THE ENVELOPE PLEASE…APTS Honors ATSC President Richer

Posted on March 5, 2018 in ATSC News

America’s Public Television Stations presented the 2018 EDGE Award for Excellence in Innovation to ATSC President Mark Richer. The coveted APTS EDGE Award is presented annually to individuals, stations or institutions doing pioneering work in technology and other fields that promote progress in public television.

“I’m delighted to present the ‘18 EDGE Award to Mark for the successful and timely completion of the ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard,” said APTS President and CEO Patrick Butler. “Under his innovative leadership, the world’s first Internet Protocol-based broadcasting system became a reality, and ATSC played an integral role in ensuring public television stations’ post-auction channel repacking efforts can coincide with the voluntary, market-by-market implementation of the Next Gen broadcasting standard.

According to Richer, more than 400 people contributed their expertise over the past five years to create ATSC 3.0 – the next generation in broadcast television.  “It’s my great honor to accept this award on their behalf,” Richer said, “since any standards organization is only as effective as those who share their passion and innovations with the industry.  The release of the ATSC 3.0 suite of standards represents a milestone, but it’s not the end.  It’s only the beginning of a new era in television broadcasting, and one that will spur public broadcasters to innovate in new ways to serve their audiences.”

Honoring Richer at the 2018 APTS Public Media Summit on Feb. 28, Butler said, “ATSC 3 will revolutionize the television experience and enable extraordinary advances that will significantly improve local public television stations’ ability to provide interactive, personalized education content and resources; enhanced public safety communications and interoperability capabilities for law enforcement; and additional local programming of value to communities, including coverage of state government.

“This EDGE award is richly earned, and we congratulate Mark and his colleagues at ATSC for a job remarkably well done,” Butler concluded.

Posted in ATSC News