ATSC 3.0 to be Deployed in 40 U.S. Markets by End of 2020

osu1991

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https://www.tvtechnology.com/atsc3/atsc-3-0-to-be-deployed-in-40-u-s-markets-by-end-of-year

A broad coalition of broadcast television station groups as well as public broadcasters announced at the NAB Show on Monday that ATSC 3.0 (aka Next Gen TV) will be rolled out in 40 U.S. markets by the end of 2020.

Subject to final engineering and required approvals, consents and FCC license modifications, the participating broadcasters have identified the first stations that will convert to ATSC 3.0 service in this rollout. Primary broadcast programming currently broadcast on the stations planning to upgrade will be hosted by other stations in their respective markets.
 
https://www.tvtechnology.com/atsc3/atsc-3-0-to-be-deployed-in-40-u-s-markets-by-end-of-year

A broad coalition of broadcast television station groups as well as public broadcasters announced at the NAB Show on Monday that ATSC 3.0 (aka Next Gen TV) will be rolled out in 40 U.S. markets by the end of 2020.

Subject to final engineering and required approvals, consents and FCC license modifications, the participating broadcasters have identified the first stations that will convert to ATSC 3.0 service in this rollout. Primary broadcast programming currently broadcast on the stations planning to upgrade will be hosted by other stations in their respective markets.

My market is 15th on the list :clapping
 
Well, Baltimore is listed, as is DC. I think they mean DC-Hagerstown.

We’ll see how serious they are by the prices and capabilities of the initial STBs. Under $50? Under $100? More?

Sounds more realistic than vague projections of rollouts beginning in 2019.

Specifics? The devil, as always, is in the details.


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Now my only question is, which frequencies will the stations use for their 3.0 stations, as the repack took most of the available UHF space we had. VHF-HI perhaps?

They will use the existing frequencies, per FCC rules. See Phoenix, for example, where KFPH-CD is operating in ATSC 3.0 while its previous programming is now split among KTVW, KPNX, and KNXV.

- Trip
 
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Now my only question is, which frequencies will the stations use for their 3.0 stations, as the repack took most of the available UHF space we had. VHF-HI perhaps?
The real question is where will they lighthouse their ATSC 1.0 signal for the following 5 years. In Baltimore, the Sinclair station is WBFF (45) which is currently hosting WUTB (24) as a sub-channel. So, where will they go?
 
In case anyone on here forgets:

Virtual channels: 2-36, 38-69 (numeric positions on the dial that most local TV stations identify as in their branding)

RF channels: 2-36 are still in use, 38-69 are being sold off in the spectrum auction (RF channels represent the physical position of the channel in real time)


My media market is #68
(If only I could get the Milwaukee ATSC 3.0 stations...)
 
My favorite phrase about Next Gen TV (and many other paradigm shift topics of late) is "talk is cheap".

It looks like someone at TVTechnology caught their misrepresentation and updated the title of the article to reflect the fact that the date is actually 20 months away rather than 8.

It would mean more to me if the population involved in the ironed-out markets was more than 24% of the population. Saving the biggest markets for later isn't going to help adoption of the standard. I maintain that as bad as the broadcasters want it, adoption isn't guaranteed and if they run away from the viewers with their newfangled marketing technologies, the viewers may return the favor and swear off on the whole concept of OTA. That's clearly not in the public interest.

The "proponents" are angling at getting ATSC 3.0 established as the national broadcast standard so they can't promise the moon and deliver a melting asteroid. At the same time, they can't be allowed to limp along on the way to their goal and fall back on the five-year part of their deal to force a DTV sunset.

I surely need to re-acquaint myself with the terms of the deal that allowed the "proponents" to broadcast ATSC 3.0 but I'm not enthusiastic about what I think I remember.
 
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In my area, I have two Sinclair stations: WLUK-TV "FOX 11" and WCWF "CW 14." WLUK-TV acquired WCWF through a "failing station waiver" when it was originally known by the callsign WIWB, to create Green Bay's first television network duopoly. I believe that these two channels will be the first ones in my area to join the 3.0 bandwagon when the time comes...
 
Comfortably_numb wrote:
Now my only question is, which frequencies will the stations use for their 3.0 stations, as the repack took most of the available UHF space we had. VHF-HI perhaps?
Lots of people keep asking this question and it has a simple answer --- on the channel they're presently using. They have to find another station to carry their regular program for five years. If KXYZ is transmitting its 1.0 signal on channel 22, their new 3.0 station will be on channel 22, and KXYZ's regular program will be transmitted by another station on another channel.
 
Comfortably_numb wrote:
Lots of people keep asking this question and it has a simple answer --- on the channel they're presently using. They have to find another station to carry their regular program for five years. If KXYZ is transmitting its 1.0 signal on channel 22, their new 3.0 station will be on channel 22, and KXYZ's regular program will be transmitted by another station on another channel.
And the follow up question to that is how can that possibly be profitable? Paying someone else to broadcast your signal while you are investing in ATSC 3.0 tech that few if any will be receiving.