC 3.0 test led by the NAB and Consumer Technology Association. This test is to establish proof of concept for various ATSC 3.0 elements and act as an incubator for new products and services based on the Next Gen TV standard.

In addition, Pearl TV’s Phoenix Model Market testing ATSC 3.0 has embedded Aspect as part of the development of basic TV service, automotive use cases and ongoing consumer testing.

“The rapid increase in Aspect deployment across the country is a clear indicator that broadcasters are eager to level the playing field with digital platforms,” said Nil Shah, Verance’s chief executive officer.

For a comprehensive source of TV Technology’s ATSC 3.0 coverage, see ourATSC3 silo.

SAN DIEGO—Following the announcement of a successful test of an ATSC 3.0 standard component on Wednesday, another element of Next Gen TV has received a passing grade during a separate experiment. Verance Corporation and Dolby revealed they conducted a test in February with San Diego station KPBS on internet-delivered dialogue enhancement, a Next Gen TV personalized audio experience.

Using the Verance Aspect watermark and Dolby AC-4, the test demonstrated that the dialogue enhancement feature of the AC-4 can be delivered as a standalone audio stream over the internet and paired with video delivered through a live linear broadcast. The companies reported that the pairing was made with precise broadband audio and broadcast video synchronization, and delivered over all MVPD paths, including cable and satellite.

After delivering dialogue enhancement over a live linear 1.0 broadcast environment, Verance and Dolby are said to be planning to replicate the test with an ATSC 3.0 broadcaster.

Aspect is designed to ensure Next Gen capabilities like personalization, interactivity and census-like audience measurement can reach 100% of ATSC 1/0/3.0-connected TVs, regardless of whether they receive content over-the-air, via MVPD or OTT. The Dolby AC-4 encoder, meanwhile, is meant to be able to power multiple personalized audio experiences.

“Together with Verance and KPBS, we have proven the value and impact Dolby AC-4 can play in hybrid broadcasts and demonstrated the growing importance of next-generation features like better audibility, also known as dialogue enhancement,” said Mathias Bendull, vice president, multi-screen services audio, Dolby Laboratories. “Not just a feature for the hearing impaired, dialogue enhancement also enables all viewers to have a better experience when dialogue is harder to hear, like a noisy room.”

KPBS Operations & Technology Division Associate General Manager Bruce Rogow says that viewers have sent complaints about background music and other sounds drowning out voices in shows, and believes the technology tested by Verance and Dolby could be a “game changer.”

Joe Winograd, CTO of Verance, said: “Broadcasters investing in the development of Next Gen TV applications can now proceed with confidence, knowing that these applications are capable of reaching 100% of U.S. households, including 80% of viewers currently using MVPD services.”

For a comprehensive source of TV Technology’s ATSC 3.0 coverage, see ourATSC3 silo.

SAN DIEGO and MILAN, ITALY—Verance Corp. has partnered with Fincons Group, an expert in deployment of Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) to advance the development of Next Gen TV in the United States and Europe, Verance said today.

Together the companies will combine Fincons’ expertise deploying HbbTV applications with Verance’s Aspect watermarking technology.

“We are pleased to partner with Fincons Group to provide programmers and manufacturers with additional tools and technologies that help them realize the benefits of Next Gen TV as quickly as possible” said Nil Shah, CEO of Verance.

Out of the gates, the companies will focus their efforts on accelerating ATSC 3.0/Next-Gen TV readiness in the United States and HbbTV in Europe. Projects include identifying and developing consumer offerings, business models and proof of concept and market trial management.

“The convergence of broadcast and broadband enables novel strategies and new revenue streams within the traditional TV space,” said Francesco Moretti, Deputy CEO at Fincons. “We look forward to partnering with Verance to apply our HbbTV experience to the ATSC environment in the U.S. and include the Aspect watermark into our portfolio for the European market.”

More information is available on the Verance and Fincons Group website.

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

NEW YORK—TV analytics and attribution specialist Data Plus Math (D+M) and Verance today announced a preferred partner agreement that combines data derived from the Verance Aspect open watermarking technology with analytics and attribution solutions from Data Plus Math.

“This partnership is a crucial piece toward fulfilling the promise of Next Gen TV,” said D+M co-founder and CEO John Hoctor.

The combination is intended to provide local broadcasters with more precise data and analytics about their audiences. Together the analytics and data provide a Next-Gen TV-compliant multi-touch, multi-TV approach to attribution that should help local programmers better analyze and monetize inventory, the companies said.

“This partnership further enhances the ability of local programmers to track, assess and monetize their audiences as the Next-Gen TV protocol emerge,” said Verance CEO Nil Shah.

ATSC 3.0 enables dynamic ad insertion into live feeds and video-on-demand. Two-way connectivity will enable advertisers to target viewers down to the individual device they are watching, the companies said. Combined the D+M and Verance technologies will allow broadcasters to capture and measure the impact TV advertising has on driving results for advertisers. 

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

SAN DIEGO—Heeyong Park has joined Verance as its Korea Country Manager to work with electronics manufacturers such as Samsung and LG on the Verance Aspect audio watermark, part of the ATSC 3.0 Next-Gen TV standard, the company announced today.

The watermark enables several Next-Gen TV features, such as personalization and interactivity, and can be integrated into both ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 distribution paths and receivers.

Park, a former Samsung executive, managed and led agreements related to metadata solution providers TiVo and Nielsen (Gracenote) for global smart TV video and music services, Verance said. He also was involved in deals with service partners, including Google, Spotify and Reuters.

[Read: LG Completes Smart TV Tests Of Verance Watermarking Tech]

He also served on Samsung’s product strategy team for smart TVs and the Internet of Things and developed and executed global smart TV strategy and customization in North America, Europe and emerging nations.

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

SAN FRANCISCO--Connekt, a Bay Area developer of AI technology, has partnered with Verance, an ATSC 3.0 Next Gen TV platform company, to develop the standard for interactive advertising formats to be delivered over ATSC 3.0.

Their stated goal is to provide an end-to-end solution for networks, content owners and programmers to build and deliver a next-generation, onscreen experience with enhanced engagement and interactivity over ATSC 3.0, provide an easy ATSC 3.0 transition for networks, and open up new revenue streams and consumer experiences on television.

Leveraging Verance Aspect watermark technology, Connekt will be able to deliver enhanced ads across all devices and distribution paths, including ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 Over-the-Air (OTA), Over-the-Top (OTT) and Multichannel Video Programming Distributors (MVPD), such as cable, satellite and telco services.

“As TV revenue models shift, Connekt provides technical solutions, tools and applications to allow networks, content owners and advertisers to retain and grow new revenue streams,” said Mike Fitzsimmons, CEO of Connekt. “We are paving the way for the future of broadcast TV advertising, and Verance is the ideal partner for this collaboration.”

[Read: LG Completes Smart TV Tests Of Verance Watermarking Tech]

In November 2017, the FCC voted to allow the rollout of ATSC 3.0, which uses both OTA signals and in-home broadband to deliver video on demand, interactive services, 4K video, advanced emergency alerts, and other dynamic broadcast capabilities. 

“ATSC 3.0 will allow us to bridge the consumer experience gap between linear and IP delivered TV content,” said Eric Anderson, Verance’s chief partnership officer. “At the same time, Verance Aspect offers programmers, agencies and brands an open market, open standards-based platform to ensure scalability and ROI for Next Gen TV experiences and enhanced advertising. We’re looking forward to working with Connekt to create and drive these compelling consumer experiences.”

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

LEAWOOD, KAN.—While TV broadcasters in Phoenix announced earlier this month their plans to deploy ATSC 3.0 by spring 2018 to serve as a model for peers around the country, they along with broadcasters in Orlando, Fla., Montgomery, Ala., and Hartford, Conn., are already testing an audio watermarking technology that will play an important role in audience measurement, personalization and interactivity for next-gen TV.

That technology, Verance’s Aspect, is the underlying technology behind ATSC 3.0’s audio watermarking standard. It also can be integrated into legacy ATSC 1.0 transmission as is the case in today’s test markets.

“For the past six or seven months, we have had watermark readers in the market with between 300 and 400 households,” says Nil Shah, company CEO.

Pearl TV members, NBC Universal, NBC Connecticut, Univision and Fox Television Stations participating in the test are embedding their programing with the watermark for the readers to capture. Third-party demographic data is then appended to the captured watermark data to “provide a robust set of reports” to participating stations, says Shah.

For the trial, the watermark receivers are standalone devices, but ultimately the goal is see the technology incorporated into the design of new televisions, he adds.

Interest from the CE community has grown in Verance Aspect since the company in May released the findings of research put together by SmithGeiger. The researchers found consumers say they will spend as much as $200 more for sets with ATSC 3.0 features—especially interactivity, which is driven by Aspect—as well as accelerate their purchase plans for next-gen TVs.

“We have seen a lot of interest from television manufacturers to incorporate the technology now into their sets so they can start delivering the benefits that are contemplated for 3.0 but deliver those benefits earlier [via ATSC 1.0 with the watermark],” said Shah.

While the FCC vote this month to authorize ATSC 3.0 is welcomed news, Shah reiterated that uptake of the audio watermarking technology is not predicated on the action.

“The standard creates a pretext for eventual adoption, but we are seeing broadcasters and television manufacturers already make movement towards using the technology and implementing it today,” said Shah. “The FCC vote didn’t really change that calculus and that dynamic.”

For the moment, the ongoing trial of Verance Aspect has been focused on audience measurement. However, subsequent iterations could see interactivity and delivery of personalized TV added to the test, he added.

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

WASHINGTON—A consortium of major broadcasters are testing watermarking technology aimed at the IP-based television transmission standard, ATSC 3.0. According to the Pearl TV alliance, it is collaborating with Fox, NBC Connecticut/WVIT, Univision and software maker Verance, maker of the watermarking technology. Pearl said “and on-air test is now underway,” using Verance ’s digital audio watermark embedded in ATSC 1.0 transmissions to conduct the test.

Pearl said watermarking enablea “the foundational data protocol that triggers services such as interactivity, personalization and even advanced emergency alerting on televisions and other devices.”

Test locations include Phoenix; Orlando, Fla.; Montgomery, Ala.; and Hartford, Conn.

“We plan to evaluate how the watermark is deployed, how it is retained from transmitter to receiver, and what information can be gleaned from the testing process,” said Anne Schelle, managing director of Pearl TV, a business organization of U.S. broadcast companies.

“The goal is to test how watermarking can be used to power the next-generation TV across various viewing paths and devices,” Schelle said.

According to Nil Shah, CEO of Verance, the company’s software “activates broadband capabilities on broadcast content, providing viewers with advanced features uniformly across devices and platforms. This enables broadcasters to connect with millions of viewers on TV in the personalized, dynamic ways they’re accustomed to online.”

He said the technology is compatible with ATSC 1.0, the transmission standard currently in use, and that it “accelerates certain ATSC 3.0 features, allowing broadcasters to see early benefits while transitioning to ATSC 3.0.”

For more on this subject, visit our ATSC 3.0 silo.