FCC to Begin Accepting ATSC 3.0 TV Station Transition Applications Tuesday

The FCC will begin accepting applications Tuesday for TV stations to transition to ATSC 3.0, said a Media Bureau public notice Thursday. Though the commission’s ATSC 3.0 order was approved in November 2017, broadcasters have been waiting for the agency to create a form and process in the FCC’s license management system (LMS) for the transition.

The FCC “beat its own target date,” said ATSC President Madeleine Noland. The application had been expected later this summer, but the timing will now allow it to be a topic of discussion at next week's Next-Gen TV Broadcast Conference, Noland said.

Entities such as broadcast consortium Spectrum had said that having to wait for the form threatened to push back the rollout of 3.0 consumer devices (see 1902260046). Many of them said Thursday that the form has arrived early enough. “We still expect a good selection of compatible consumer devices on retailer shelves and websites for 2020,” emailed President John Hane.

The application process’ release has come “just in time,” said engineer Dave Folsom, who oversees Pearl TV’s 3.0 pilot project in Phoenix. The application’s release will send “a signal” to manufacturers that the transition is proceeding, he said. Broadcasters want 3.0 consumer devices to be ready for exhibition at January CES, Folsom said. “Speaking as a manufacturer, it’s a very positive step,” said LG Electronics Senior Vice President John Taylor.

The wait was needed for the FCC to revise Form 2100 and modify the LMS, the PN said. “The long wait has been frustrating but the backend work the FCC needed to do to track licenses split across multiple sticks was pretty complicated,” Hane said. The application process will be open to all licensed full-power, Class A and low-power TV, and TV translators except for licensed channel sharing stations, the PN said. The agency is still working on LMS changes for the channel sharing stations but will allow them to use an interim process to deploy 3.0 immediately while they wait, the PN said.

The licensing process for the new standard is “one-step” and “streamlined,” and requires broadcasters looking to broadcast in it from their facility or another broadcaster’s facility to “file only a modification of license application with the commission,” the PN said. Broadcasters’ 3.0 transition plan hinges on some stations in each market shifting to the new standard while other stations host an ATSC 1.0 version of the transitioned stations’ channels. Under the process released Thursday, stations will have to file and seek FCC permission for channel moves related to the transition, such as shifting a 1.0 signal to a temporary host or airing a 3.0 signal on a station that has already converted, the PN said.

If everything works as outlined in the PN, “it should be a speedy process,” said Folsom. “The Bureau’s hard work to integrate the form with the LMS system will substantially help Host and Tenants get quick approval to light up 3.0 facilities,” emailed One Media Executive Vice President-Strategic and Legal Affairs Jerald Fritz. Broadcast industry officials told us the process for applying for the 3.0 license works as they expected it would, and is unlikely to raise objections from TV broadcasters.

With the official licensing application in place, the FCC will cease issuing experimental licenses for 3.0, and existing experimental license must convert to the new license before the current one runs out, the PN said. A permanent process for channel sharing stations to apply to transition should be in place by Q3, the PN said. Since the agency is providing an interim process for such stations, that delay won’t be a “hiccup” for broadcasters, Folsom said.

There’s not likely to be a sudden flood of applications to transition when the window opens May 28, executives said. “We’re in the process of planning launch of a large number of markets in the next 18 months but you won’t see applications for all of the markets filed on the first day,” Hane said. “There are a number of markets where stations are in active discussions on channel mapping, hosting agreements, program clearances and equipment installation,” said Fritz. Due to the ongoing post-incentive auction repacking, the launches of 3.0 stations will need to go in stages, Spectrum's Hane said: “Applications will begin to come in in June and should continue coming in for the rest of this year and the first part of next year.”