ATSC 2.0 will bring Internet, TV much closer, says Mark Richer

Are there wedding bells in the future for television and the Internet? That’s what the head of the ATSC says is being planned for with the development of the ATSC 2.0 standard.

Fully backwards-compatible with the A/53 standard for digital television, ATSC 2.0 promises to deliver a variety of benefits to viewers, including non-real-time services, support for the Internet, transmission of 3-D television, and advanced audio and video compression techniques.

Anticipated for acceptance as a standard later this year, ATSC 2.0 will give broadcasters the tools to do never-before-possible things such as deliver telescoping commercials that let viewers drill deeper for more information and even offer geographically relevant ad content with the permission of viewers.

In this podcast interview, Mark Richer, president of ATSC, talks about ATSC 2.0 and what comes next.

Phil Kurz

Phil Kurz is a contributing editor to TV Tech. He has written about TV and video technology for more than 30 years and served as editor of three leading industry magazines. He earned a Bachelor of Journalism and a Master’s Degree in Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism.