Broadcasters Want to Deploy 3.0 in Vacant Channel, Say They Won't Displace LPTV

Allowing broadcasters temporarily to deploy ATSC 3.0 on vacant channels would ease the transition to the new standard, said Pearl TV, One Media, Sinclair and NAB in a meeting with Media Bureau Chief Michelle Carey and bureau staff Thursday, according to an FCC ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 16-142. “Allowing broadcasters to use available channels where available during Next Gen deployments will help both broadcasters and consumers.” Full-power broadcasters won’t “seek to displace” low-power stations that were given new channels through FCC displacement windows in favor of 3.0 facilities, the broadcasters said, though “full-power licensees' use of unoccupied channels to help assure continued service should be entitled to a higher priority than low power television stations and TV translators as a matter of policy.” The FCC also should adopt only ATSC's A/321 document on system discovery and signaling architecture into its rules, the broadcasters said. “Adopting additional components of the ATSC standard into the FCC’s rules could risk stifling innovation and forcing broadcasters to return to the Commission repeatedly for permission to make changes,” the filing said. LG and others support proposals for the commission to also incorporate the A/322 document on ohysical layer protocol into the 3.0 rules (see 1707040001).