FCC’s Draft NPRM on ATSC 3.0 Asks if Tuner Mandates Again Should Be Imposed

​When CTA, NAB and others petitioned the FCC for a rulemaking April 13 to allow broadcasters to begin using the new ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard (see 1604130065), they urged the commission not to require ATSC 3.0 tuners in receivers because the evolution to the next-generation TV standard “should be market-driven and based upon voluntary standards,” their petition said. But in the draft notice of proposed rulemaking on ATSC 3.0 that the FCC released Thursday under a "pilot program" launched by new Chairman Ajit Pai to promote public transparency (see 1702020016), the commission said it will seek comment on whether a tuner mandate or a market-driven approach to receivers would make better ATSC 3.0 policy.

The FCC “tentatively” agrees with the argument that an ATSC 3.0 tuner mandate isn't needed, said the draft NPRM. But the commission nevertheless would want comment “on whether such a market-based approach will ensure that television receivers capable of receiving ATSC 3.0 signals are available to consumers,” it said. “It may be possible to upgrade most, if not all, receivers currently being manufactured to allow them to receive ATSC 3.0 signals.”

But such upgrades “would require over-the-air viewers to purchase additional equipment,” such as a dongle, set-top box or gateway device that connects through a receiver’s HDMI port, “assuming that receiver has an HDMI port,” it said. HDMI ports on TVs have become ubiquitous since the first sets with the feature were introduced at the September 2003 CEDIA Expo. HDMI LA estimates the installed base of HDMI devices exceeds 4 billion globally, though not all those devices are TV receivers.

On the other hand, a tuner mandate that could take effect three years after any ATSC 3.0 rulemaking is complete “would protect consumers by ensuring that they will be able to access ATSC 3.0 service over the air on new television receivers purchased after the specified date without having to invest in additional equipment,” the FCC said. The draft NPRM noted that in 2002, the agency adopted the DTV tuner mandate, “which required that certain new broadcast television receiving equipment include the capability to receive digital TV signals pursuant to a phased-in implementation schedule.” The phase-in was completed by July 1, 2007, for all TVs with 13-inch screens and larger (see 0208090031).

In imposing the DTV mandate, the FCC “determined that the public would be reluctant to buy DTV receivers until there were DTV stations offering attractive DTV programs and that broadcasters would lack incentives to provide attractive DTV programming in the absence of an audience that would attract advertisers,” the draft NPRM said. It didn’t note the mandate was imposed over the strenuous objections of CTA, then called CEA. CTA representatives didn’t comment Thursday on the release of the draft NPRM and its intent to solicit comment on a possible ATSC 3.0 tuner mandate. The idea of an ATSC 3.0 tuner mandate was floated on a panel at November’s NAB Show New York, where even broadcasters said they didn’t favor one, except possibly for national security purposes (see 1611100032).

In the NPRM, the FCC would seek comment on whether it would help the transition to require broadcasters to air “notifications to educate consumers” about the move to ATSC 3.0: “It could be useful for broadcasters to inform consumers that the stations they view will be changing channels, to encourage consumers to rescan their receivers for new channel assignments, and to educate them on steps they should take to resolve any potential reception issues.”

The document lacked any mention of proposals that would require retailers to post consumer advisories at the point of sale warning about the move to ATSC 3.0, as the FCC required them to do in 2007 for the DTV transition when analog-only TVs were still common on store shelves (see 0704260105). The Enforcement Bureau slapped retailers with nearly 300 citations alleging violations of the labeling order. Amid the defiance of several major chains that were cited and proclaimed their innocence, including Best Buy, Sears and Walmart, the FCC never collected the hefty fines it sought and the allegations ultimately went away.

ATSC 3.0 “offers significant potential to carry broadcasting into the internet protocol age in a way that I think most consumers would find tremendously beneficial,” Pai told a news conference Thursday. ATSC 3.0 allows higher-quality broadcasting but also will be a boon to public safety, he said. “For example, allowing more localized information that would allow broadcasters to target emergency information to people based on, more closely on, where they live,” Pai said Thursday. “There are many benefits of ATSC 3.0 that hopefully my colleagues will see fit to authorize in the coming weeks.”

The NPRM would seek comment on allowing broadcasters to voluntarily transition their stations to ATSC 3.0 while they simulcast their stations on the existing 1.0 standard, the same transition plan that was offered up in the CTA-NAB petition with also the backing of the Advanced Warning and Response Network Alliance and America’s Public Television Stations. The draft asks if a local simulcast should be a condition of allowing a broadcaster to offer ATSC 3.0, how simulcast channels should be licensed, and whether they should be subject to coverage or quality requirements. The rulemaking also would seek comment on whether simulcast channels should be licensed separately as second channels of the originating stations or treated as multicast streams of the host stations, and seek comment on whether the commission should adopt signal coverage or quality requirements for local simulcasts.

The intersection of the new ATSC 3.0 signals and carriage by multichannel video programming distributors has been an area of disagreement in filings on the broadcast proposal. The NPRM would propose that MVPDs need to continue carrying broadcasters' ATSC 1.0 signals under the normal must-carry rules but won't be required to carry ATSC 3.0 signals “during the period when broadcasters are voluntarily implementing ATSC 3.0 service.” Though broadcasters have maintained that MVPDs shouldn't be forced to carry the next-generation standard, pay-TV associations and companies have raised concerns that broadcasters might compel pay-TV companies to carry ATSC 3.0 through the retransmission consent process.

Converting their equipment to be able to carry ATSC 3.0 would be extremely expensive and burdensome, the MVPDs have said. The draft seeks comment on how good-faith rules would apply to such negotiations, and on whether such negotiation tactics should be temporarily banned. “Should we consider prohibiting MVPD carriage of ATSC 3.0 signals through retransmission consent negotiations until the ATSC's Specialist Group on Conversion and Redistribution of ATSC 3.0 Service produces its initial report, which is expected later this year?” the item would ask.

The NPRM also would seek comment on possible interference issues associated with ATSC 3.0. “We propose to treat ATSC 3.0 signals as though they were DTV signals with identical technical parameters, largely consistent with the Petitioners’ request,” it said.

ATSC President Mark Richer hailed the release. “Core elements of the ATSC 3.0 standard already are approved and proven, which we hope will give the FCC and broadcasters confidence for voluntary implementation of ATSC 3.0,” Richer said in a statement. “We’ll look forward to seeing how various stakeholders respond to the Commission’s Notice, and we’re hopeful that the NPRM process will be completed in a timely manner.”

Broadcast groups that advocate the move to ATSC 3.0 sooner rather than later also hailed the development. The move to an IP-based system “will deliver more content to viewers from more sources and ensure that over-the-air broadcasting remains the primary resource for breaking news, emergency alerts, and a TV experience tailored to the desires of the viewer,” said Pearl TV Managing Director Anne Schelle in a statement.

Sinclair thinks ATSC 3.0 “will shift the paradigm of mobile data distribution and will be especially impactful in the area of public safety,” said Senior Vice President-Strategy and Policy Rebecca Hanson in a statement. “Recent failures of wireless emergency alerting practices make it clear that a more reliable system is necessary, and next-gen TV will be a part of that solution for our viewers and first responders.”