BALTIMORE and IRVING, Texas—Sinclair and Nexstar Media Group are launching a consumer awareness campaign Sept. 17 to educate viewers in 13 markets about the benefits of NextGen TV.
The campaign will run in seven Nexstar markets, including Cleveland, Austin, Texas, Kansas City, Mo., and Kan., Tampa, Fla., Portland, Ore., Buffalo, N.Y., and Denver, and six Sinclair markets—Las Vegas, Columbus, Ohio, Nashville, Tenn., Baltimore, Seattle and Washington.
The goal of the campaign is to raise awareness about NextGen TV among viewers. Available as a TV spot and a social media post, the promo asks: “On game days, who’s got next? With NextGen TV, you do.” The message informs viewers that watching NextGen TV not only brings them their favorite games in UHD and immersive sound, but also their local news, weather and favorite shows.
The campaign builds on the consumer education initiative developed and tested by Sinclair in Columbus during the summer.
“Consumer education is an important part of accelerating adoption of NextGen TV,” said Del Parks, president of Technology at Sinclair. “Our experience in Columbus demonstrated that when consumers understand what NextGen TV is, how to access it and the benefits it can deliver, we can meaningfully increase engagement. By partnering with Nexstar, we can take what we learned from that campaign and bring a consistent, consumer-friendly message to viewers across an even broader group of markets. Now is the time for all broadcasters to begin promoting the advantages of NextGen TV.””
As part of the campaign, the station groups have launched the GoNextGenTV.com website where the public can learn what NextGen TV programming is available in their area by using a search by ZIP code feature.
Visitors learn what steps to take to set up their NextGen TV viewing experience—whether via a NextGen TV or with a converter box and their existing set. The site offers an extensive list of consumer devices, including converter boxes, NextGen TV sets, antennas and cable, a frequently asked questions section and a list of NextGen TV benefits like sharper pictures, immersive sound, more reliable delivery and no subscription fees.
“The transition to NextGen TV has been a story of broadcasters working together to bring new capabilities to TV viewers. The cooperation and collaboration with Sinclair to educate those viewers is the next chapter in that story,” said Brett Jenkins, Nexstar’s executive vice president and Chief Technology and Digital Officer. “We’re confident that as consumers come to understand the advantages of NextGen TV, they will be eager to adopt it and will seek out TV models with ATSC 3.0 capability.”
More information is available on the newly launched website.
