SOMEONE YOU SHOULD KNOW: Skip Pizzi, NAB 

Posted on June 5, 2018 in ATSC News

A True 3.0 Pioneer

Skip Pizzi is the Vice President of Technology Education and Outreach for the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB).  He joined NAB just as planning of ATSC 3.0 began.

“I volunteered to be document editor for an ATSC Planning Team report that turned out to provide the fundamental rationale and basis for developing a non-backward compatible next-generation DTV standard, which was subsequently entitled ATSC 3.0,” Pizzi recalls.

Pizzi serves as Vice-Chair of the TG3 Technology Group, the parent group that developed the entire ATSC 3.0 Standards suite) and Chair of S31, the Specialist Group that developed the System Requirements for ATSC 3.0, as well as a document editor for the A/300 ATSC System standard and the A/342 Audio for ATSC 3 standard.

In 2017, his contributions were honored during the ATSC Next Gen TV Conference where he received the ATSC’s highest honor, the Bernard J. Lechner Outstanding Contributor Award. 

“I’ve been happy to be involved in a lot of ATSC 3 component projects over the years,” says Pizzi. “I suppose the predominant element (I’m most proud of) would be shepherding of the development of ATSC 3.0 System Requirements, to which I owe a deep debt of gratitude for assistance from Madeleine Noland and the FOBTV organization.”

Writing His Own Journey

Pizzi’s career started as a professional musician and audio mixer before ultimately landing as a recording and broadcast engineer at NPR’s Washington, DC headquarters where he worked for about 12 years. “That was a perfect venue to develop a wide range of skills,” he says.

After a stint in the print world which included writing hundreds of articles and a book, Pizzi was recruited by Microsoft to lead their new audio production technical team in the mid-1990s at the corporate headquarters in Redmond, Wash.  He later moved back to Washington D.C. to work with the Microsoft Government Affairs office as a senior analyst on media technologies, retired and then join NAB in 2010 leading the association’s technical education efforts in conferences, publications, webcasts and more.

Pizzi also continues to provide outreach to industry organizations, representing NAB and its members’ interests in groups such as the Ultra HD Forum, the Virtual Reality Industry Forum, and of course the ATSC.

Staying In Touch with His Musical Roots

Married with two children—one an attorney in New York City, and the other working in the veterinary industry in the D.C.-area, Pizzi enjoys cooking, mixology, oenology and gardening.  He also has never lost his love of music.  He still plays keyboards does some audio recording and production on the side.

“I was persuaded to serve as mix engineer for the ATSC’s house band, The Multicasters, which performed at the Next Gen TV Conference the past two years.  It’s a lot of fun, “Pizzi says.  “Although I’m keeping the day job for now.”

Posted in ATSC News