NAB ridiculed pay-TV's “ludicrous advocacy” that over-the-air viewers would lose programming in the ATSC 3.0 transition, in meetings Thursday with staff of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and the Media Bureau, said an ex parte posted Monday in docket 16-142. MVPDs’ “assertion” they “care deeply about the welfare of over-the-air viewers is laughable,” because they include “some of the least popular companies in America due to their unique commitment to providing dismal customer service,” NAB said: The companies “seek to pad their profit margins not only by dragging retransmission consent issues kicking and screaming into any proceeding that even tangentially affects television service, but now apparently by claiming to care whether viewers receive over-the-air signals.” NCTA CEO Michael Powell in Oct. 30 meetings with Commissioner Brendan Carr (see 1711030059) emphasized “the need for the Commission to ensure that the broadcasters’ voluntary roll-out of ATSC 3.0 does not disrupt consumers or impose costs and burdens on cable operators and their customers, said a Nov. 1 filing. “Back down here on planet Earth,” NAB recommends the FCC “adopt a standard for expedited processing of applications that mirrors the coverage area standard” the commission used during the DTV transition. The “flexibility” given broadcasters during that transition “applies with equal force” to 3.0, it said. NAB’s analysis suggests that, under the draft 3.0 order’s standard, 22 percent of TV stations “would have no available simulcasting partners that could qualify for expedited processing, and an additional 12 percent of stations would have only a single potential partner,” it said. NAB wants the agency to “clarify” language in the 3.0 order on encryption to say that while free next-generation signals may be encrypted, “they do not require special equipment programmed by a service provider.”

ATSC 3.0 "would be the first standard to marry the advantages of broadcasting and the Internet," FCC Chairman Ajit Pai blogged Thursday, confirming he will put the order authorizing deployment of the next-generation TV system up for a vote at commissioners' Nov. 16 meeting. ATSC 3.0 "holds the promise of delivering better video and audio, advanced emergency alerts, improved accessibility features, personalized and interactive content, and mobile television reception to American consumers," said Pai. The vote is "whether to allow television broadcasters to use Next Gen TV on a voluntary, market-driven basis," he said. "I want America to be at the forefront of innovation in the broadcast sector, the wireless sector, and every other sector of the communications industry." The FCC's release of a draft 3.0 was viewed as imminent at our Thursday deadline. Pay-TV providers are concerned about how the FCC’s proposed 3.0 order (see 1710250049 or 1710250052) will treat the expected simulcasting requirement and handle retransmission consent negotiations, said officials from the American TV Alliance on a media call Thursday. “The devil will be in the details,” said Harris Wiltshire attorney Michael Nilsson, who represents ATVA. Without restrictions on simulcasting to show the same programming or serve the same contour area, broadcasters could leave neighborhoods without 1.0, or show such viewers a shopping network while the Super Bowl airs on 3.0, Nilsson said. MVPDs are concerned that without restrictions on how 3.0 plays into retrans negotiations, broadcasters could require MVPDs agree to transmit 3.0 signals before stations are sure how they will use the signal, Nilsson said. Such restrictions would also protect consumers, said Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Project at the New America Foundation. The transition could leave consumers without service, and since the standard isn’t backward compatible, they could face costs of upgrading TVs, Calabrese said. The switch also could cost federal, state and local governments, said Ross Marchand of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance. Governments own thousands of sets, and the move would mean they need to upgrade that equipment, Marchand said.

The FCC’s Nov. 16 meeting is widely expected to include a vote authorizing ATSC 3.0, industry officials said. The 3.0 draft order could face a party-line 3-2 vote, industry officials told us. The draft is expected to require broadcasters to simulcast ATSC 1.0 signals that are substantially similar but not identical to their 3.0 signals, and isn’t expected to contain provisions barring 3.0 from being a factor in retransmission consent negotiations, industry officials said (see 1710170048). The American Cable Association, meanwhile, is joining American TV Alliance (see 1708100033) and Charter Communications (see 1710230049) urging the FCC to require carriage negotiations of ATSC 3.0 streams be held separately from talks about continued carriage of ATSC 1.0 signals. In a docket 16-142 ex parte filing Tuesday, ACA said if the FCC doesn't do so for all MVPDs, it should at least do so for small ones "uniquely susceptible to broadcast coercion" in carriage talks. Alternately, the agency could bar broadcasters from demanding carriage in a format the MVPD doesn't yet carry, ACA said. NAB didn't comment. Recapping a meeting with Office of Engineering and Technology staff and Media Bureau Chief Michelle Carey, ACA said the FCC should make clear parties can agree to carry 3.0 signals in formats other than those transmitted over the air, including formats compatible with existing cable equipment, so there's no question down-conversion is allowable. ACA urged the FCC not to allow 3.0 flash cuts, or at least only until equipment becomes commercially available that would let MVPDs receive, down-convert and deliver the signals in a viewable format. Meantime, NAB criticisms of Verizon's stance on 3.0 (see 1710240072) don't account for the effects of the new standard on MVPD customers, a Verizon spokesman said. "Any mention of consumers or the new equipment or higher programming costs that could hit them if the transition to ATSC 3.0 is forced on them prematurely before there's market demand" was "notably absent" from a recent NAB filing attacking the pay-TV company, the spokesman said. "We’re supportive of innovative new technologies, and have no beef with ATSC 3.0."

It's “absurd” to suggest a company the size of Verizon could be forced into carrying ATSC 3.0 by much smaller broadcasters, said NAB in docket 16-142 Tuesday responding to the carrier (see 1710200025). Verizon “undoubtedly has a motive to hamstring such innovation by imposing needless and unreasonable regulatory burdens on broadcasters,” NAB said. “Verizon has begun testing the delivery of 4K television service. It is thus understandable why Verizon is concerned about a free over-the-air 4K competitor.” In a letter to the Media Bureau, the Advanced Television Systems Committee said recommended practices on MVPD redistribution of 3.0 signals are expected to be completed in 2018. The practices concern conversion of 3.0 services into 1.0 services “so that hardware or software products can be built to implement conversions to formats suitable for ATSC 1.0 redistribution systems or ATSC 1.0 over the air broadcast,” the group said.

The FCC should increase ancillary service fees for broadcasters using ATSC 3.0 to provide wireless bandwidth and examine whether such uses still constitute broadcasting, said Charter Communications in a letter to the FCC posted in docket 16-142. If the FCC decides “interactive television services are not ‘broadcasting’ then the Commission should clarify that broadcasters may not compel MVPDs to carry such non-broadcasting services as a condition of granting ATSC 3.0 retransmission consent,” said Charter. The FCC should increase the ancillary services fees to reflect “the dramatic increase in the value of spectrum licenses” since the fee was last set 18 years ago and account for the lucrative uses ATSC 3.0 will allow, Charter said. Charter also asked the FCC to restrict how much a simulcast ATSC 1.0 signal is allowed to differ from a 3.0 signal, to restrict low-power stations from “flash-cutting” to the new standard, and to bar broadcasters from making carriage of a 1.0 signal contingent on MVPDs agreeing to carry a 3.0 signal, Charter said. NCTA also said broadcasters should be prevented from requiring carriage of 3.0 in retransmission consent negotiations, in a Wednesday meeting with Media Bureau Chief Michelle Carey, according to an ex parte filing. The FCC shouldn’t let simulcast rules for the new standard sunset after three years as NAB requested, NCTA said. “The Commission must continue to require simulcasting until it determines that conditions warrant allowing a broadcaster to no longer provide an ATSC 1.0 signal.”

The FCC should prevent broadcasters from making MVPDs carry ATSC 3.0 as a condition of carrying their 1.0 signal, said Verizon in a meeting with aides to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel Wednesday, said a filing the next day in docket 16-142. The FCC should “impose a one-year ‘quiet’ period prior to the expiration of a retransmission consent agreement for an ATSC 1.0 signal, during which time the broadcast station cannot negotiate for the first-time carriage of an ATSC 3.0 signal,” Verizon said. A draft order predicted to be circulated soon isn't expected to contain provisions on 3.0 in retrans negotiations, and isn’t expected to receive Rosenworcel’s vote (see 1710170048). Protections are necessary so MVPDs aren't forced to make expenditures to allow them to transmit 3.0, Verizon said. The carrier endorsed requiring broadcasts to simulcast both standards, and said the agency should require broadcasters to air “the same programming as the ATSC 3.0 broadcast, with approximately the same geographic coverage, in the same format (high definition or standard definition) and at the same bitrate as the broadcast station’s current DTV over-the-air broadcast.”

Since CTA’s June filing urging the FCC in ATSC 3.0 rules only to “encourage” adoption of ATSC’s A/322 document on physical-layer protocol, without requiring it (see 1706090026), member companies "indicated a need for more certainty regarding the transmission standard to ensure a uniform and smooth transition to NextGen TV,” said Brian Markwalter, senior vice president-research and standards. That was CTA’s rationale for writing to all five commissioners to incorporate A/322 into 3.0 rules, not just the A/321 document on system discovery and signaling (see 1710190048), said Markwalter Thursday. Keeping with the 3.0 transition's voluntary, market-driven nature, CTA previously told the FCC it wasn't seeking “a requirement to implement A/322.”

There’s “nothing really stopping” broadcasters under the ATSC 3.0 suite of standards from transmitting “540p, high-dynamic-range, wide-color-gamut” pictures “if they wish,” LG Electronics consultant Madeleine Noland told the NAB Show New York (see 1710180023) Thursday during an Ultra HD primer workshop. Noland chairs ATSC’s S34 specialist group supervising the framing of 3.0 audio and video and the Ultra HD Forum’s guidelines working group. “Broadcasters are allowed to mix-and-match within the ATSC 3 system in order to make sure that they’re getting the best bang for their bit, and making the best business decisions they can for their customers,” said Noland. In implementing 3.0, U.S. broadcasters “may rely actually heavily on a 2K service at first, looking at 2K, plus HDR, wide color gamut, next-generation audio,” she said. “We did not get a whole nice big pile of spectrum to play with in order to make this transition.” The “bandwidth challenges” make 2K-based broadcast services “a very attractive offering at the outset,” she said. ATSC 3.0 "right now goes to 2160p," Noland told a questioner who asked whether the standard could accommodate 8K. "One of the most important things we built into ATSC 3.0 is extensability," she said. "So the expectation is that, over time, more things will be added," she said. Her S34 specialist group is "already looking at next pieces of some of the video, and ultimately 8K may be one of those things," she said. The Ultra HD Forum canvassed service operators worldwide to gauge their “two-to-five-year outlook” on commercializing Ultra HD “technologies” like 4K resolution, HDR and wide color gamut, said Noland. “We found strong support for 2K UHD formats, interestingly, but also strong support for 4K UHD formats.” HDR and wide color gamut are “high on everyone’s lists,” she said. “But people are a little bit concerned about all the complexities that go along with having multiple technologies available.” The survey found service operators aren't very worried about the pace of future Ultra HD consumer adoption, she said.

FCC decisions to seek comment on eliminating the main studio rule and to reinstate the UHF discount were favorable to Sinclair and could undermine public confidence in the agency, Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy said in a meeting with Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel Wednesday, recounted a filing in docket 17-179. Newsmax opposes Sinclair buying Tribune, and Ruddy and the commissioner discussed and “agreed” on possible consequences of the merger, it said. Rosenworcel “reviewed with Mr. Ruddy how the proposed transaction could be utilized to force adoption of ATSC 3.0 creating a windfall for Sinclair as a result of its patents on this technology,” the news organization said. Rosenworcel in a speech last week called the new standard a tax on consumers (see 1710120057). Ruddy and Rosenworcel “agreed that the Commission should engage in a comprehensive review of media ownership rules, including seeking comment from the public and Congress before deciding on the Sinclair merger,” the filing said. They agreed the deal likely would lead to higher retransmission consent prices, it said. Rosenworcel’s office didn’t comment.

“The time is right” for the FCC to approve an order on ATSC 3.0, said NAB CEO Gordon Smith in a meeting with Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel Tuesday, recounted an ex parte filing posted Thursday in docket 16-142. Rosenworcel, in a Thursday speech, said the FCC needs to go back to the drawing board on the proposed 3.0 transition (see 1710120019 or 1710120057). Smith said the FCC should loosen ownership rules and increase the flexibility of broadcasters to meet deadlines in the post-incentive auction repacking. CTA President Gary Shapiro praised the new standard in a statement Friday (see 1710130056).The FCC should permit flexibility and have a “light regulatory touch” for the simulcasting requirements for broadcasters transitioning to ATSC 3.0, said officials from PBS, the CPB and America’s Public Television Stations in a meeting with an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai Friday and a meeting with Media Bureau staff Wednesday, according to filings in docket 16-142. Many public television stations may be barred by geography from sharing facilities for simulcasting that would allow them to duplicate their current contour, the public TV groups said. Content requirements also should be flexible, since it may not be possible for stations to offer the exact same content on the current standard that they will be offering on 3.0, the filings said. The public TV groups don’t want the transition to cause any changes to carriage rules, they said. “We expect that many of the technical upgrades to multichannel video programming distributors’ facilities that are necessary to carry ATSC 3.0 programming will be driven, in large part, through marketplace negotiations with commercial stations,” the filings said.