LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--At the 2019 NAB Show, a broad coalition of broadcast television station groups – including both network owned-and-operated stations and affiliates, as well as public broadcasters -- today announced plans to deploy Next-Gen TV in the 40 largest U.S. TV markets by the end of 2020.
Today’s announcement includes Fox Television Stations, NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations, Univision, SpectrumCo (whose members include Sinclair Broadcast Group and Nexstar Media Group) members of the Pearl TV business organization (including Cox Media Group, The E.W. Scripps Company, Graham Media Group, Gray Television, Hearst Television Inc., Meredith Local Media Group, Nexstar Media Group and TEGNA Inc). Additional supporting broadcasters include America’s Public Television Stations (APTS), Capitol Broadcasting, Hubbard Broadcasting, News-Press & Gazette Broadcasting, and public broadcasters participating in the Phoenix Model Market Next-Gen TV test.
The market-driven effort builds on the testing and rollouts that have already taken place not only in Phoenix but in Dallas, Baltimore, East Lansing, Raleigh, and Santa Barbara. It reflects the strong commitment of commercial and non-commercial broadcasters across the country to bring advanced television services to the public.
An expanded launch of Next-Gen TV will greatly enhance over-the-air services for viewers, while bringing together broadcast and broadband functionality to give audiences more content and choice. Next-Gen TV also provides groundbreaking opportunities for TV broadcasters interested in offering new features and serving new markets. Deployment of ATSC 3.0 will provide information and entertainment to ATSC 3.0-equipped television receivers, to automobiles, and to other digital and mobile consumer devices.
Next-Gen TV is powered by the new Internet Protocol-based ATSC 3.0 standard, which allows consumers to integrate the most popular and pervasive video service – broadcast television – into their digital lifestyles.
This first wave of over-the-air Next-Gen TV service will begin with several markets slated for launch this year, with dozens more planned through 2020. This timeline will make Next-Gen TV service available to tens of millions of viewers and is concurrent with the anticipated 2020 introduction of consumer devices equipped to receive the advanced signals.
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.
Top 40 Markets where the first transitioning stations have been identified (ranked by population) include:
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• Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX |
• Baltimore, MD |
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• Houston, TX |
• Nashville, TN |
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• San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA |
• Salt Lake City, UT |
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• Phoenix, AZ |
• San Antonio, TX |
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• Seattle-Tacoma, WA |
• Kansas City, KS-MO |
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• Detroit, MI |
• Columbus, OH |
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• Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne, FL |
• West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, FL |
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• Portland, OR |
• Las Vegas, NV |
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• Pittsburgh, PA |
• Austin, TX |
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• Raleigh-Durham, NC |
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Work is now underway to identify Next-Gen TV stations in these Top 40 markets (ranked by population), with details to follow in the coming months:
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• New York, NY |
• Cleveland-Akron, OH |
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• Los Angeles, CA |
• Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto, CA |
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• Chicago, IL |
• St. Louis, MO |
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• Philadelphia, PA |
• Charlotte, NC |
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• Washington, DC |
• Indianapolis, IN |
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• Boston, MA |
• San Diego, CA |
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• Atlanta, GA |
• Hartford-New Haven, CT |
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• Tampa-St.Petersburg-Sarasota, FL |
• Cincinnati, OH |
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• Minneapolis - St. Paul, MN |
• Milwaukee, WI |
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• Miami - Ft. Lauderdale, FL |
• Greenville-Spartanburg, SC - Asheville, NC |
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• Denver, CO |
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Additional TV markets where stations have been identified for Next-Gen TV service (ranked by population) include:
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• Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News, VA |
• Omaha, NE |
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• Oklahoma City, OK |
• Charleston - Huntington, WV |
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• Albuquerque - Santa Fe, NM |
• Springfield, MO |
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• Grand Rapids - Kalamazoo, MI |
• Rochester, NY |
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• Memphis, TN |
• Syracuse, NY |
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• Buffalo, NY |
• Chattanooga, TN |
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• Providence - New Bedford, RI |
• Charleston, SC |
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• Little Rock - Pine Bluff, AR |
• Burlington, VT - Plattsburgh, NY |
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• Mobile, AL - Pensacola, FL |
• Davenport, IA - Moline, IL |
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• Albany-Schenectady - Troy, NY |
• Santa Barbara - Santa Maria - San Luis Obispo, CA |
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• Flint-Saginaw - Bay City, MI |
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“We know consumers are excited about all the benefits ATSC 3.0 will deliver,” said Brian Markwalter, senior vice president, research and standards, Consumer Technology Association (CTA)™. “And we expect CES® 2020 will feature a wide variety of reception devices – integrated 4K Ultra HD TVs, gateway receivers, portable devices and more – optimized for reception of Next-Gen TV signals.”
“Broadcasters across America will utilize the advanced capabilities of Next-Gen TV to both delight our audiences with the best entertainment while performing a valuable public service,” said NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith. “One of the most compelling features of Next-Gen TV will be the life-saving alerting functions that will give our nation’s first responders the ability to use the broad reach of local television to keep viewers informed during emergencies. Our members’ news departments will come to rely on the advanced capabilities of Next-Gen TV as a resource to forge even stronger connections with the citizens we serve every day.”
Patrick Butler, President and CEO of America’s Public Television Stations:
“Public television stations see ATSC 3.0 as a boon to our public service missions of education, public safety and civic leadership. The new standard will make possible advances in distance learning, emergency communications through datacasting, connectivity service to Smart Cities, and more. We can’t wait, and we look forward to working with our colleagues in commercial broadcasting to make all this happen as soon as we can.”
Joe Di Scipio, SVP, Legal and FCC Compliance, Legal for FOX Corporation:
“ATSC 3.0 is integral to the success and longevity of our business. We are thrilled to be on the forefront of this movement with our partners in expanding the access and footprint of Next-Gen TV broadcast. This is yet another example of our commitment to innovation and our viewers.”
Emily L. Barr, President and Chief Executive Officer of Graham Media Group:
“Graham Media Group is proud of its innovative approach to serving and covering our local communities and is looking forward to working with fellow broadcasters as we adopt Next-Gen technology across our markets.”
Pat LaPlatney, President and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Gray Television, Inc.:
“With Gray’s focus on operating leading televisions stations with continued growth in mind, we are proud to be a part of Pearl TV and the efforts to move to the ATSC 3.0 standard. We know the advanced technology will allow us to better serve our communities with Ultra High Definition content, delivery to mobile devices, enhanced audio experiences, and emergency communications. Additionally, these efforts will lead to more sustainability for local broadcasters in the future as they continue to compete with international online and digital services. We look forward to working in our 90+ markets with other broadcasters to bring the ATSC 3.0 technology and its benefits to the viewers in our communities.”
Patrick McCreery, President of Meredith Corporation’s Local Media Group:
“We’ve seen amazing things from our involvement in the Phoenix Model Market, and we are excited to continue forward progress on ATSC 3.0 with Pearl and its partners in other large markets across the United States.”
Eric Bradley, VP of Business Development, News-Press & Gazette Company:
“News-Press & Gazette Company is encouraged to see other broadcasters join us as we ride the road to ATSC 3.0. The potential of ATSC 3.0 as lifesaving technology is a great benefit to our viewers in Santa Barbara and other NPG markets as we look to the future of television broadcasting. We are proud to serve our communities as the local source for news and information daily and at the times when it matters most!”
Perry A. Sook, Founder, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Nexstar Media Group, Inc.:
“With a culture rooted in entrepreneurship and an overarching commitment to localism, Nexstar has long understood the importance of innovation in driving the growth and success of our business as well as the entire broadcasting industry at large. Next-Gen TV services will enable us to deliver new value and capabilities to viewers and advertisers, while creating new business opportunities to support the continued growth of our industry well into the future. That is why Nexstar is proud to join together with many other television broadcasters in an effort of unprecedented industry collaboration to facilitate the successful roll-out of ATSC 3.0 across the United States.”
Anne Schelle, Managing Director of the Pearl TV broadcast business group:
“Our Consumer Lab Research clearly shows excitement for Next-Gen TV, driving interest in broadcast TV and enhanced audio and video and interactivity. Today’s announcement helps to solve the ‘chicken or egg’ question about the introduction of new, higher-quality television services. Now consumer technology companies have a clear roadmap for Next-Gen TV, allowing them to innovate and introduce the first receivers for U.S. consumers in 2020.”
Chris Ripley, President and CEO of Sinclair Broadcast Group:
“Sinclair is proud to join other leading broadcasters and television stations across the country to launch Next-Gen TV - the most important upgrade ever of the nation’s broadcasting infrastructure. Sinclair was instrumental in pioneering ATSC 3.0 and is committed to bringing its many benefits to consumers across the country with an aggressive rollout schedule. ATSC 3.0 allows broadcasters to combine the infinite flexibility of Internet Protocol with the unparalleled efficiency and quality of broadcast distribution. The combination will allow Sinclair and all other broadcasters to provide vastly improved television service to our communities while creating entirely new services to diversify revenue and better serve the public.”
John Hane, President of SpectrumCo:
“SpectrumCo is proud to have helped organize Next-Gen TV rollouts in many of the first wave markets announced today. Broadcasters large and small, commercial and public, from coast to coast have invested countless hours of analysis, planning and coordination to develop the rollout plans announced today. The industry is enthusiastic about the game-changing opportunities to improve the broadcast experience for consumers, better serve advertisers and subscribers, and diversify into new businesses and new sources of revenue. SpectrumCo will continue to support the industry as stations execute on these plans in 2019 and 2020.”
Dave Lougee, President and Chief Executive Officer, TEGNA Inc., representing PearlTV:
“PearlTV’s 300 local broadcasters, along with our network partners, are aligned in our support of Next-Gen TV, which opens up new opportunities and business models while ensuring that local broadcasters remain a vital and forward-looking resource in our communities. We are honored to join other broadcasters in leading the rollout of Next-Gen TV to additional markets across the country.”
John Buergler, SVP of Growth Initiatives, Univision:
”Univision is excited to continue supporting the NAB and the broadcast industry as we transition to Next-Gen TV in several markets in 2020. Our partnership with the broadcasters of Pearl Group in Phoenix and the SpectrumCo group in Dallas has helped create an easily replicated template for other broadcasters to follow in many more markets in 2019 and 2020.”