Nexstar Media Group activated its NextGen TV signal in the Cleveland market this week, making the ATSC 3.0 technology available in the top 25 markets across the country.
WBNX (Channel 55) is serving as the market’s lighthouse station, hosting ATSC 3.0 signals for WJW (Channel 8, Fox), WEWS (Channel 5, ABC), WOIO (Channel 19, CBS) and WKYC (Channel 3, NBC).
Viewers need a compatible television or external tuner to receive the broadcasts. Federal law requires broadcasters with NextGen TV signals to maintain a simulcast of their ATSC 1.0 feed for some time, which gives audiences a bit of time to purchase converter boxes or new TV sets compatible with the NextGen TV standard. A proposal being considered by the Federal Communications Commission would give broadcasters the privilege of shutting down their older TV signals within the next three years.
Nexstar said Cleveland’s deployment was initially delayed by limited available spectrum and difficulties securing enough station participation. The company said its $22 million acquisition of WBNX from a peer broadcaster two years ago allowed the station’s spectrum to be used for the market-wide launch.
The lighthouse arrangement allows several stations to place their ATSC 3.0 programming on one transmitter while their existing facilities continue carrying ATSC 1.0 signals for participating broadcasters.
ATSC 3.0 is designed to support higher-resolution video, high dynamic range, immersive audio, interactive programming and more advanced emergency alerts. The standard can also be used to transmit data for applications including digital signage, public safety communications and high-precision positioning services.
“Completing this ATSC 3.0 transition represents a significant milestone in the nationwide transformation of broadcast capabilities and is the first step to bringing a host of benefits to consumers in the Cleveland DMA. NextGen TV service also opens up opportunities for EdgeBeam Wireless, our joint venture, to offer its services to customers looking to take advantage of the benefits of data delivery over a broadcast system for such applications as high-precision positioning, digital signage and enhancing public safety,” Nexstar Chief Technology and Digital Officer Brett Jenkins said in a statement on Thursday.
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), the commercial industry’s public interest group in washington, said the Cleveland arrangement demonstrates how competing stations can cooperate on the technical deployment of the new standard.
“NextGen TV is more than a technology upgrade. It is a pathway to a stronger, more resilient local broadcasting system that enhances public safety, supports local journalism and ensures communities have access to trusted, free, over-the-air service when it matters most,” Curtis LeGeyt, the President and CEO of NAB, said in a statement.
Heartland Video Systems provided deployment services for WBNX. SiliconDust, an ATSC 3.0 certificate authority, supplied signal-signing certificates used to meet the standard’s security requirements.
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