NAB Petitions FCC for ATSC 1.0 Sunset Starting in 2028

telcodad · 2025-02-27T17:49:32+00:00

The National Association of Broadcasters has petitioned the FCC to approve a February 2028 sunset for ATSC 1.0 broadcasts in the top 55 markets, with the remaining markets making the transition to ATSC 3.0 by Feb. 2030: NAB Petitions FCC for ATSC 1.0 Sunset in 2028 and 2030 https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/nab-petitions-fcc-for-atsc-1-0-sunset-in-2028-and-2030

AMDUSER

antdude No, they still are including them. ATSC 1.0 currently. Unless you purchased a Vizio SmartCast TV P series which has no tuner.

telcodad

FYI - A Light Reading article today about this:

‘NextGen TV’ transition plan will hit obstacles, but likely to win FCC approval
A proposal for a US broadcaster transition to ATSC 3.0 is likely to secure FCC approval, but it will face strong pushback from the consumer electronics industry, pay-TV operators and consumer advocates, an analyst warns.
https://www.lightreading.com/video-broadcast/-nextgen-tv-transition-plan-will-hit-obstacles-but-likely-to-win-fcc-approval

telcodad

Latest update:

Cable TV Companies Opposes Mandatory OTA ATSC 3.0 Transition, Citing High Costs and Low Consumer Demand
By Luke Bouma, Cord Cutters News - May 8, 2025
https://cordcuttersnews.com/cable-tc-companies-opposes-mandatory-atsc-3-0-transition-citing-high-costs-and-low-consumer-demand/

The cable industry, led by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), is pushing back against a proposal by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) to mandate a nationwide transition to ATSC 3.0, also known as NextGen TV, by 2030. In a filing with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Thursday, NCTA argued that the proposed mandate would impose significant costs on consumers and multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) while offering little benefit due to limited consumer interest and technological challenges. …

telcodad

Another article on the Light Reading site about this:

NCTA: Forced transition to ATSC 3.0 is ‘unjustified and ill-advised’
The NAB’s request that the FCC set hard deadlines for a transition to the ATSC 3.0 broadcast signaling standard received hard rebukes from NCTA – The Internet & Television Association and the Consumer Technology Association.
By Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading - May 13, 2025
https://www.lightreading.com/video-broadcast/ncta-forced-transition-to-atsc-3-0-is-unjustified-and-ill-advised-

A US broadcaster petition calling for the FCC to set hard deadlines for a full transition to the ATSC 3.0 broadcast signaling standard received a heavy dose of blowback from the cable and consumer electronics (CE) industries From a high level, the cable and CE interests believe a mandated transition is unnecessary, will raise costs for video distributors and consumers alike, and is on shaky legal ground. They also argue that a mandated transition flies in the face of the deregulatory goals of the new Trump administration.
:
Despite these anticipated objections, some industry watchers believe the NAB’s transition plan will win FCC approval.

In March, New Street Research policy analyst Blair Levin expressed a belief that FCC Chairman Brendan Carr “likely favors” the NAB’s petition, noting that Carr has already made a call for a firm deadline on the transition to ATSC 3.0 and has “generally agreed with the argument that local broadcasters need new revenue streams.”

telcodad

telcodad NCTA: Forced transition to ATSC 3.0 is ‘unjustified and ill-advised’
The NAB’s request that the FCC set hard deadlines for a transition to the ATSC 3.0 broadcast signaling standard received hard rebukes from NCTA – The Internet & Television Association and the Consumer Technology Association.
By Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading - May 13, 2025
https://www.lightreading.com/video-broadcast/ncta-forced-transition-to-atsc-3-0-is-unjustified-and-ill-advised-

Well, a Broadcast Industry veteran just “declared war” on the NCTA and CTA now:

‘Without Victory, There Is No Survival’
A call to arms for the Broadcast Industry
By Mark Aitken, TV Technology - May 29, 2025
https://www.tvtechnology.com/opinion/without-victory-there-is-no-survival

If Winston Churchill was leading the broadcast industry into battle against the Tech Giants, he might say something like this—

Ladies and gentlemen, colleagues in the service of truth, trust, and community—

We are not gathered here today as we once were, in times of ease or complacency.
We stand here, as broadcasters, in a time of great peril and greater promise.
A time when the very nature of communication is being redrawn by forces larger than any one of us.

And make no mistake—we are at war.

Not with rifles or rockets. But with rules rewritten, with platforms unbound by the public trust, with titanic technology firms whose appetites are insatiable and whose ambitions are global. ….

Donut417

Sinclair decided to comment on the issue. Quite interesting. Great points brought up in the video.

Donut417

telcodad Looking at the article

But should the FCC proceed with the NAB’s petition, NCTA wants a few things, including a requirement that broadcasters deliver ATSC 3.0 feeds to MVPDs through a direct fiber-based IP connection that supports SCTE 277 2024, a specification that addresses contribution formats. Supporting those specs will help cable operators reduce costs when taking delivery of ATSC 3.0 signals, NCTA said.

So it sounds like the cable operators might be willing to deal with they distribute the signal to them using the methods in the quotes. Then all they would probably be on the hook for is boxes. But even they ATSC 3.0 is an IPTV based tech from what I read. So it might be likely they could use the similar hardware as they already have out in the field. OR at least replacing boxes might be cheaper than replacing stuff in the data center. But if the NAB gets the cable operators on board this will likely pass. Because who gives a shit about poor people?

lesmikesell

Broadcasters don’t want people receiving free OTA signals so they want to make it as close to impossible as they can to protect the rebroadcast fees they get from cable and streaming services.

Consumers, on the other hand, want an antenna feeding a gateway device like tablo/hdhomerun etc. that handles recording and sends to apps on their (multiple) streaming devices. The DRM provisions in the current ATSC 3.0 rollout make that pretty much impossible - the big vendors aren’t even trying.

Donut417

lesmikesell Broadcasters don’t want people receiving free OTA signals so they want to make it as close to impossible as they can to protect the rebroadcast fees they get from cable and streaming services.

The problem is the broadcasters are competing with streaming providers as well. Streaming providers likely will win. Because the broadcasters dont own the content. They are affiliated with one of the big media companies. The media companies own the content. Most of these media companies have their own streaming services.

Also by making it harder for people to get content over the air they would effectively cutting down on how many would see ads. So Im sure advertisers would expect to pay less. Not to mention cable operators who are also aginst all of this due to cost see the writing on the wall for pay TV. Thats why they are betting big on their cellular service. So what happens when cable operators start removing TV service from their list of services? It already happened with WOW, who partnered with Youtube TV (My boss hates it). The less companies who are in the market the less money these clowns will make. YouTube TV and Hulu can only charge so much for service until people stop subbing to the Live TV portion.

The other thing is the shift in how people are watching. I have a feeling most younger people dont care about live TV. Shit, the only show I watch on “Live TV” is NCIS which I record to my Plex server. If I didnt watch it like that I would just wait for most of it to air and watch it on paramount plus. They also have to understand not everyone watches on TV, many use their phones (too small of a screen for me), or their tablets. Ive even considered not upgrading to a newer TV and just getting a tablet for when I want to watch stuff in bed.

lesmikesell

Donut417 The broadcast networks own a lot of content or are owned by content companies. But the issue here is that they make more on rebroadcast fees than OTA and they aren’t about to give that up.

Yes, people know that watching live in real time is somewhat uncivilized - that’s why DVRs were invented but there is absolutely no chance that Tivo is going to make an ATSC 3.0 device - or any of the other major players unless things change. The Zapperbox guy is making a valiant effort but it’s almost a one-man show and the only chance of the gateway concept working is to buy dedicated client receivers for every TV.

Donut417

lesmikesell But the issue here is that they make more on rebroadcast fees than OTA and they aren’t about to give that up.

You’re missing the point. The broadcasters like Sinclair doesnt own shit besides the actually broadcast stations. All the content is owned by companies like NBC (Comcast), ABC (Disney), etc. Those content owns have their own Streaming services (Peacock, Hulu and Disney Plus). The fact is the broadcasters are screwing themselves. Because when Live TV becomes too much people will cancel service. Also the people who care about such services are Boomers and Gen Xers, well those people are at the end of their lives. What are they going to do when more and more of them die?

To be honest in a few articles I read I keep saying they want to do data casting, thats where they see the future. Not sure how that will play out.

lesmikesell

Donut417 No, the point is still the same that broadcasters don’t want free OTA reception. They want rebroadcast fees from cable or streaming even if it is their own streaming service. But yeah, it probably doesn’t even matter at this point. Use the airwaves for cell service and forget about broadcasting anything.

Zer0Cool

Donut417 Plus like most broadcast tv isnt even worth paying for. id sooner pay for traditional non skinny bundle cable again.

Somewhat-Reticent

Time once again to check whether patent issues have been resolved?

Donut417

telcodad

On the Light Reading site today:

Debate roils over ‘NextGenTV’ transition
NAB is trading punches with a group that includes NCTA, ACA Connects and the Consumer Technology Association over a proposed plan to set a hard deadline to complete the transition to the ATSC 3.0 broadcast signaling standard.
By Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading - July 9, 2025
https://www.lightreading.com/regulatory-politics/debate-roils-over-nextgentv-transition

On one side, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is pushing hard for the FCC to support a time-defined transition to ATSC 3.0. On the other is a rising tide of opposition from groups including cable operators, consumer electronics organizations and a group of low-power TV broadcasters.

The original petition urges the FCC to seek a two-phase plan to transition high-power stations to ATSC 3.0 from the current ATSC 1.0 standard by around February 2030. ATSC 3.0 is an IP-based standard that has adopted “NextGenTV” branding. ATSC 3.0 supports 4K and high dynamic range (HDR) video, immersive audio, on-demand video, enhanced advertising and emergency alerts. Broadcaster-backed efforts, such as the EdgeBeam joint venture, aim to use ATSC 3.0 to deliver high-speed data services.

Entities such as NCTA – The Internet & Television Association and the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) have opposed the proposal, believing that the market, rather than government mandates, should dictate the pace of the ATSC 3.0 transition. They also argue that a forced transition will raise the cost of TVs that would require ATSC 3.0 tuners and cause cable operators to spend heavily on ATSC 3.0-capable equipment.
:
The debate will no doubt continue as the FCC weighs the proposal. At least one top industry watcher believes NAB will get its wish and gain FCC approval. In March, New Street Research policy analyst Blair Levin said he believes FCC Chairman Brendan Carr “likely favors” NAB’s petition, and that Carr has “generally agreed with the argument that local broadcasters need new revenue streams.”

Donut417

Somewhat-Reticent Not that I am aware. Which is going to be interesting. Plus TV’s will go up in price in a time that prices are high across the board. I wonder if we will see more companies doing “Home Theater displays” that come without tuners, as legally a TV has to have a tuner, at least in the US under FCC guidelines.

telcodad believing that the market, rather than government mandates,

I agree. It should be the free market that decides. The problem that the broadcasters dont seem to understand is that TV’s with 3.0 tuners costs more, not just a little either but Ive read potentially hundreds more. Most are not going to want to pay for that. Not to mention the patents and other bullshit. DRM and encryption. The negatives dont out weight the positives in my opinion. While the standard can do 4K, how many channels do you think they will broadcast in 4K? With encryption, how long before they try to make you pay for those channels?

telcodad cause cable operators to spend heavily on ATSC 3.0-capable equipment.

Not if they give up on TV. When the bean counters start counting beans, they might find that upgrading equipment just isn’t worth it. Not at the rate people are leaving. Dont say it wont happen, WOW gave up on TV, Ive read many smaller cable companies also have given up on TV. WOW for example partnered with Youtube TV. One of my bosses has it, absolutely hates it, but he’s also not real tech savvy, which is part of the issue.

Somewhat-Reticent

Did they ever solve the patent-disputes issues?

InternetJeff

Donut417 the standard can do 4K, how many channels do you think they will broadcast in 4K?

Very little. The bandwidth is simply not there.

telcodad

Donut417 telcodad believing that the market, rather than government mandates,

I agree. It should be the free market that decides. The problem that the broadcasters don’t seem to understand is that TV’s with 3.0 tuners costs more, not just a little either but I’ve read potentially hundreds more. Most are not going to want to pay for that. Not to mention the patents and other bullshit. DRM and encryption.

Yeah, the infighting and mud-throwing is already starting now:

SiliconDust refutes Pearl TV’s ‘defamatory statements’ about its video device
SiliconDust has fired back at Pearl TV’s claims that its HDHomeRun Flex device can’t access certain ATSC 3.0-delivered channels because the product uses a system on a chip from HiSilicon, a unit of Huawei, the Chinese telecom giant that the US government has deemed a national security threat.
Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading - July 22, 2025
https://www.lightreading.com/regulatory-politics/silicondust-refutes-pearl-tv-s-defamatory-statements-about-its-hdhomerun-box

The blame game is heating up between a consortium of major TV broadcasters and a vendor that makes a popular video device capable of accessing and recording over-the-air channels and distributing them to TVs and mobile devices in the home. And it’s all taking place at the FCC.

SiliconDust today fired off a letter to the FCC to refute claims by the Pearl TV broadcaster consortium that the company’s use of silicon made by a Huawei subsidiary is the primary reason why its HDHomeRun Flex device is incapable of accessing certain broadcasts delivered via the ATSC 3.0 signaling standard:

https://www.lightreading.com/regulatory-politics/huawei-s-chipmaker-gets-tossed-into-the-nextgen-tv-fracas

In response to Pearl TV’s “defamatory statements,” SiliconDust President Nicholas Kelsey stressed that broadcasters do not have the authority to regulate tuner devices and that Congress “has not ceded the FCC’s regulatory authority of consumer electronics to private industry.”

https://eu-assets.contentstack.com/v3/assets/blt23eb5bbc4124baa6/blt4f6f7be8d6e6f75a/687fba18b9b8c97ace206b5d/Silicondust_Response_to_Pearl_Ex_Parte_Letter_(7-22-25).pdf
:
Pearl TV, a consortium of Cox Media Group, E.W. Scripps, Graham Media Group, Hearst Television, Nexstar, Gray Television, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Tegna, argued that SiliconDust’s use of the HiSilicon SoC in the HDHomeRun Flex device is the “root cause” of the issue because the chip can’t access ATSC 3.0 programming that implements standardized content protection technology via the ATSC 3.0 Security Authority (A3SA). ….

Donut417

InternetJeff From my understanding that was one of the arguments to sunset ATSC 1.0. Is so they can free up the bandwidth to offer 4K. At least that was the argument. I doubt that will happen. As Im not even sure how much of network TV is shot in 4K. I know some sports events are, but a lot of that isn’t available on broadcast TV.

telcodad

Donut417 From my understanding that was one of the arguments to sunset ATSC 1.0. Is so they can free up the bandwidth to offer 4K. At least that was the argument.

But, while ATSC 1.0 wasn’t designed for 4K programming, it is possible to broadcast 4K content using the latest, more efficient codecs, like HEVC:

Free 4K OTA TV is Here But Using ATSC 1.0 Not ATSC 3.0 Next Gen TV
By Luke Bouma, Cord Cutters News - April 7, 2024
https://cordcuttersnews.com/free-4k-ota-tv-is-here-but-using-atsc-1-0-not-atsc-3-0-next-gen-tv/

One of the big selling points of Nextgen ATSC 3.0 was that it would someday bring 4K for free to your antenna TV stations offering ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC.

Now a local TV station in Eugene, Oregon, is offering multiple 4K broadcasts on the older ATSC 1.0 standard according to a report from the Antenna Man.

To do this, a low-powered TV station, KO31M-D, made some changes to the codecs it uses. Now most modern TVs can get TV in 4K for free from OTA TV.

The problem is some older TVs do not support this new standard but most modern TVs do. ….

TV Station Launches Multiple 4K Broadcasts OTA on ATSC 1.0

However, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) knows that ATSC1.0 doesn’t use DRM, so no opportunities to make $$$ there, as with ATSC 3.0. 😉

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