The Next Generation of Broadcast Television

        The US market launched HD Television in 2009, with all of the old analog stations going dark by June of that year.  This transition costs millions and forced many consumers to cable or to get coupons from the government for converter boxes to continue to use their existing televisions and antennas.  This was seen as a huge leap for the broadcast infrastructure of the country, but due to the penetration of cable this largely went through off the radar of the cultural zeitgeist.  Fast Forward to 2023, and there is a new storm coming.  ATSC 3.0 now called NextGen TV has been quietly brewing for almost 6 years since testing during the Winter Olympics back in 2017.   2023 could be a pivotal growth year for NextGen TV, even though television stations have been deploying slowly since 2021, delayed by COVID.  For anyone that has lived in or near a major urban market, an over-the-air antenna has been a pretty seamless way to receive broadcast networks for years.   It’s often an underutilized entertainment option that can supplement your cable or streaming bundle on a secondary television not wired with a cable box. In recent years, the 5G signals as well as tall buildings have played havoc with traditional broadcasts in large cities, forcing many to rely on cable to deliver their local stations.  Manhattan was one of the first urban markets to have cable deployed in the 1970’s, largely to combat the issue of tall buildings blocking broadcast reception.  The outer boroughs did not suffer the same urgency and the rollout of cable in the rest of NYC didn’t finish until late 1988 with some exceptions.

            The new NextGen TV has the potential to be a game changer in the evolution of home entertainment.   The boosted stronger signals will no longer have the same legacy issues; tall buildings blocking signals, or needing to move your rabbit ears to just the right angle, or trying to get your building or co-op to install a rooftop antenna and then wire the entire building.  The new signals will most likely work well with just a strong amplified indoor antenna depending on the market.  Ironically with all the millions of investments on the station level, your old school antenna will still do the job of receiving these signals, as long as your television or device is capable of supporting NextGen TV.  Stations will soon have the ability to broadcast in full 4K uncompressed into millions of homes with interactivity never before seen through these IP enabled super signals.  These signals will be accessible from a television (with a NextGen tuner), or a NextGen converter box, and most smart devices.  These boxes have been rolling out since last year, since most televisions on the market are not enabled with a NextGen tuners as of yet, although manufacturers are starting to include them as a standard capability in higher end models this year.  Broadcasters will be able to send out their main channel signal on channels like 2.1 or 4.1, and then include what the industry is calling diginets on the same “broadcast stick” or tower, but on the in between channels positions or sub frequencies like 2.2, 2.3, 4.2, 4.3.  These services will supplement the “main” broadcasts with a focus on more niche entertainment such as; retro shows, true crime, kids, movies, sports, and lifestyle content.  Many early versions of these diginets have been using the existing ATSC 1.0 signals usually in SD or 780p or 1080i HD, but soon they will be able to upgraded to full 4K up to 120 frames per second (120Hz).  Broadcast 4K will have a resolution of 3,840 by 2,160 pixels (4 times the existing 1080p HD), and can handle high dynamic range content (HDR) and Dolby 5.1 audio.  Given the demographics of the existing broadcast television user, the current market is filling up with services like MeTV, Rewind, and Cozi-TV to serve the baby boomers nostalgia for great television series and movies from the golden age of Hollywood.  The potential surge in user adoption could be a new opportunity for the tech savvy Millennials or Gen Z and give them an opportunity to experience content in a new way.  The programming mix would evolve into a diverse spectrum of entertainment and non-scripted lifestyle programming that could mirror the cable bundle of the 80’s and 90’s looking like todays digital FAST channels or YouTube.   Imagine watching a true crime docuseries, and then being able to pull up an interactive map showing real time crime stats in your neighborhood, or to see what Airbnb is offering in the same neighborhood.  The uncompressed 4K signals will have IP interactivity (assuming an internet, Wi-Fi, or 5G Cellular connection is available) on the device being used.  This brings new meaning to a connected device or connected television.    Imagine Sunday Night Football with real time interactivity (stats and wagering) on the same device you are watching which has been impossible on the current broadcast infrastructure. 

            This new technology would allow for quite a different approach compared to broadcast stations in the past.  Historically UHF stations (secondary market stations), operated with lower power signals with a smaller range then VHF, and focused on home shopping, Spanish language or religious programming.  The consumer driven need for niche entertainment was largely filled by cable.  Now broadcast diginets like MeTV are getting some serious traction.   Pre-Covid between 2018-2019, Nielson reported a 2% increase in primetime viewership (approx. 719,000 average viewers), which starts to rival some nationally distributed cable channels.  The entertainment bundle has gone through many stages of evolution.  When I was growing up in Park Slope, Brooklyn, most of the neighborhood was not wired for cable, but we had the choice of two subscription services to supplement our over-the-air free television.  HBO and WHT were marketed as premium choices to most of the areas of NYC that were not wired for cable until late 1988.  Wometco Home Theater had a very interesting history which peaked between 1982-1984 on the cultural spectrum that set the foundation for HBO and others to flourish into the 90’s.   They actually broadcast over-the-air with a scrambled signal on UHF channel 68 that needed a set-top-box to decode that was given to subscribers.  The fact that the audio also came out of the set-top-box made it impossible to hook up to a VCR to record movies.  This early relic was the 1980’s version of DRM, which courtesy of ATSC 3.0 or NextGen TV is now going to be a way of scrambling or encrypting over-the-air broadcast stations that fall outside of the FCC Broadcast public service decree if they choose to do so.  When WHT shut down operations in New York, Channel 68 was converted to a home shopping network.  Ironically now channel 68 is part of Univision and broadcasts Spanish language network UniMas on their main channel, and diginets True Crime Network and a retro themed GetTV on their subchannels.  Televisions or NextGen boxes will have the ability to unscramble these broadcast signals with DRM (in a way similar to what was happening in the early 1980’s just with more complex technology).  It does open up the possibility that some premium services could become subscription services like the original era of WHT rather than rely on a free ad supported model (The FAST model for streaming).  The main broadcast channel as part of their license with the government is mandated by the FCC as a public service for news and information, and emergency services. The diginets are not mandated by this same government decree and could be carved out for premium services like traditional pay cable channels in some markets.   However, for the potential lucrative advertiser business model, scale and market penetration, it will be important to reach the most eyeballs.  Through the IP based connectivity advertisers will be able to target consumers with DAI (Dynamic Ad Insertion) on the household or region level like never before seen with over-the-air broadcasts in a modern addressable way.  

            It’s going to be an interesting time to see this technology flourish, last year I purchased a HD Home Run converter box (Silicon Dust) to be ready for the transition.   I also am planning to test out the Atlanta DTH converter box that had their launch delayed so they could include the DRM capability.  They were set to deploy in Mid-August as the first officially certified NextGen TV box on the market in the US.  Both these devices have DVR services and cloud storage upgrades, but regular service is free as long as you have an antenna.   The HD Home Run also has apps for almost every smart device, so your over-the-air content is accessible from any device in the home over Wi-Fi.   I am also in the process of testing the NextGen box from Chinese electronics company Shenzhen Junuo.  Given my location in the middle of Manhattan, it’s going to be interesting how the signals work in New York.  In the meantime, these devices will allow me to pull in the existing ATSC 1.0 signals on my television just like the existing tuner, until the new signals are ready.  We should see at least 75% of US Households have access to NextGen TV by the end of the year, according to Anne Schelle (Pearl TV). Most of NYC and other markets won’t be upgraded to NextGen TV until well into 2024.  Grab your remotes and buckle in for NextGen TV!