More news on ATSC 3.0...

[Justin Hill]

The future of free TV is dead

I decided I didn't need cable TV when I moved out of my foster parents' house. I hope this does not become true. More and more people have ditched cable in favor of OTA or streaming. I just hope the FCC rethinks their strategies for the ATSC 3.0 standard, until then, I'll stick to ATSC 1.0...

 

[Bruce]

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to make a hard deadline for shutting down ATSC 1.0 and transitioning to ATSC 3.0, also known as NextGen TV.

The petition to the FCC suggests a two-phase plan. First, they ask that stations in the top 55 markets, which cover about 70% of U.S. households, switch to ATSC 3.0 by February 2028. The second phase would have all remaining markets make the switch before February 2030.

Broadcasters Ask FCC for NextGen TV Deadlines of 2028 & 2030 | Cord Cutters News

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to make a hard deadline for shutting down ATSC 1.0 and transitioning to ATSC 3.0, also known as NextGen TV. The petition to the FCC suggests a two-phase plan. First, they ask that stations in...

cordcuttersnews.com

 

[TNGuy84]

I think they'll get their way on this. The consumer will get shafted, but that's been the plan all along. Those so called people's airwaves are at the bidding of whoever wants to pay the highest price. We'll get the DRM encrypted stuff on lesser bandwidth.

 

[moonwink]

And of course, it'll be great for the economy with everyone watching OTA having to replace their TVs. The treasury will benefit also because all those tariffs will add up. The consumer will be screwed and thousands of tons of electronic waste will be generated because of the obsolescence of technology. Oh, for joy...
My needs are trivial compared to what's available. A good OTA signal and my 720p TV screen is all it takes to make me happy.

 

[Paul289]

And of course, it'll be great for the economy with everyone watching OTA having to replace their TVs. The treasury will benefit also because all those tariffs will add up. The consumer will be screwed and thousands of tons of electronic waste will be generated because of the obsolescence of technology. Oh, for joy...
My needs are trivial compared to what's available. A good OTA signal and my 720p TV screen is all it takes to make me happy.

I don't believe all that will happen. Most hdtv are made in Japan and other counties that are fair and do not have tariffs. So the tvs will not go up in price do to any tariff. Most people will eventually upgrade there tvs for streaming, gaming, other things and not for ota tv. The tv station owners think they can get the FCC to mandate a set date for a forced change to gen3 tv. This will not work and the stations will not have a choice but to keep nex1 alive because they will still not have enough gen3 viewers. The only way gen3 tv will happen and be successful is by keeping it fta by dropping the DRM and getting all the mfrs to add gen3 tuners, lower the price of the gen 3 tvs/tuner boxes and provide the programing that will make it worth while to upgrade to gen3.

 

[TNGuy84]

Where have you been? The FCC the past decade or more has been on the side of the broadcasters and cell phone companies. They were on the side of consumers back when the cable card was authorized for TV manufacturers and when they forced locals to be carried in the clear. Then, they reversed both of those decisions and sold off more of the UHF bandwidth for 5G. The FCC will do whatever for whoever has the most money.

 

[John2021]

i wrote to our congress man and he said that he's going to propose a bill that bans DRM in our area!!!

 

[John2021]

Where have you been? The FCC the past decade or more has been on the side of the broadcasters and cell phone companies. They were on the side of consumers back when the cable card was authorized for TV manufacturers and when they forced locals to be carried in the clear. Then, they reversed both of those decisions and sold off more of the UHF bandwidth for 5G. The FCC will do whatever for whoever has the most money.

The FCC is another waste of tax payer money

 

[Trip]

The FCC is another waste of tax payer money

There are a lot of hard-working people at the FCC who do good things. (See my signature.) People ultimately get what they vote for though; the people at the staff level don't make the kinds of decisions that lead to big direction changes like that.

And I'll point out that the Incentive Auction and repack was mandated by Congress and signed by the President. The FCC carried out that directive. The FCC couldn't just say no.

- Trip

 

[AZ.]

The FCC is another waste of tax payer money

This is broad brush thinking. What I have a problem with is the money. Sure its been made legal, but its just plain wrong. We have lost all morals and money to manipulate is all that matters.
So we get the short end of the stick...........again

 

[hancox]

The FCC is another waste of tax payer money

This is a bit harsh, but in the case of OTA TV, the FCC is too passive. DRM does not serve the public interest, and shouldn't be allowed on our airwaves without public benefit.

 

[VictoriaFTA]

Well, good luck getting policy that serves the public interest out of this FCC. It's all about who's got the fattest wallets. The cell phone companies who want to steal the rest of the C-band and the big broadcasters who want DRM on OTA broadcasts will be getting their way.

 

[N6BY]

This is a bit harsh, but in the case of OTA TV, the FCC is too passive. DRM does not serve the public interest, and shouldn't be allowed on our airwaves without public benefit.

DRM is required so that they can make OTA a paid service. I believe that is the end goal.

The FCC sold out most of C-Band to the cell companies, and it wouldn't surprise me if they let OTA transition to POTA (Paid Over The Air).

 

[mikekohl]

DRM is required so that they can make OTA a paid service. I believe that is the end goal.

The FCC sold out most of C-Band to the cell companies, and it wouldn't surprise me if they let OTA transition to POTA (Paid Over The Air).

Ironic that the original licensees of broadcast stations got their frequency for free, in the interests of promoting no-charge TV for the public.
In the spirit of that system, two digital transitions later, it would only be fair that the primary dash-1 channel on any frequency plus any
other Guest channels that made a deal to share space after getting paid for their spectrum to vacate their original license, should all be
required to transmit that service for free. Either in NexGen 3.0 format, or if they insist on DRM for their 3.0 transmission, then they should
be required (and allowed) to transmit a parallel in-the-clear 1.0 transmission in HD.