Transmission

Recently I have been comparing some new indoor consumer TV antenna designs with a few old favorites.

During the transition, many stations will be forced to use auxiliary facilities which will impact their coverage

Successful demonstrations continue but more work remains

Digital television technology eliminates the old “ghost” problem for single-frequency networks

This month I’ll wrap up coverage of papers at the IEEE Broadcast Symposium as part of a discussion about measuring the coverage of existing or new facilities installed as part of the FCC channel repack.

In my last column I discussed some of the papers presented at the 2017 IEEE Broadcast Symposium related to the FCC TV spectrum repack. This month I’ll look at presentations that covered broadcast TV antennas.

Hub Entertainment Research’s report last month, which found that 52 percent of pay-TV viewers prefer to watch their favorite shows online rather than via traditional broadcast or cable channels, surfaced amid a flurry of high-profile developments in the fast-evolving, over-the-top and subscription video-on-demand market.

In recent years I’ve noticed the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society has added more presentations on the practical aspects of broadcast engineering to its annual Broadcast Symposium.

The verdict is in: 5G wireless systems will be all things to all people, allowing incredibly high bandwidths and ultra-low power radios to be used anywhere, all at a fraction of the cost of today’s devices.

One of the first questions to come up as broadcasters consider their options for auxiliary, interim and final DTV facilities is “How much will this impact my coverage?”

In my April column (“Auction Over, Now Let’s Assess the Damage”), I wrote about the damage in terms of unanticipated (by the FCC) interference to DTV reception after the repacking of the 600 MHz band.

The FCC’s July 12 deadline for stations to file Schedule A, the engineering application for their post-repack facility, and Schedule 399, the request for reimbursement for that facility and other associated charges has passed.

WNJU Telemundo first onboard

Broadcast TV antenna and transmitter manufacturers’ exhibits at the 2017 NAB Show were as packed as I’d seen since the DTV build-out a decade ago.

With the end of the FCC’s spectrum auction in January, it’s time to measure its damaging effects on broadcasters.

The FCC has released the Auction Closing and Channel Reassignment Public Notice and files showing auction results, including stations that gave up their spectrum and those being repacked to another channel.

This month I’m continuing my coverage of the 2016 IEEE Broadcast Symposium, with a focus on presentations about ATSC 3.0 and the transition from ATSC 1.0 to ATSC 3.0.

I first attended the IEEE Broadcast Symposium 20 years ago when it was held at the Hotel Washington and it remains the “must attend” event of the fall conference schedule.