Public TV Looking Toward ATSC 3.0 to Expand Its Reach, Conference Told

Public TV is looking to ATSC 3.0 to expand its reach and become more worthy of underwriting and protection from funding cuts, said speakers Tuesday at America’s Public Television Stations’ Public Media Summit. APTS gave ATSC President Mark Richer an award for “excellence in innovation."

Data collection and applications of the new standard complement the public media donation model, said WGBH-TV Boston Chief Operating Officer Bob Godley. Tying public media to emergency communications will help save lives, said Art Botterell, senior emergency services coordinator-public alert and warning for the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services. He compared a bigger role in emergency communications for public TV to “wrapping Big Bird in the American flag.”

Public TV stations have “a huge head start” over other broadcasters in maximizing data collection and targeting aspects of 3.0, because they already collect data on viewership through the donation process, Godley said: “We start with more insight than most broadcasters.” Stations eventually will be able to marry the data set from a donation to the corresponding viewer data that 3.0 will let them access, and this will let them create a more complete picture of an individual public TV viewer, he said.

With more information and the capabilities of the new standard, such stations will be able to “super serve” viewers with catered content, Godley said. That could have permutations in donations and underwriting, said PBS Vice President-technology Eric Wolf. The standard could let stations target viewers who donated with a message of thanks in place of the request for more donations that most viewers see, Wolf said. It could increase its value to audiences, he said. The increased use of data with 3.0 would highlight the need for stations to act to protect privacy, Godley said.

Public TV station managers should already be talking with other broadcasters in their areas about possible sharing arrangements for the transition, Wolf said. He said 2018 likely will be a year of educating the industry about the standard and what it can do for public TV, 2019 will involve increased experimentation with the technology, and by 2020, public TV stations will be in “implementation mode.”

With 3.0, public TV stations could speed up dispatch of emergency vehicles, said WUNC-TV Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Senior Director-Technology Fred Engel. Under the current system of radio-delivered broadcast tones, it can take over a minute to tell first responders which emergency vehicles and units should go where, said Red Grasso, FirstNet single point of contact for North Carolina. Now, public TV stations could make it possible to send all the information instantly to mobile devices, Engel said. WUNC is transmitting dispatches as a “proof of concept,” he said.

If public TV is positioning itself as a “pillar” of emergency communication, it will have a responsibility to maintain service, said former Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate. “We are saying we will be there in time of need.” If public TV’s bandwidth can get information to first responders, the outcome of emergency situations can be changed, Fugate said. KVIE Sacramento is also engaged in a public safety pilot program, to meet an FCC request for an earthquake warning option (see 1604080057) that can transmit a warning in under three seconds, said California's Botterell.