Pearl Pushes for FCC Action on ATSC 3.0 Multicasting

The FCC should act “without delay” on an NAB petition for clarity on how the agency will treat multicast streams during the ATSC 3.0 transition, said Pearl TV in a meeting with aides to Commissioner Nathan Simington Thursday, per a filing posted in docket 16-142 Wednesday. Broadcasters said inaction on the matter is complicating the transition (see 2105280035). The petition “seeks only to give broadcasters the necessary clarity to maintain existing 1.0 service,” Pearl said. It doesn’t ask for “new carriage rights for multicast streams” or “create new station licenses or alienable interests.” A station “would continue to have its one license, but instead of only reflecting one authorized host channel, it may reflect more than one,” Pearl said.