ATVA, ACA Want ATSC 3.0 NPRM to Look at Carriage Capacity

The FCC's draft ATSC 3.0 NPRM could use more specificity on how the new standard will affect pay-TV operators that carry 3.0 broadcast signals, said representatives of the American Television Alliance in a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn Monday, according to an ex parte filing in docket 16-142. The NPRM should include questions about “the format and geographic scope of 'simulcast' ATSC 1.0 transmissions” and the carriage of simulcast signals under existing retransmission consent agreements, said representatives of ATVA members AT&T, Charter Communications, Dish Network, Verizon and the American Cable Association. ACA also submitted separate comments in a letter to the FCC praising Chairman Ajit Pai's decision to make circulating documents public. “This new process, we believe, will help lead to a better NPRM than otherwise would have been possible,” ACA said. The FCC should gather additional information on the additional capacity that multichannel video programming distributors will need to carry ATSC 3.0 signals, ACA said. “This proposed transition will result in broadcasters consuming dramatically more capacity on already-constrained cable networks, requiring them to either eliminate other programming or reduce the quality of their broadband Internet service,” ACA said. “A small cable operator would have to eliminate at least six HD cable channels or sharply degrade broadband performance in order to carry the four major network affiliates in a higher-resolution format.” NAB backs "a voluntary, market-driven deployment of Next Gen TV," and the regulator shouldn't "impose overly prescriptive requirements for the transition," the association's representatives reported telling FCC Chief of Staff Matthew Berry.