FCC ATSC 3.0 NPRM Expected to Contain Few Surprises, Industry Officials Say

An FCC NPRM on ATSC 3.0 is expected to contain few surprises, but it's not clear when it will be issued, broadcast industry officials said in interviews this week. The April petition submitted by NAB, CTA, America's Public TV Stations and the Advanced Warning and Response Network Alliance didn't include a mandatory transition (see 1604130065). So the NPRM isn't expected to be overly complicated, the officials told us.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has told Congress that the item is “forthcoming” (see 1611070059). As of now, it's unclear when it will be released. Sooner is better, said ATSC President Mark Richer, though he also said there is no drop-dead date by which the item must come out. Releasing the item sooner would allow broadcasters to “build on momentum” and solidify manufacturing plans, he said.

The rulemaking is expected to largely follow the petition, proposing a nonmandatory transition plan that will allow broadcasters voluntarily to simulcast their signal in ATSC 3.0 and ATSC 1.0, broadcast industry officials told us. The item likely also will include questions about broadcasters engaged in the transition and their carriage on pay TV, an issue that NCTA and multichannel video programming distributors have raised in the proceeding, broadcast industry officials told us.

With Wheeler seen as having given a nod of approval to the rulemaking notice, some broadcast industry officials believe the item is stalled at the Media Bureau, they told us. The bureau has had a recent spate of items including the set-top box proceeding and the ongoing incentive auction, and the ATSC 3.0 NPRM could be slowed because the bureau has been spread thin, broadcast officials told us. One broadcast industry official disputes that, arguing that items such as the quadrennial review proceeding shouldn't have overtaxed the bureau's resources. Some industry officials believe the item may be indirectly slowed by the incentive auction, in that some in the FCC don't want to move on ATSC 3.0 until the auction is complete, they told us. There isn't a technical reason to connect the two, a broadcaster told us. The bureau declined to comment.

The sooner the rulemaking proposal is issued, the more likely stations will be able to incorporate ATSC 3.0 into their repacking plans, broadcast industry officials told us. Some broadcasters already are taking steps to prepare for the new standard, and there's more they would be able to do if the FCC would move forward with the approval process, a broadcaster told us.

There is some concern that the delay could hurt the competitiveness of U.S. companies in moving to 3.0 while companies in South Korea surge ahead, broadcast officials told us. South Korean companies are important to ATSC, Richer said. “It's good for us to have anybody moving forward,” with the new standard, Richer said. “But as a citizen of the U.S., I'd like to see us be out there as a pioneer.”