Transitioning to Next Generation TV (ATSC 3.0)

Transitioning to Next Generation TV / ATSC 3.0 will not be like the analog-to-digital conversion. NGTV is not backward compatible with existing television receivers. If executed as proposed, the transition will be a cooperative between stations in a market.

The Next Generation TV Petition proposes that “the industry will deploy this new technology in parallel with the existing digital television standard in a voluntary, market-based manner”. It does not propose a mandatory transition date.

This means that some transmitters in a given market will operate Legacy-ATSC broadcasts, while others will operate with NGTV. The stations would cooperate to duplicate as many channels as possible in both formats, with a goal of phasing out the Legacy-ATSC transmitters.

Each licensee or channel-sharing group of licensees will only be allocated one 6 MHz channel. There will be no temporary transition channels.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *