ATSC 3.0 Sunsets Item Remains Moving Target
A draft ATSC 3.0 order on sunsets for the substantially similar and A/322 physical layer requirements remains a moving target that's unlikely to be voted quickly, said FCC and industry officials (see 2303130068). The draft report and order circulated in February would extend the substantially similar and A/322 physical layer requirements indefinitely, but broadcasters said there should be a specified date for the requirements to end. Under current FCC rules, the substantially similar requirement would end in June without FCC action. The A/322 physical layer was to sunset in March, but that was temporarily stayed by the agency last month.
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The timing of the sunset is a point of contention in 10th-floor negotiations over the language in the draft, an FCC official told us. The FCC’s Republicans are seen as supporting a specific sunset date, while Democratic offices are concerned an automatic sunset could lead to some consumers being left behind. The docket, 16-142, had a surge of activity from broadcast entities and MVPD groups over the draft item.
The substantially similar rules require stations to air similar content on their 3.0 and 1.0 streams. If that were allowed to sunset, broadcasters said, they would use the flexibility to show off the additional features of 3.0, but some raised concerns that broadcasters could use that flexibility to move their most desirable content to 3.0, leaving consumers without 3.0-capable devices behind. That would run counter to all the market incentives affecting broadcasting, said Sinclair Broadcast Senior Vice President-Advanced Technology Mark Aitken in an interview. Broadcasters “failed to explain with specificity what the rule prevents them from doing,” said ATVA in an August comments that it re-affirmed in a recent FCC ex parte filing. “We continue to believe that individual waivers are the best solution to any problem a broadcaster may encounter.” “To accept the premise that broadcasters will degrade their OTA service or make it harder for MVPDs to retransmit their signals one would have to ignore literally all the available evidence of actual behavior,” said BitPath CEO John Hane in a recent ex parte filing.
Having a date certain would “signal to the entire ecosystem that there’s effectively a transition,” said Aitken. That sort of assurance encourages the consumer electronics industry to invest in making ATSC 3.0 compatible devices. Concerns about consumers being left behind are being addressed by the industry, said Aitken. At [NAB Show 2023] I’m quite certain you’ll see a handful or more of actual working devices” that will retail for low cost, he said. Concerns about the availability of affordable 3.0-compatible devices have been repeatedly raised by FCC officials (see 1711160060).