APTS, PBS says NextGen TV transition should be voluntary, not forced

BLANK Antenna Transmission Tower Stock Photo WEBP TD — (Stock photo)

Key Points

Public TV groups urged the FCC to keep NextGen TV adoption voluntary, citing high costs and funding pressures.
APTS and PBS warned a forced transition could burden stations and viewers without federal rebate support.
They called for flexibility, allowing stations and markets to shift to ATSC 3.0 on their own timelines.

A group representing local public television stations across America have urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to maintain a voluntary transition to the next generation digital broadcast standard known as NextGen TV, rather than mandate a full transition away from the current broadcast standard, as some in the industry have proposed.

In a public comment filed with the FCC last week, the group America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) and PBS said nearly four dozen of its member stations were already broadcasting via NextGen TV in different parts of the country. Some are doing so via a dedicated streaming feed offered by Sinclair, Inc. stations that co-mingles with traditional broadcast signals transmitted via ATSC 3.0, the technical name for the standard.

That transition continues, despite some member stations facing serious financial budget constraints brought on by Congress’ decision to withhold funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and other public media groups last year. The lack of funding caused CPB to dissolve earlier this month, and has resulted in at least four public TV stations dropping PBS programming.

The lack of funding also caused other initiatives to slow, including the development and deployment of a NextGen TV-focused emergency warning system, which promised advanced features like hyper-local messages and accessibility features like support for multiple languages and sign language interpretation, according to a demonstration of the system viewed by The Desk last summer. The program, called the Next Generation Warning System (NGWS), officially shut down last year, with CPB urging the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to pick up where NGWS left off. So far, that has not happened.

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), the main lobbying group for the commercial TV broadcast industry, has backed a forced transition from the current digital standard to NextGen TV within the next four years. Earlier, a number of broadcasters through their own trade groups and consortiums encouraged the FCC to mandate the transition for most large-city TV stations by 2028, with the rest of the country following by 2030.

A forced transition from the current broadcast standard to NextGen TV would require most Americans who watch broadcast TV via an antenna to purchase new smart TVs that are compatible with the technology, or upgrade their existing smart TVs via converter boxes, similar to the analog-to-digital transition that occurred in 2009.

Unlike the analog-to-digital transition, there are no proposals for a federally-backed rebate program that would allow Americans to acquire converter boxes for free. Instead, a NextGen TV-backer called Pearl TV has introduced a certification program that gives device manufacturers the ability to make and sell NextGen TV converter boxes that retail for around $60 — a cost that Americans will have to cover in full, absent a future rebate program.

Still, proponents of the technology say the benefits outweigh the downsides. They say a forced transition to NextGen TV will spur stronger consumer interest in the technology, which will convince TV and set-top box manufacturers to support the standard.

Supporters also say the technology gives broadcasters a more-level playing field to compete with streaming services, because the standard allows them to sell personalized advertising similar to what is available on connected TV (CTV) platforms. Emergency messages aside, NextGen TV also allows broadcasters — particularly those with news operations — to deliver localized weather and traffic information to viewers. Some broadcasters also note that NextGen TV requires less spectrum for their signals, which will allow them to lease unused spectrum to radio broadcasters and wireless phone companies.

But APTS and PBS say the cost of transitioning stations from the current standard to NextGen TV will be higher than some can currently bear, at a time when their budgets are already tight due to the significant drop in federal funding.

Rather than force all commercial and non-commercial stations to adopt NextGen TV, the groups say the FCC should continue to back a voluntary switch from one signal to another, without any requirements that involve the winding down of the current broadcast standard.

“The FCC can best support television stations, and the viewers they serve, with the transition to ATSC 3.0 by providing local stations with maximum flexibility to make their own decisions about ATSC 3.0 deployment,” the groups said.

The public broadcast groups stopped short of saying the FCC should require all stations to broadcast an ATSC 1.0 signal in tandem with their ATSC 3.0 signal, as they currently do. But the groups said any shutoff of ATSC 1.0 signals should be done on a per-station or per-market basis, given the volatility in the non-commercial and commercial TV industries alike.

Each market is different, the groups note, and some might be ready for a full transition earlier than expected while others will take several years to move their signals off ATSC 1.0 to ATSC 3.0.

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The Desk offers the most-comprehensive coverage of NextGen TV, with articles and information that shed light on the commercial broadcast industry’s support for the standard, its impact on local television viewers across the country and lobbying efforts from all sides in Washington. To view our archive on the topic, click or tap here.