MediaTek signed a “test agreement” with Pearl TV to speed the deployment of ATSC 3.0 reception in more consumer TVs by supplying OEMs with a “total solution” that includes a 3.0 demodulator chip and a “ready-to-go software stack” for Android and Linux, said the chipmaker Wednesday. The “package” also includes a smart TV SoC “family” adaptable to a range of sets from entry-level 4K to premium 8K product, MediaTek said: It will enable smart TV brands “a faster time to market with reduced cost and risk of development,” and features low power consumption and a smaller package size than competing solutions. Hisense became 3.0's fourth TV brand endorser Tuesday with its CES 2022 introduction of three tiers of compliant sets (see 2201040038).
ATSC 3.0 landed support from a fourth TV brand when Hisense announced at CES 2022 Tuesday that it will build integrated 3.0 tuners into all the sets in its top three tiers of 2022 product. “With growing interest in free, live over-the-air broadcast, especially local news, sports and network content, the newly integrated NEXTGEN TV (ATSC 3.0) offers an excellent upgrade, bringing even more content options to viewers with 4K HDR, Dolby audio and the latest broadcast upgrades,” said the manufacturer. Its top-of-the-line offering with 3.0 support is a 75-inch Mini LED set called the U9H, due to launch late summer at $3,199. Three sets in the U8H series include 55-, 65- and 75-inch screen sizes starting at $1,099 when they arrive mid-summer, all with 3.0 tuners built in. A third tier of TVs in the U7H series will have 55-, 65-, 75- and 85-inch models starting at $799, also due mid-summer, and also with integrated 3.0 tuners. LG, Samsung and Sony jumped in with 3.0 support at CES 2020 (see 2001080044) and remained the only NextGenTV brands available until Hisense’s entry Tuesday. Speculation was brewing through most of 2021's second half that one of the Chinese TV makers would soon announce 3.0 backing. The news that "another major manufacturer" in Hisense will offer consumers the option of NextGenTV reception "is encouraging to broadcasters across the U.S. who already have or will soon upgrade to ATSC 3.0," said ATSC President Madeleine Noland in a statement.
The Evoca-branded pay-TV service using ATSC 3.0 entered its fourth market Thursday when it lit up Idaho's KVUI and KPIF, both Pocatello, emailed a spokesperson. Parent company Edge Networks launched Evoca in Boise in August 2020 (see 2008210021). It’s now also available in Phoenix and Colorado Springs.
Five TV stations in Washington, D.C., began broadcasting in ATSC 3.0, with Howard University’s noncommercial station WHUT-TV hosting the signals of Sinclair’s WJLA-TV, NBCUniversal’s WRC-TV, Fox’s WTTG, and Tegna’s WUSA. “It’s gonna take time to infiltrate the market” with 3.0 receivers, said WHUT General Manager Sean Plater in an interview. “Step one was to get stations on the air." Viewers of WHUT’s 1.0 signal won’t see a difference in their feed, Plater said. “That’s one of the first things we checked.” NAB worked with Howard to create an ATSC 3.0 “learning lab” and certificate program at the school, said NAB Chief Technology Officer Sam Matheny in a video presentation Thursday. FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks appeared in the video, praising NAB for creating educational opportunities for Howard University students with the new standard. Matheny highlighted one student, Sulaiman Bastien, who created an 3.0 app in connection with the program. Plater said one reason broadcasters emphasized getting 3.0 online in Washington is to make the tech easy for lawmakers to access. “We want to make sure they can see it up close and personal.” Outgoing NAB CEO Gordon Smith said 3.0 will be broadcasting in 35 markets by year's end.
Four years after the FCC voted to authorize ATSC 3.0's voluntary deployment (see 1711160060), MPEG LA is about to launch a 3.0 patent pool license, emailed a spokesperson. “If things go as we now anticipate, we expect to begin offering the license in January.” MPEG LA originally planned to have the patent pool operational by early 2019 (see 1811270013). “Each pool has its own unique set of factors affecting time to market, and in some cases, reaching agreement among patent holders to offer a license of wide benefit to the market takes longer than others,” said the spokesperson now. “This license is timely in light of the expected ATSC 3.0 ramp-up.” The 3.0 pool doesn’t have “a final licensor count yet,” he said. ATSC 3.0 services are on the air in about three dozen U.S. cities, with 18 more slated to come online through the spring. CTA forecasts 4 million 3.0-compliant sets will be sold in 2022, climbing to 11 million in 2023 and 20 million in 2024. MPEG LA announced a call for 3.0-essential patents, the first step in the patent pool formation process, in August 2017 (see 1711010054). ATSC bylaws require that patent owners disclose they hold intellectual property relevant to 3.0 and that they commit to licensing their patents on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms (see 1711210004).
ATSC 3.0 continued to “gain momentum” in 2021, with dozens of U.S. cities launching NextGenTV services, blogged ATSC President Madeleine Noland Monday. She estimated nearly 200 3.0 channels are available in more than 40 cities, supported by 70 compliant TV models from LG, Samsung and Sony: “Broadcasters are taking full advantage of this momentum, offering services with better video quality, enhanced dialog control with Voice+, interactive applications and more, while promoting new services.”
Comments on FCC-proposed changes to ATSC 3.0 multicast rules (see 2111050049) are due Feb. 11 in docket 16-142, replies March 14, said a public notice Monday. Broadcast industry officials said the changes to the multicast hosting rules would make it easier for the transition, but MVPD groups said the changes could have implications for ownership and attribution rules (see 2105280035).
Broadcasters want the FCC to distinguish between “next-generation EAS” (emergency alert system) and enhanced alerting through ATSC 3.0, said replies posted Friday in docket 15-94. “Conflating the two platforms threatens to encourage the migration of the rules and requirements that govern EAS (which have accrued from the 1950’s to this proceeding) to ATSC 3.0 emergency messaging,” said the Advanced Warning and Response Network Alliance and ATSC. The 3.0 “optional, value-added urgent news information service” is called “Advanced Emergency Information” and is a valuable supplement for EAS alerts but isn’t the same thing, NAB said. “Refrain from regulating such an optional ATSC 3.0 content service because it is unrelated to the vital service provided by the EAS system and doing so could hinder innovation.” AWARN and ATSC urged the FCC not to impose alerting regulations on streaming media. NAB reiterated (see 2110200065) that an FCC proposal for persistent EAS alerts isn’t feasible.
A holiday marketing campaign on ATSC 3.0 and the enhanced audio features it enables begins in late November, said Pearl TV Thursday. The nine-week campaign will air in the 34 markets that have 3.0 and will educate consumers about Dolby audio features, such as enhanced dialogue, it said. Dolby’s Sound Decisions marketing campaign will demonstrate 3.0-exclusive audio features, and broadcasters will also air commercials on 3.0, themed the "Future of Television." ATSC 3.0 enabled TV will be available in stores “just in time for the holiday shopping season and a variety of retailer deals associated with recognized shopping events,” said Pearl.
Public TV stations are broadcasting ATSC 3.0 signals in nine U.S. markets, and America’s Public Television Stations President Patrick Butler expects “an accelerated pace of transition” to start next year, he said in a virtual talk Tuesday hosted by The Media Institute. Commercial ATSC 3.0 consortiums such as Pearl TV and BitPath worked with public TV stations on sharing arrangements for the transition, said Butler, conceding that public TV spectrum demands can make the hosting requirements difficult. Public TV stations will be “substantially transitioned" to 3.0 within three to five years, he said.