ATSC 3.0 Order Approved on 3-2 Party Line Vote; Pai Condemns 'Naysayers'

The FCC approved its ATSC 3.0 order 3-2 Thursday over the objections of Democrats, as expected (see 1711140053). Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Mignon Clyburn were highly critical of 3.0's transition plan order, which was little changed from what circulated last month. The plan is “cavalier” about possible consequences for consumers and MVPDs, Rosenworcel said. “Not ready for prime time,” said Clyburn. The order intentionally doesn't address every aspect of the new standard, Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said. “Many questions remain,” he conceded. “This won’t be the last time we address ATSC 3.0,” he said.

Chairman Ajit Pai condemned “naysayers” for “stoking false fears” about 3.0's consequences. “When confronted with change, there are always those who stubbornly cling to the past, who choose fear and opportunism over freedom and opportunity,” Pai said. Opponents are trying to use regulation to oppose technological innovation, Pai said. Commissioner Brendan Carr criticized foes as trying to “sow fears at the last minute.”

Pai, like other commissioners, noted advanced features and benefits the new standard could provide: “Next-gen TV should enhance" terrestrial TV "and make it a stronger competitor to pay-TV services. That would be good for all Americans, and particularly for low-income television viewers.”

The order is very similar to the draft released Oct. 26 by Pai's office (see 1710260049), adding a 60-day shot clock for broadcasters that don’t receive expedited processing, and an exemption for the "substantially similar" programming requirement for content broadcasters that don’t own the rights to air on a 3.0 feed, the Media Bureau said. It relaxes some consumer information provisions from the original, O’Rielly said. He said the shot clock provision was added in response to his concerns, and Clyburn said language on privacy was added Thursday morning less than an hour before the meeting. The language is “nonsubstantive” and in a footnote, said bureau Chief Michelle Carey in a post-meeting news conference.

Commissioner Feedback

FCC members of both parties found things to like and dislike in the order.

O’Rielly was critical of some provisions, such as requiring broadcasters to use the A/322 physical-layer protocol document for a five-year sunset window alongside the permanently required A/321 bootstrap physical-layer document (see 1710270054). “Although many suggest this is an appropriate balance, I fear that five years can be an eternity in a space as rapidly evolving as this one,” he said. O’Rielly cautioned that attempts to force MVPDs to carry 3.0 could be violations of rules on good-faith negotiations in retransmission consent negotiations. “This is another issue I will be watching and the commission may need to revisit as there become concrete examples to examine,” he said. On the eve of the vote, an FCBA CLE heard about this issue (see 1711160003).

Though Rosenworcel repeated arguments she made last week (see 1711090064) that the transition should more closely resemble the work Congress and the FCC did on the DTV transition in 2005, O’Rielly disagreed they are being handled differently. “Our action today is entirely consistent with the multistage approach Congress and the commission followed for the DTV transition,” O’Rielly said. Though Rosenworcel praised the new standard’s innovations, she said the order will “rush this standard to market with an ugly disregard for the consumer consequences.”

Clyburn she doesn’t oppose the new standard, despite her dissent. “I do not make presumptions about next-gen TV. I do not know if it is bad, or inferior to the status quo, as some claim,” she said. “If it is not clear how an item, standard or transaction meets our public interest requirement, if I cannot clearly see that an item protects and enhances the consumer experience, then there is only one decision.”

Clyburn rejected industry accusations her opposition is politically motivated and based on her objections to Sinclair’s pending buy of Tribune. “It is not about politics or the inability to separate or differentiate one docket from another, it is about upholding that solemn promise I took over eight years ago,” Clyburn said. Rosenworcel cited the deal’s connection as a concern. “We know that Sinclair Broadcast -- which holds essential patents for ATSC 3.0 -- has been one of the biggest champions of this new standard,” Rosenworcel said.

That 3.0 isn't backward-compatible with 1.0 “means, to those who do not speak this language, that your existing television set and cable equipment will not be able to receive a next-gen signal,” said Clyburn. Rosenworcel repeated her recent criticisms that approval “means that every one of us will need to replace our television sets or buy new equipment” to continue receiving 1.0, conceding that “won’t happen immediately” under simulcasting provisions sunsetting in five years. But O’Rielly said the order “has taken great care to ensure” 3.0 won’t be a “tax on consumers,” as Rosenworcel suggested recently it would be (see 1710130056) and did so again Thursday. “Indeed, if this is a consumer tax, so is every new tablet or smartphone a consumer decides to purchase due to its enhanced and updated features,” he said.

Reaction

Broadcaster and consumer electronics interests hailed the order, while MVPDs were less than pleased and Consumers Union said it wished the order did more to protect the public from what it fears will be higher 3.0 costs via pay-TV passalongs.

FCC 3.0 endorsement “marks the beginning of a reinvention" of broadcast TV, said NAB CEO Gordon Smith. “Next Gen TV will provide tens of millions of viewers with ultra HDTV, live and local mobile TV on smartphones, emergency alerting that could save countless lives, and interactive advertising that will drive jobs and commerce in local communities.”

The vote “brings our nation a step closer” to over-the-air 3.0 TV, said CTA CEO Gary Shapiro. “By allowing broadcasters and manufacturers to take a voluntary, market-driven approach to implementing the ATSC 3.0 television transmission standard, the FCC provides the flexibility and future-proofing needed to deliver exciting enhanced television services,” including 4K picture quality and immersive audio, he said.

ATSC 3.0's "hundreds" of framers “are gratified that the FCC has approved the standard for deployment,” said ATSC President Mark Richer. “While it would be easy to look at today’s FCC action as the end of the road, the reality is that this is just the beginning,” he said. “We expect to put the finishing touches on the remaining components of ATSC 3.0 this year, and we look forward to working with the many broadcasters and manufacturers who will work together on the next phase of implementation and deployment.”

Sinclair and its One Media plan to “fully deploy” 3.0 on Sinclair’s stations nationwide under the order, they said. Sinclair has “advocated for a robust, broadcast-centric digital standard since 1997, and we are gratified to see that the ATSC, broadcasters and the government have now agreed," said CEO Chris Ripley. Broadcasters and consumers "deserve the best innovations available," said Executive Chairman David Smith, who relinquished the CEO post to Ripley this year so he could work full time on 3.0.

Stations “will move quickly to take advantage of the new features and capabilities of broadcast television made possible” by 3.0, said Pearl TV Managing Director Anne Schelle. “We are cognizant of the concerns raised by some Commissioners and we will work hard to ensure that the benefits of broadcasting continue to be widely available during the deployment of Next Gen TV.”

Public broadcasters under 3.0 “are particularly intrigued by the potential for significant improvements in our public service missions,” said Patrick Butler, CEO of America’s Public Television Stations. The new standard “will enable enhanced distance learning, more robust public safety datacasting, and additional channel capacity for comprehensive coverage of state governments,” he said.

The order includes “some measures” the American Cable Association proposed to “protect viewers,” but the group is “disappointed that the FCC did not do more,” said CEO Matthew Polka. The order “relies on promises that cable carriage of these new signals will be truly 'voluntary,'” he said. “Now we will see whether the broadcasters live up to their words,” he said, and ACA will “hold broadcasters accountable, and we hope Congress and the FCC will do the same and take immediate corrective measures if and when broadcasters break their promises.”

NTCA “supports choice and voluntary adoption” of 3.0, but “history and all available evidence” suggest “that ‘voluntary’ is a concept often sorely lacking in the context of retransmission consent negotiations,” said Michael Romano, senior vice president-industry affairs and business development. “There should be little to no doubt that broadcasters will leverage the broken retransmission consent process to force small MVPDs to carry the new standard far in advance of consumer demand.”

CU urged the FCC “from the very start” with the transition not to force consumers to buy new TVs “or subscribe to a pay-TV to get service they otherwise got for free,” said Jonathan Schwantes, senior policy counsel. Though the commission “made some effort to limit the consumer harms this transition may cause, we believe questions still remain as to whether consumer service will be interrupted and the Commission could have done more to ensure consumers are protected,” he said. CU remains concerned “that consumers may pay the price for this transition through higher fees from cable providers passing on the cost of the new signal,” he said.