What Display Daily thinks: I call this lobbying. The NAB doesn’t necessarily have the best interests of NextGen TV at heart, but it certainly does have to support the interests of everyone trying to get their piece of the pie. Two different agendas.
ATSC 3.0, the licensing environment, and the market for ATSC 3.0 equipment isn’t compatible with the broader ambitions of the standard and what consumers would get out of its implementation. And, frankly, other than enforcing some sort of broadcast system for emergency use that would be open to all users, there is not much need to create broadcast standards. There is a need to create software standards and distribution rights for all over-the-air services to ensure that they are delivered through whatever our next generation medium of communications turns out to be.
Some of the people making these decisions and pursuing these policies should try living in a rural area and getting a feel for what constitutes the real broadcasting problem – lack of a comprehensive broadband infrastructure. No one is watching their damn TVs, they are on their phones, which is why they go a little nutty and complain about crime in urban areas that are many, many miles away. Fortunately, I can pooh-pooh the whole thing because I am late to the discussion. I am sure that probably annoys those who have vested time and effort in getting so far.
The pursuit of ATSC 3 is very reminiscent of the pursuit of ISDN, but with a much more compressed timeline. And you can Google what happened to that yourself.
LG Shakes Up the NextGen TV Crowd
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has submitted its remarks to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) suggesting that the agency refrain from intervening in the ATSC 3.0 standard essential patents marketplace, which underlies NextGen TV. This submission follows a patent disagreement involving LG, which consequently expressed its decision to halt its 2024 lineup of ATSC 3.0-enabled TVs, leading to concerns regarding other manufacturers possibly making similar decisions.
In the context of the FCC’s Fourth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) related to the ATSC 3.0 patent marketplace, the NAB emphasized that there’s no apparent reason for the FCC to act currently. They cited the robust market for ATSC 3.0 receivers and questioned the Commission’s jurisdiction over the patent domain. The NAB pointed out that the market for ATSC 3.0 equipment is expanding, offering consumers various choices in products and price points. Projections estimate sales of around ten million 3.0 compatible sets by the end of 2023, with a surge in sales in subsequent years.
Further, NAB mentioned the availability of accessory devices allowing consumers to receive ATSC 3.0 signals on their existing TVs, referencing the affordable NextGen TV accessory device by ADTH and Zinwell’s upcoming offering.
While acknowledging LG Electronics USA’s decision to halt their 2024 ATSC 3.0 TV lineup, NAB asserted that this shouldn’t be seen as a reason for the Commission to impose broad regulations. Instead, they believe it’s just a singular incident in a developing marketplace.
