PRESIDENT’S MEMO: LOOKING BACK & STEAMING AHEAD!

Posted on December 13, 2021 in ATSC News

Welcome to the December-January issue of THE STANDARD. As we reflect on 2021, we are amazed at the accomplishments of our members, including the growing momentum for the rollout of NextGen TV in the United States, the rich and busy slate of conferences, exciting new initiatives in ATSC member initiatives, and innovative applications for ATSC 3.0 being explored worldwide.

Our Board of Directors will elect a new Chair in the new year, and we welcome our new and returning board members who will continue to chart the way ahead for ATSC. It’s been a busy year for the organization as we welcomed Amy Lodes as Director of Communications, saw many new recommendations and proposals emerge from Technology Group 3, and the ATSC itself relocating to a more efficient Washington, D.C. office.

ATSC 3.0 continued to gain momentum with dozens of U.S. cities launching NextGen TV, now with nearly 200 channels available across more than 40 cities. There are 70 different television models available sporting the NEXTGEN TV logo, fueling CTA’s estimated sales of NextGen TVs of over 2.1 million in 2021. And these numbers are expected to continue to trend up in Q1 and Q2 2022. Broadcasters are taking full advantage of this momentum, offering services with better video quality, enhanced dialog control with Voice+, interactive applications and more, while promoting new services to consumers.

ATSC took full advantage of 2021’s abundant slate of in-person, virtual and hybrid events. We feel fortunate to have been able to gather in person at our ATSC NextGen Broadcast Conference, while participating virtually in other events, such as the NAB Show, IBC and others. We congratulate all the show organizers for their resiliency and creativity as we strive to maintain strong connections across our vibrant ecosystem. Next year promises more great opportunities to connect, including CES 2022 (which is right around the corner), the Las Vegas NAB Show in April, the ATSC NextGen Broadcast Conference in June (location to be announced shortly), and many more.

There was plenty to talk about at the conferences. In fact, I had the opportunity to represent ATSC at over 40 different events in 2021 alone! Not only were we able to highlight the work going on in ATSC member groups but also the exciting use cases being developed for ATSC 3.0 across the world, including distance education solutions bridging the digital divide, automotive/vehicular datacasting solutions, advanced emergency information to the public and to first responders, and even redundant GPS and precision time applications.

For 2022 and beyond, it’s “full steam ahead” with international interest in ATSC 3.0 growing, as successful commercial deployments in South Korea (since 2017) and the U.S. (since 2020) lead the way. We are excited that Jamaica will become an ATSC 3.0 country with services expected to be launched by January 2023. Each country has its own unique needs and applications for an ATSC 3.0 broadcast service. India is exploring ATSC 3.0 for direct-to-mobile services and broadcast traffic offload, while Brazil is considering ATSC 3.0 technology for its “TV 3.0” project. In Canada, Humber College is building its ATSC 3.0-5G convergence lab, and Mexico is focused on distance education use cases. The momentum of ATSC 3.0 across the globe is truly inspiring!

We look forward to sharing more about the coming year during CES in January, with an eye towards helping our membership continue to take full advantage of the capabilities of the ATSC 3.0 platform.

For those that are attending CES, please stop by and visit the ATSC booth in the Grand Lobby (GL-13, near the North Hall meeting room escalators). We look forward to connecting with old and new friends next month.

On behalf of all of us at ATSC, thank you for your commitment and supporting the work of ATSC 3.0. We wish you the very happiest of holiday seasons!
Madeleine Noland, ATSC President.

Posted in ATSC News