SOUTHFIELD, Mich.—Kennan Oliphant has been named news director of the E.W. Scripps’ WXYZ & WMYD stations. 

Oliphant has been serving as the interim news director and prior to that was the assistant news director. 

“Kennan has demonstrated incredible leadership at WXYZ and throughout his career at  Scripps. He is a well-respected journalist committed to making the community we serve  better,” said Mike Murri, vice president and General Manager at WXYZ. “I’m so grateful  and proud to have Kennan leading our newsroom in Detroit.”  

A Detroit native, Kennan has lived in multiple states as a journalist. 

He began his career  at WDIV in Detroit before getting his big break to be an on-air reporter for KNOE in  Monroe, Louisiana. Spending less than a year in Louisiana, Kennan moved to  Evansville, Indiana, where he was a reporter, then spent five years at WDTN in Dayton, Ohio, as the chief consumer investigative reporter. He also spent time as an executive producer at WMBF in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, assistant news director at WLBT in Jackson, Mississippi, as manager of coverage and content for WHBQ in Memphis, Tennessee and as the senior manager of broadcast at WCPO in Cincinnati, Ohio. 

“I welcome the new challenge of leading the great teams at WXYZ and  WMYD,” Oliphant said. “As a Detroit native, I deeply care about the Detroit  community. I believe in quality journalism that authentically reflects and  serves our community.” 

Kennan is a great family man and loves spending time with his wife Tiffany and two children. When Kennan isn’t working, he spends his time volunteering, watching movies  or playing golf. 

ATLANTA—Alchemedia SG has demonstrated the successful use of its Broadcast Services Core integrated with other IP services to transport IP data, including media files and an HD video stream, seamlessly to a moving car traveling between four broadcast transmitters, including one each in Detroit and Lansing, Mich., and two in Grand Rapids, the company has announced.

“The Michigan Coast-to-Coast Data Delivery Drive Tests demonstrated that ATSC 3.0 technologies can be implemented now to deliver data over a wide area to moving vehicles reliably and with high throughput,” said ATSC 3.0 consultant Merrill Weiss. “They also showed that there are extensions to the ATSC 3 technologies with the potential to push throughput and reliability to even higher levels. The drive tests used a combination of off-the-shelf broadcast hardware with slightly modified software and prototype mobile receiving equipment that implemented diversity reception.”

Initial testing relied on the data protocols included in 3.0. Later tests showed the improvements possible when more advanced forward error correction software in the market is used, he said.

“All told, the tests showed that, in a matter of months, a quite effective system for reliable data distribution to mobile receivers could be set up using existing infrastructure of multiple television stations to cover an area measured in thousands of square miles,” he said.

Alchemedia SG built the Washington, D.C., -based Broadcast Services Core. Data was carried via a military grade, secure, hybrid public/private network, the company said. Michigan broadcasters participating in the test included The Scripps/Ion-owned WMYD in Detroit, Michigan State University’s WKAR in Lansing and WXSP and WOLP, both Nexstar Media Group stations in Grand Rapids.

DigiCAP and Triveni provided the ATSC 3.0 gateways located at the four stations, while Heartland Video System managed their installation and operation during the tests, the company said.

Forward Error Correction (FEC) became a critical part of the demonstration. An ATSC 3.0-compliant version of KenCast Fazzt FEC was provided via a development and marketing arrangement with Alchemedia SG. The receiver used in the vehicle was a Sony CXD2885 4 node receiver (nicknamed CLOVER), built specifically for in vehicle reception. Tower and fiber infrastructure company Crown Castle assisted with field integration and support for the project.

“While data hand-offs are common in the IT world, delivering data through broadcast spectrum to moving vehicles provides unique challenges,” said Alchemedia SG CEO and co-founder John Heinen. 

“The goal of the tests was to prove that reliable data can be received from a variety of transmission systems, across a variety of terrains and with a level of accuracy that can make data for commercial entertainment and vehicle navigation safe and secure. This test demonstrates that ATSC 3.0 broadcast spectrum can offer a variety of video services to consumer and commercial use cases for cars, trucks and commercial vehicle fleets,” he added.

The demonstration proved there is a “pragmatic pathway” toward building a “secure, flexible [and] reliable national datacasting network,” said Lynn Rowe, CTO of Alchemedia SG. “It is time to build,” he said.

DETROIT—WMYD, The E.W. Scripps Company-owned MYNetworkTV affiliate in Detroit, will launch ATSC 3.0 service by the end of 2020 in collaboration with Graham Media Group and other local broadcasters, the station announced today.

“Scripps is a strong supporter of the development of ATSC 3.0 technology as a way to continue to improve the broadcast industry’s offerings for both consumers and advertisers,” said Brian Lawlor, president of Local Media for Scripps.

The Detroit launch of Next-Gen TV service offers the automotive industry an in-market test bed for IP-based broadcasting to deliver data to millions of receivers at the same time without concerns of wireless internet bottlenecks, according to the announcement.

“After our positive experience with KNXV as part of the test and learn initiatives in Phoenix, we are eager to launch this technology with WMYD in Detroit and help move the industry forward,” said Lawlor.

Graham Media Group is also participating in the 3.0 Detroit launch with its WDIV-TV NBC affiliate.

“The collaborative effort needed to launch this new technology requires that broadcasters work together for the benefit of our viewers,” said Emily Barr, president and CEO of Graham Media Group.

“Graham and WDIV look forward to launching the new Next Gen TV station and the eventual launch of our own advanced signals on this platform. The future of television insures a more expansive experience, with high dynamic range video and advanced audio features that will immerse viewers as never before,” she said.

The rollout of Next Gen TV service in Detroit is subject to final engineering and regulatory approvals as well as FCC license modifications. However, participating broadcasters have already identified WMYD as being among the first stations to convert to 3.0 as part of this rollout, the announcement said.

At the 2019 NAB Show in April, a group of broadcasters, including network O&Os and affiliates and public broadcasters, announced their plans to deploy Next Gen TV in the 40 largest TV markets in the United States by the end of next year.

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