Next Gen TV is exploring its crib before it walks. Over the year following FCC authorization of ATSC 3.0 transmission, much has been tried and learned in Phoenix, Dallas and some other markets. All ten BEIT ATSC 3.0 Track technical sessions on Sunday cover the latest information and are all in meeting room N256. Several of the sessions are about technical developments and results in the Phoenix and Dallas market trials. This story previews three ATSC 3.0 Track Sunday sessions and scheduled presenters.

10:40 Phoenix Early Trials

Not too early on Sunday morning, the first ATSC 3.0 Track session begins at 10:40 in room N256. It is BEIT Paper Track: ATSC 3 Academy I: Lessons from Early Trials (Pearl TV/Phoenix). The session is a part of the ATSC 3.0 Track and known as “Practical Implementation and Launch Profiles for ATSC 3.0.” Session presenters are Peter Van Peenen, Technology Consultant at Pearl TV and Robert Seidel, VP of Engineering and Advanced Technology at CBS Television.

Seidel received an Emmy from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 1993 for his pioneering work in portable satellite uplink systems used for worldwide newsgathering. In 2014, he received the National Association of Broadcasters Television Engineering Achievement Award. He is the Chairman of the Emmy Engineering & Technical selection committee for National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Past -President of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), as well as a Fellow of SMPTE and a member of the Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers (IEEE).

The focus of the Pearl presentation will be discussion of what has been learned to this point in the Phoenix Model Market. The session will address issues associated with clearing spectrum for a broadcaster-supported transition to ATSC-3 and show a viable method that will work in most markets making use of the added efficiencies provided by the new standard’s encoding and transmission capabilities.

This presentation will also discuss issues likely found in the early ATSC-3 broadcast equipment as well as receiver technical implementations. It will also discuss what Pearl partners believe is a sensible ATSC 3.0 television service model that will be possible in the early days of the transition. Pearl has worked with the ATSC 3.0 ecosystem to create an initial service model for the transition to the new standard with features viewers desire based in solid audience research also conducted by Pearl.

The session will cover what is happening in Phoenix from an ATSC 3.0 test perspective, who is involved and what they are doing. It will address what had to be done to get multiple local channels into 3.0 emission in Phoenix, utilizing a wide range of vendors and equipment types, all using a single stick – making it the 1st ‘ATSC 3.0 lighthouse’. It will also cover hosting arrangements, public service announcements, MVPD notifications, what lessons were learned and what is planned next.

When the Phoenix “model market” project was launched, it was intended to “create an open test bed for the mutual benefit of all stakeholders in the TV ecosystem.” Initially, the project had several objectives, including confirming basic TV service parameters and performance, determining the appeal of next-generation high dynamic range video and immersive audio content to consumers, assessing TV application features and implementation requirements, testing interactive and addressable advertising functionality, determining consumer device and service appeal, and ensuring effective and efficient interoperability with multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) systems.” This session will answer some of those questions.

11:20 Dallas Early Trials

Following the Phoenix session in the same meeting room at 11:20 is BEIT Paper Track: ATSC 3 Academy I: Lessons from Early Trials (Dallas). The session is a part of the ATSC 3.0 Track and known as “Practical Model for ATSC 3.0 SFN Deployment – Lessons from Dallas Trial.” This session will be presented by Pete Starke, Vice President of Broadcast at American Tower Corp and Robert Seidel, VP, Engineering and Advanced Technology at CBS Television. The focus will be on ATSC 3.0 RF transmission and SFN experiences.

Sinclair, Nexstar and Univision teamed up with American Tower to build and operate the industry’s first ATSC 3.0 SFN project in the Dallas market. Since going live, many practical lessons have been learned from the trial to serve as a model for future broadcasters looking to transition sites to prepare for future national deployment of ATSC 3.0 Next Gen broadcast services.

The presentation team will share the successes and obstacles of site development, construction, connectivity, operations, field testing and performance.

2:10 Broadcast-Broadband Bridges

Sunday afternoon at 2:10 in room N256 is ATSC 3 Academy II: IP and Apps - the Broadcast-Broadband Bridges. The session is part of the ATSC 3.0 Track and known as “NextGen Broadcast is OTT Over the Air Converged Broadcast/Broadband Platform.”

Presenters are Mark Aitken VP, Advanced Technology, Sinclair Broadcast Group (SBG) & President at One Media, SBG, Jerry Whitaker, VP of Standards Development at Advanced Television Systems Committee, Wayne Pecena with Texas A&M University - KAMU FM & TV, Mark Corl, and Jim DeChant.

Aitken joined SBG in 1999 and has served as Vice President of Advanced Technology since 2011. He represents the group’s interests in industry FCC, regulatory, technical and standards issues and represents SBG within industry related organizations.

Whitaker is a Fellow the Society of Broadcast Engineers and a Life Fellow of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. He has served as a Board member and Vice President of the Society of Broadcast Engineers and is the author and editor of more than 35 books on technical topics.

The session will focus on ATSC 3.0 when married with OTT. The enabling tools that have been used to drive TV audiences to other internet-enabled platforms have come full circle, and back into the hands of TV broadcasters. The use of IP as a core transport platform creates the need for broadcast engineers to have a high competency in networking technology to successfully design, build, and support the ATSC 3.0 infrastructure.

Much of the presentation will be from the TV engineering perspective and will focus on the networking topics found or required in the ATSC 3.0 infrastructure, whether a simple OTA or a hybrid interactive application environment.

Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI), mobility and Content Delivery Network (CDN) functionality for internet distribution across multiple networks such as ISPs and mobile broadband, will allow broadcasters to better monetize their assets. ATSC 3.0 provides tools to create enhanced user experiences that can lead the growing competition for audience numbers.

I’m spending my Sunday in LVCC N256 because it’s the best place in the world to get ATSC 3.0 answers and ask questions. You're invited too.

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