O'Rielly Advises Broadcasters to Move Fast on 3.0

Time isn't a luxury broadcasters have on ATSC 3.0, FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said in remarks to broadcasters at the Midwest Next-Gen TV Summit in Ohio. “If you are a broadcaster sitting on the fence on whether to implement ATSC 3.0, you should be worried that the fence may no longer exist if you take too long to decide,” he said Wednesday, adding that tech companies also are competing for advertisers and consumers. O’Rielly made a similar point at ATSC’s conference last month (see 1805240056). He praised 3.0 capabilities such as targeted ad insertion and mobile television, and the work of broadcasters. “Saying this will only fuel my Internet and Twitter trolls, who suggest that I epitomize regulatory capture, but you have earned the right to be thanked,” he said. O’Rielly praised T-Mobile efforts to aid some broadcasters in the post-incentive auction repacking process. “They have been doing some heavy lifting that has taken problems off the commission’s plate,” O’Rielly said. “Hopefully, others will follow their lead.” O’Rielly said lack of tower crews and other repacking resources could create big problems for the repacking starting in phase three. O’Rielly also touted the draft kidvid NPRM, the result of an effort he's leading (see 1806260067). “As an attempt to bring a balanced, thoughtful reform approach forward, the commission recently made public an effort to breathe additional flexibility into our rules,” O’Rielly said. He understands a small portion of youth lack access to options other than broadcasting, he said. Broadcasters need to weigh in, he said. “My plea to you and to every interested party is to file substantive comments.”