(This article was originally posted on Tech TV)
Quick Summary: The top 55 markets would transition to ATSC 3.0 by February 2028, the NAB roadmap proposed.
In an important regulatory push to advance NextGen TV/ATSC 3.0, the NAB has petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to establish dates for shutting down the current ATSC 1.0 broadcast standard and switching signals to NextGen TV/ATSC 3.0 broadcasts.
The petition lays out the NAB’s roadmap for the transition from the current standard to ATSC 3.0. It calls for the FCC to approve a Feb. 2028 sunset for the top 55 markets and the remaining stations would make the transition by Feb. 2030 and development.
NextGen TV broadcasts have been launched in markets covering about 76% of the country and have been used to launch a host of new services, including HDR feeds, Dolby Atmos and interactive services.
But most markets have limited spectrum for the full features of NextGen TV because one station typically broadcasts the 3.0 feed for the other stations in the market. That has made the switchover a particularly important issue for the future of 3.0 because it will free up spectrum for a much wider range of services, including datacasting that could produce significant new revenues.