RBR+TVBR 2023 Winter Special Report

FUTURE-PROOFING

3 9

CONSTRUCTING RADIO’S FUTURE-PROOF PLATFORMS

Constructing a studio capable of the latest audio and video technology solutions, and monetizing them, is just one way radio can capture more audience — and revenue — says DNAV’s Nick Straka. How a broadcaster can turn a linear station into a profitable digital stream is also a subject ENCO’s Bill Bennett can speak knowledgably of.

THE COMING NEXTGEN TV DOLLAR INJECTION

How significant is SaaS technology to NEXTGEN TV and ATSC 3.0? Thomson

Broadcast’s Aby Alexander shares his thoughts while Bo Hoover of Technical Services Group (TSG) shares a startling statistic: Half of America’s TV stations are behind the curve with ATSC 3.0 readiness.

BROADCAST TV’S FUTURE-PROOF MOVES

NEXTGEN TV has truly become a beyond-the-screen experience, presenting many the monetization opportunities. But, from the vantage point of Dielectric VP of Sales Jay Martin, getting the technology in place for ATSC 3.0 services is paramount.

HOW RADIO CAN HELP TV WITH NEW CONTENT DISTRIBUTION

Turning linear stations into digital streams is vital for audio and visual companies. Qligent CEO Brick Eksten provides the latest developments in this space.

HOW AUDIO LESSONS ARE SHAPING TV ADVANCEMENT

Eduardo Martinez today is working hard to drum up interest for the newest version of its reporting and analytics platform for live streams and podcasts. The 2023 NAB Show will see StreamGuys place a particular focus on this offering.

A SALUTE TO BROADCAST MEDIA’S TECH LEADERS

It was resoundingly popular in its first year. Now, the second annual Broadcast Media’s Top Tech Leaders list expands from 15 to 20 honorees. Who’s at No. 1?

A TRIO OF NEXTGEN TV MILESTONES

NEXTGEN TV is “scaling rapidly” on connected TVs, and “captivating consumers” while creating new business opportunities for broadcasters. That’s the message being shared by Pearl TV, which put NEXTGEN TV front and center at CES 2023.

RADIO

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Deborah Parenti dparenti@streamlinepublishing.com

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Adam R Jacobson ajacobson@streamlinepublishing.com

MANAGING EDITOR Brida Connolly bconnolly@streamlinepublishing.com

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Kenneth Whitney kwhitney@streamlinepublishing.com

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS April McLynn amclynn@streamlinepublishing.com

ADVERTISING/MARKETING CONSULTANTS

Joshua Gertzog 609.647.3994 jgertzog@streamlinepublishing.com Jennifer Jacques 937.522.5971 jjacques@streamlinepublishing.com Carl Marcucci 703.670.2860 cmarcucci@streamlinepublishing.com George Wymer 937.609.6778 gwymer@streamlinepublishing.com

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CONSTRUCTING RADIO’S FUTURE-PROOF PLATFORMS

How can radio stations successfully maximize their linear content in the ever-growing digital and online sphere? That is perhaps one of the most important questions facing broadcasters. Constructing a studio capable of the latest audio and video technology solutions, and monetizing them, is one solution, says Nick Straka of DNAV, a company focused on broadcast control, uplink, and transmission facilities for television and radio. How a broadcaster can turn a linear station into a profitable digital stream is also a subject ENCO’s Bill Bennett can speak knowledgeably of.

DNAV specializes in the radio side of the broadcasting integration business, with much of its efforts focused on studio and transmission-side products and services.

DNAV is also a manufacturer’s representative in the U.S., ensuring Sierra Automated Systems, based in Burbank, Calif., has a conduit to broadcasters for its line of engines and routers, consoles, and intercoms. That’s the company that in February 2019 worked with Spanish Broadcasting

System (SBS) in Los Angeles on the deployment of audio routing via fiberoptic interconnections and Dante AoIP through the use of SAS systems.

Yet DNAV may remain under the radar of some radio industry C-suiters. With integration perhaps crucial to DNAV’s mission to serve all broadcasters, Straka, one of two principal executives at DNAV, is ready to open the doors to new clients by offering them ways to capitalize on one of

the hottest needs for audio content creators: a video solution.

“Sure, you can put bells and whistles and all sorts of crazy stuff in the studio, but you have to ask yourself if it is going to make money,” Straka says. “You have to strike a balance between looking great and if it is going to be on video or not. Everybody now wants ‘TV on the radio.’”

One studio project that is ongoing for Straka and his DNAV team involves the relocation of the CBS News Radio newsroom and studios. In the middle of the first quarter of 2023, they’ll be shifting into the CBS News television newsroom on West 57th Street in New York, moving up a few floors from where they are currently. The key reason? Better integration with the TV product.

DNAV is also working on a wholestudio refresh for ESPN in Bristol, Conn., a move that involves both the ESPN Radio and ESPN television operations. But Straka says the refresh is geared more for TV because of custom meter bridges with the logo

emblazoned on them, as well as other things that will show up on camera.

That’s just a sampling of what DNAV has in the project hopper for 2023. “We do all kinds of crazy stuff,” Straka says. This includes work on directional AM radio stations, perhaps the most forlorn of the broadcast media initiatives seen in this era.

“There is so much going on for 2023,” he says. “We’re hiring more people.” As the Winter 2023 RBR+TVBR Special Report was being distributed, DNAV was expected to announce another high-profile addition to its team.

NAVIGATING THE ROAD FOR GROWTH

With the October 2022 addition of Brian Walker as National Sales Manager, Straka and business partner Daniel Hyatt are now focusing on expanding design and integration projects. Sierra Automated Systems is part of these efforts. Straka comments, “It’s been a great symbiotic relationship with SAS, and that began

five years ago now. It’s been great for us. With their currently installed user base, it got into a lot of places quickly without having to jump through a lot of hoops.”

He considers SAS to be “amazing design engineers” — but they are not out in the field every day. That’s where DNAV fills in the gaps. “We can think of something and put it on paper and try to design a product of something and put it out there, but we’re the ones driving the research and development side with SAS. We are out there all of the time, and we are interfacing with people. We’ve been able to take the relationship and work handin-hand on very custom solutions for integrations.”

How significant are integrations for radio? Very, says Straka. And he’s not just talking about meshing audio content delivery with video. As he explains, integration involves all of a project’s stakeholders. “We’re the centrifuge for all of the other vendors,” Straka notes. “We bring them all together.

Sure, you can put bells and whistles and all sorts of crazy stuff in the studio, but you have to ask yourself if it is going to make money.

— Nick Straka

It ranges from outside equipment and working with the architect on studio design to working with the furniture manufacturer, supplying the microphones, and coordinating with the automation vendor. We want to make sure that all of these different pieces that you throw into the facility are all going to harmoniously work together and meet the goals of the client.”

Is this a niche offering for broadcast media? “Any group of engineers can get together and create a studio, but when you’re thinking about it from an integration standpoint, you’re not thinking about it from a maintenance or engineer’s perspective,” Straka says. “You’re thinking about it from a design and build-out and long-term perspective, and making sure you’ve future-proofed it.”

Among the other things DNAV provides under the rubric of integration are service plans and service work. “We don’t just walk away from it after building something,” Straka says. “We will most likely be the ones taking care of it, on some level.”

It sounds simple, but with systems including broadcast control, uplink, and transmission facilities for television and radio, and the C-Suite more than ever looking at expenses, what rises to the top of the list of priorities? Straka replies, “The top need is to have a facility that is flexible. In the old days, you’d build a studio and put it in place for ‘WXYZ,’ and it is only for ‘WXYZ,’ and everybody who comes in works for ‘WXYZ,’ and that’s the end of it.”

Today, “flex spaces” have LED walls and screens and colorchanging RGB LED strips, and things

under the console can change with the flip of a switch, altering the whole character, presence, and branding of a studio.

Shared services agreements mean seeing the same anchors on wholly different newscasts is becoming more common across the U.S., and increased flexibility is now paramount for broadcast TV and radio. Working with New York Public Radio across the pandemic, only two engineers were allowed in the buildings housing Classical WQXR, NPR Member station WNYC, and New Jersey Public Radio.

DNAV technology made the extensive remote operations of the stations as seamless as possible.

Consider it a silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic, as DNAV worked with concerned broadcast media leadership on ways to keep operations going as they were prevented from being together in a single building.

The world of integration has also seen the migration of spoken-word AM stations to FM, the most recent shift being “1010 WINS, now on FM 92.3,” with the demise of WNYL. DNAV has worked closely with such changes, ensuring PPM encodability and decodability that can hide the tones is optimized and free of on-air distortion. There are also codec differences between AM and FM that can be noticeable.

“Every incoming codec — and codecs are so in use right now for traffic, for weather, for reporters, for every single one of those pieces of audio — we need to know how they sound to the ear, and how they look to the Nielsen encoders,” Straka says.

Nielsen encoders have eight frequencies between 1k and 3k in the upper mid-range where it encodes. “If that information is not there, it starts to peel back those bands,” Straka explains, with degradation of the watermark, lowering its capturing by a meter.

For the broadcast media station, pre-processing prior to PPM insertion needs to be on point.

Working with Orban Labs, embedded PPM is now a tool DNAV is promoting to its clients. This sees an audio processor injecting those PPM tones just after the final limiter, before the final clipper.

If you’re a terrestrial broadcast station and you’re thinking about streaming, especially a streaming channel that is not part of your existing on-air signal, then you’ve really got to start thinking about all of the content you are already doing live on the air that you can probably reuse — and make new money from. — Bill Bennett

Nick Straka

Don’t understand what that “techy-talk” means? Straka explains, “It’s getting the absolute fattest, biggest audio and most consistent audio that it can work with.” The result: It increases decodability on the meter side, and it decreases the artifacts. “We also know what the Voltair sound is, because you can hear it up and down the New York radio dial,” Straka comments. “But that’s been done to get those decode rates up into the 80% to 90% range.”

Straka’s final takeaway is perhaps his most essential bit of advice. “Make sure you have enough bandwidth to have an uncompressed STL,” he says. “Compressed STL will just murder the PPM encoding.”

MAKING ‘RADIO ON TV’ MEANINGFUL

With the increased desire to bring cameras into the traditional radio studio, content creation and technology are now more integrated than perhaps ever before for audio communications specialists. Does this mean that programming and air talent teams should be working more closely with the engineering and tech staff, ensuring the technology being built is

fully understood and optimized?

“People on the content teams have in their heads this idea of putting cameras in the studio and it is going to look as good as CBS or FOX News,” Straka says with a laugh. “No, it is not. This is where the level of investment is important. But you also need to invest in the people if you are serious about having video content for radio.”

Once all of those considerations are weighed by the decisionmakers in the C-Suite, turning the linear station into a profitable multimedia operation, with the digital stream capable of generating meaningful revenue, can be realized.

That’s where Bill Bennett, the Pittsburgh-based Media Solutions and Account Manager for ENCO, headquartered in the Detroit suburbs, comes into the conversation. Since joining from LAWO, Bennett has maintained a focus at ENCO squarely on application engineering and business development. He is also driving new product innovation and proof-of-concept trials, as well as managing key ENCO accounts and partnership development.

ENCO’s “DAD” product, around for

decades, is bringing traditional radio fully into the digital sphere.

“The product keeps evolving, and improving,” Bennett says. “It supported initially an over-the-air market, and broadcasters were primarily focused on what is coming off of that broadcast tower. Over time, we’ve seen the listening audience evolve to have more streaming opportunities become available to them. Sometimes over-the-air broadcasters will just put their live stream onto the web with some minor changes. More ambitious broadcasters will add multiple concurrent streams and even build out an audio-on-demand library.

“With our DAD product, they can support several concurrent playback decks that can therefore feed concurrently different output streams at the same time, including over-the-air and multiple streaming channels. This allows broadcasters to get more creative with their content.”

Historically, if you’re a broadcaster, you’re not doing a lot of recording of your content. But there is a lot that could be repurposed, whether live or on demand, to other streaming channels, Bennett says. “If you’re a

terrestrial broadcast station and you’re thinking about streaming, especially a streaming channel that is not part of your existing on-air signal, then you’ve really got to start thinking about all of the content you are already doing live on the air that you can probably reuse — and make new money from.”

That probably requires a strategic improvement in creating and organizing metadata, Bennett says. And believe it or not, his opinion is that metadata can be more exciting than the content it is associated with.

“Call me a geek,” Bennett says. “Metadata is data about data. You can associate with or embed in that data, which certainly includes the title and artist and maybe album art or a logo or lyrics, you can include an assortment of other tags — the time of day, when it is allowed to play, when it has expired,

or maybe when it is not allowed to play. It is like when you’re staring at a spreadsheet and you’re looking at hundreds of rows across, and each row contains nothing but data. You can use all that data in various ways without using it in incorrect ways.”

At ENCO, the Padapult product acts between the DAD system and the metadata tags that all the products have. This ensures RDS, HD Radio, and streaming go hand-in-hand in making the radio station’s visual elements fully in sync.

FROM VOICE TO VISION

At the heart of what ENCO provides are captioning services — an area with newfound potential for growth at broadcast radio. In fact, Bennett sees captioning opportunities in a large way.

“This is possibly the next disruptive

space in radio,” he says. ENCO has had an automated captioning product for roughly 15 years, but it had mainly been used for television. A few months ago, its usefulness for serving the radio market was put to the test at American University’s NPR Member station, market-leading WAMU-FM in Washington, D.C.

With a large deaf or hard-ofhearing population in the listening area, thanks to the longtime presence of Gallaudet University, WAMU worked with ENCO in getting its content to that audience by putting ENCO’s enCaption to task. It’s simple: Audio that is being played out can be converted to text, and that can appear on a website or even be pushed to a smartphone.

Thank WAMU Senior Director of Technology Rob Bertrand for his pioneering way of “serving as many people as you can,” Bennett acknowledges. And, with a regular recurring audience watching those captions, WAMU knows exactly who that audience is. This can yield new on-air opportunities, including taking questions from those following the captions to consume the radio station product.

Bennett concludes, “Radio itself has historically been that invisible talking voice on the microphone. It’s not used to being a visual media. As such, some programmers and some hosts are much more comfortable being invisible to the audience.”

That needs to evolve, he says. Multicamera concepts can help change that comfort level. With TikTok at its biggest popularity level yet, being at ease with video make take time for a more traditional broadcaster. The key is the result. Says Bennett, “It gives a station more opportunities to connect with an audience.”

We want to make sure that all of these different pieces that you throw into the facility are all going to harmoniously work together and meet the goals of the client.

— Nick Straka

Bill Bennett

THE COMING NEXTGEN TV DOLLAR INJECTION

There has been plenty of discussion on how NEXTGEN TV will bring incremental revenue to broadcast TV. But to get there, the right mix of technology needs to be in place. Aby Alexander of Thomson Broadcast believes the company and subsidiary GatesAir have some of the tools, with the cloud bringing fresh reasons to transition to ATSC 3.0. There’s just one problem, says Bo Hoover at broadcast engineering consultancy Technical Services Group (TSG) — half of America’s TV stations are well behind the curve on adopting the new digital broadcast standard.

As more and more markets begin to offer ATSC 3.0powered broadcast signals to viewers with television sets capable of receiving NEXTGEN TV, two big global broadcast technology companies — that are now one, thanks to a big acquisition announced hours prior to the start of the 2022 NAB Show — are gearing up for a strong 2023.

GatesAir is today a Thomson Broadcast subsidiary, and President Aby Alexander is excited about how the voluntary rollout of NEXTGEN TV will bring new dollars to broadcast TV. What is Thomson’s role in the ATSC 3.0 universe? It involves the cloud — and two things that stand out for those working with Thomson.

“In 2022 we developed a couple of things in the cloud,” Alexander says. “We launched a concept that is more of a channel in the cloud. Our goal there was that whatever the broadcasters are doing, there are a couple of challenges that they face.”

Those challenges are focused on creation, monetization, and development. “Out of that we determined that whatever we could put in the cloud was worthy of integration, and we did that.”

The 2023 roadmap sees Thomson bringing to light some of the products built on overcoming those broadcaster challenges; innovation is key to how those products will best fit the needs of the user. Additionally, Alexander says Thomson is looking at ATSC through the lens of companies that are trying to integrate and start projects internally.

Monitoring these assets requires the right equipment. That includes “NOC,” Thomson’s network origin center for ATSC; this product is designed to monitor transmitters and

Aby Alexander

hardware devices. “They’ll all be part of a dashboard that will be integrated into the product portfolio,” Alexander says.

Thomson is also looking at innovating something in the ATSC 3.0 and possibly the satellite space that sees integration of satellite feeds into multiple clients. “There are a couple of avenues that we are looking at this year,” Alexander shares.

NEXTGEN TV and ATSC 3.0’s new monetization opportunities thus now include the cloud. For companies that are still unsure of how to capture the dollars through the new technology, Alexander has a simple recommendation. “We should ask the question of how we can become a solution provider for broadcasters,” he says, turning the lens on Thomson Broadcast. It’s not just about selling the transmitters and stepping away, but also providing “a solution from the studio to the living room.”

He offers an example. “You can take advertisements and the ads that are integrated into the broadcast chain and ask how we can leverage those ads and have a click-through mechanism so that we can see a fulfillment of those ads and get monetized. So the cost of the ad becomes much higher.”

Making TV ad space more attractive is just “the tip of the iceberg,” Alexander believes. “This is where we can help you. Let’s jointly work together and double up this solution.”

Curated content through subscription-based accessibility is another possibility Alexander offers as a monetization opportunity. Then there is the data associated with all this new technology. “ATSC, with the IP back-haul, would enable them to get much more granular reports,” he says.

How stations embrace the path to more revenue will likely unfold on a station-by-station basis. Alexander recalls a 1999 streaming initiation project at one television station that had yet to build a portal. “We hand-held them the entire way through the projection, and once they saw the revenue — and it took about nine months to get there — they gave the green light to move ahead,” he says. By Sept. 11, 2001, the horrific attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., led many to go online to find information. The web traffic to the streaming coverage of the station’s news more than paid for the investment.

It is this forward thinking that Thomson believes will help broadcasters move the innovation needle, with a spotlight on ATSC 3.0. “It’s a blank canvas,” Alexander says. “We look at the internet and where it was 15 years ago, and look at where it is today. In 15 years, what can TV offer?”

GatesAir will play a key role in helping broadcast television evolve, with the right technology and the right people in place and with no fear of an operational change, structural moves, or a reduction in force as Thomson continues to welcome GatesAir staff into its France-based family. The Riviera Beach, Fla., manufacturing and distribution site that existed before the GatesAir merger has

“pivoted,” with the Palm Beach County site now being used as an innovation center. “We will have more on the software site and some auxiliary products, working as a small assembly plant that is more focused on ATSC 3.0.”

ATTACKING THE REPACK GAP

While the consumer is increasingly enabled to enjoy NEXTGEN TV with the rollout of new markets — thanks, in part, to BitPath — single-frequency networks (SFNs) are still a rarity. “Lighthouse” facilities converting to ATSC 3.0 are commonplace.

This is creating a disparity between stations ready for ATSC 3.0 and those that are not. Then there is the “repack” created by the FCC’s spectrum auction. Getting “repack ready” for those needing to make a digital channel move put these stations in the driver’s seat when it comes to NEXTGEN TV. The stations that didn’t have to deal with a repack shift? They’re at a big disadvantage, says Bo Hoover, owner and President of Baton Rouge-headquartered Technical Services Group (TSG).

“The non-repack stations are starting at ground zero … and that is roughly 50% of the stations out there,” Hoover says.

As such, there are two different groups of broadcasters in the TV world, and those in the “have not” category will need to play catch-up quickly. That’s where Hoover believes his team at TSG can play a vital role. “There are many, many things that need to get done over the next three years,” he says. And, like Alexander at Thomson, he advises patience, as dollar generation will take some time. In Hoover’s view, broadcast television station owners should anticipate a three- to five-year window before any significant industry monetization is seen from ATSC 3.0 implementation.

What’s the first step a non-repacked TV station in need of ATSC 3.0 integration should take? “Holistically, the stations need to start thinking about some simulcast migration plans,” Hoover says. In particular, he’s found in some of the conversions handled by TSG already, STL issues abound. “There is a lot of activity going on, with everybody trying to figure out where they stand and how to prioritize.”

Hoover breaks down the easy-to-discern difference between the stations that are “repack ready” and those that are not. For those that are repack ready, with ATSC 3.0 ready at the transmitter site, their ability to broadcast is fairly simple. Encoders, and the necessary ATSC 3.0 licenses, are “done in an hour,” Hoover says. “Write a check and add a key code.”

Once the ATSC 3.0 facilities are licensed and on a vertical polarization, or V-Pole, antenna, just 24 hours is needed to get recalibrated and ready for use. Perhaps a software upgrade is needed? No fear — the maximum scope of work time is one to three days.

With that V-Pole, indoor and mobile reception get a big boost. Today, any sudden movement of a digital TV antenna

“The non-repack stations are starting at ground zero … and that is roughly 50% of the stations out there.” — Bo Hoover

connected to a television can impact signal reception, especially in areas in between DMAs or in hilly terrain as little as 30 miles from a station’s transmitter. At RBR+TVBR’s offices in Boca Raton, Fla., reception of Miami and West Palm Beach stations can be had — but under the right, and highly specific, circumstances ranging from antenna position and height to whether the patio shutters are fully opened.

A POLISHED BOTTLE, FREE OF CONTENTS

Once all the technology is in place, Hoover reminds the broadcast television industry of the second most-important aspect of ATSC 3.0’s rollout: programming.

“We need to talk about the content stream,” he says. “Stations are in all different degrees of how to establish this.”

While having ATSC 3.0-delivered programming built for NEXTGEN TV is one need, having ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0 signals in place until the time comes to discontinue the 1.0 feed — likely not for a decade — means having the best equipment for transporting those content streams. “This means an expansion of fiber or a new STL is needed, among other needs,” Hoover says. “Then, the challenge arises.”

One way to combat the problem, Hoover notes, is to learn from the ways DigiCAP solutions for ATSC 3.0 gained market acceptance. Among the vendors in this space are HitatchiComark — parent of DigiCaster and HomeCaster — and DigiCap Co. Ltd. itself.

With a content delivery map finalized, broadcast media companies can best set out on their future paths as prepared as possible. And those with a guide in hand can include those stations with only a high-power signal and no one to carry their ATSC 3.0 signal. Those stations simply need to act now.

“You can easily convert it,” Hoover says of those stations unprepared for ATSC 3.0, “but they do not have a clear transition plan to move the audience to an ATSC 3.0 environment.”

For those unfamiliar with the way broadcast television has evolved in the last 20 years, the idea of having a high-

powered signal yet being in the worst possible transition scenario sounds odd. Yet companies with duopolies and low-power TV stations (which Gray Television has heavily invested in across 2022) are now positioned more strongly than those that have only their high-power market standalones.

Hoover recalls how, in Tampa-St. Petersburg, ATSC 3.0 services were established at a low-revenue independent UHF station. Three of the market’s high-power stations leased that signal to be the ATSC lighthouse. On December 6, the same situation unfolded in New Orleans. As such, a market-by-market playout will be seen, resulting in some “interesting” relationships — at least in the short term, Hoover says.

“The early adopters that recognized the challenges of the roadmap — Gray, Nexstar, Sinclair — are going to be positioned in a much better place to be a market leader over the late adopters,” Hoover says.

For companies such as Thomson Broadcast’s GatesAir and Dielectric, there’s likely excitement about the anticipated wave of these late adopters calling for services. “Half of the market needs to upgrade,” Hoover emphasizes. “From the vendor side, they are obviously pushing it and they are advocates, as it affects their revenue stream.”

A big mish-mash of broadcast facilities will be impacted. And the stations may not be the ones you might assume are the most challenged. In Fort Myers-Naples, a market ravaged by Hurricane Ian where The E.W. Scripps Co. is the lone national broadcaster with local TV stations, a low-power TV station is ready to go for NEXTGEN TV.

“Fort Myers [broadcast TV station owners] are in great shape to do an ATSC 3.0 migration plan and are now talking about playout,” Hoover says. With their transmitter facilities built, Hoover notes that such service initiations come at a fairly low cost. Again, it mainly requires the setup of encoders. “Everything they need to do is on the playout side,” says Hoover. “They are not in a bad place to do that. Expense-wise, they paid the small differential cost element with repack, but that is behind them. For non-repack stations, they probably need a new transmitter anyway.”

So what happens on the playout side? “Live sports is going to be a driver, because everyone is willing to pay for a premium experience with live sports,” Hoover predicts. “Whether it is the SEC or the NFL, everyone is paying for the experience in 4K. That is a driver. People can justify buying the 85-inch 4K OLED because it gives the decision-making of the head of the household that much power.”

That’s a strong statement for those seeking the clearest picture for a live sports telecast, as any National Football League fan may tell you regarding the latency of Amazon

“The early adopters that recognized the challenges of the roadmap — Gray, Nexstar, Sinclair — are going to be positioned in a much better place to be a market leader over the late adopters.”

— Bo Hoover

Bo Hoover

Prime’s Thursday Night Football coverage, which is noticeably inferior to digital broadcast TV.

Still, one wonders if all the excitement about 5G and discussions already in place about 6G will make NEXTGEN TV a non-starter with consumers who may not even know what it is or where to buy a TV capable of receiving ATSC 3.0-powered TV signals.

Hoover points to the market of Shreveport-Bossier City, La. In that northwestern Louisiana market, Best Buy had premium NEXTGEN TV sets in stores, ready for buyers. LG, SONY, and Samsung models manufactured since 2020 have NEXTGEN TV, depending on the screen size. “TVs might be more available than we think,” Hoover says.

But smaller, low-end TVs could be slower to include NEXTGEN TV capabilities, with 50-inch-plus premium TVs getting all of the attention.

Slower is better than not at all. That’s why Hoover and others are confident ATSC 3.0 and NEXTGEN TV will fare much better than HD Radio in the U.S. “Radio tried to do a push — build it, and then radios would come,” Hoover says. “But there weren’t even any chipsets available. TV is investing in this, and they want a market driver for interactive

BROADCAST TV’S ‘FUTURE PROOF’ MOVES

NEXTGEN TV has truly become a beyond-the-screen experience, presenting many monetization opportunities. But, from the vantage point of Dielectric VP of Sales Jay Martin, getting the technology in place for ATSC 3.0 services is paramount in importance.

Martin is celebrating seven years in his second stint at Dielectric, where he has spent 30 years of his career. He’s seen much with respect to the advent of digital television, and now ATSC 3.0. What, in Martin’s view, is the most important development across the last three decades for broadcast television’s digital shift? And what has Dielectric’s role been in responding to the industry’s evolution?

“When the standard came out, we decided on Day One that all of our product would be based on this potential new standard,” Martin says. “What that meant was a higher peak/power ratio, and greater bandwidth being used. The specs are for both ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0, and if you buy a product from us today, it is going to be future-proof.”

For Dielectric, constant thought goes into how to prevent the obsolescence of its products, with what is happening tomorrow at the forefront of product developments occurring today.

OPTIMIZED COVERAGE

How a station can gain the most out of its DMA coverage has been a key focus for Dielectric of late. “What’s happening with NEXTGEN TV is that a lot of the lighthouses are coming on the air today, but they don’t have the SFN [single-frequency network] to get the power density over their complete DMA,” Martin says. “We’ve got the portfolio to do that next step. It is just that the broadcaster is not there yet … If we get in a market, we establish the relationship we need, and understand where the customer wants to go or where the market is going. We’ll try to lead that.”

American broadcasters are in the driver’s seat in terms of how other nations will respond to the monetization model implementing ATSC 3.0 can present to a commercial broadcaster. While Dielectric is active in Canada, “the Rogers of the world will adopt.” But they need to find a financial reason to adopt, Martin says, as ATSC 1.0 is the firm standard Canada will stick with for now.

But what if Canada never gets to ATSC 3.0, considering the rapid advancement of 5G and, soon, 6G wireless data technology? “The biggest issue is perception,” Martin says. “When I started in 1985 I had someone tell me that broadcasting is going to be around for a period of maybe 20 years.

“It is a mature industry, and it is going to be around because of the cost of [5G and 6G]. If you start looking at going from LTE to 5G, the capacity increase is exponential, but for the most part we are using this mainly for streaming and data. If you start having autonomous vehicles, with millions in a given market, the data transfer between vehicles is going to utilize the vast majority of that capacity.”

Offloading those high-capacity needs from the wireless network is one of the biggest benefits ATSC 3.0 will bring to the autonomous vehicle manufacturer, the consumer, and, undoubtedly, the broadcaster. That’s why Dielectric’s parent company, Sinclair Broadcast Group, has taken a front-row seat in the rollout of NEXTGEN TV and is firmly committed to Broadcast Internet’s proliferation.

television. We are not sitting there arguing with SONY or LG or Samsung about building TVs. If anything, we don’t have enough signals out there for owners of these TVs to take advantage of the content.”

Martin says, “If you are driving a vehicle that detects an accident, it can transmit through the wireless network back to the cloud and all of a sudden a broadcast note goes out to Google Maps. This is right now. But how do you monetize it? That’s where ATSC 3.0 comes in.” In closing, Martin believes broadcasters need to leverage the most advanced technology they possibly can. “If you want to extract eyeballs and attract a younger generation to this industry, there has got to be something leveraging everything it can do. Sinclair, whether through ONE Media or another group, they all want to leverage the technology.”

Jay Martin

HOW RADIO CAN HELP TV WITH NEW CONTENT DISTRIBUTION

Turning linear stations into digital streams is vital for audio and visual companies. Qligent CEO Brick Eksten provides the latest developments in this space in an exclusive RBR+TVBR conversation. Interestingly, he believes radio’s digital growth provides a strong blueprint for television.

Brick Eksten, who in June 2020 became CEO of Qligent — a provider of cloud-based media delivery of quality assurance products — previously served as Chief Technology Officer of Imagine Communications. There, he played a key role in playout and networking solutions, guiding the company’s efforts in shifting broadcast operations to the cloud.

With a comprehensive toolset enabling real-time broadcast compliance monitoring, reporting, and analysis, Qligent is now poised to help over-the-air broadcast stations maximize their revenue and grow their audience. Getting that to happen also involves broadcast compliance and networking monitoring, perhaps giving Qligent an upper hand in bringing digital prowess to a linear station. And, with ATSC 3.0, there’s much opportunity for television.

RBR+TVBR: We truly believe that in future decades, historians will look back at the 2020s as the decade where consumption of audio and video transitioned from radio and TV to multiplatform, “wherever you are” devices. For broadcast media, this has required a rethink — and investment — in future-proofing their businesses.

What is the biggest observation you have on where the television business sits today, with respect to embracing and not fearing the digital consumption shift now unfolding?

BRICK EKSTEN: First of all, we have two different kinds of clients. We have the traditional broadcast client who is the originator of content, and then we have the telco client who is probably more a middleman to the supply chain.

A broadcaster has a fixed number of channels and outlets. The telcos have an incredible number of channels but

less control over the content. Starting with that as a backdrop, the No. 1 thing we are starting to see, and what will be the most fundamental change in our industry, is that as people begin to embrace the digital opportunity, whether it is operational or it is technical or it is opportunistic from a revenue perspective, there is a kind of pause that is happening.

That pause is the industry asking themselves, “Is this an opportunity to

Brick Eksten

If you’re a traditional broadcaster, your solution to delivering premium content is to find the right place on the schedule and stick it in that one place where you think it has the most impact and creates the biggest revenue opportunities. The digital guys understand that consumption is shifting. In order to meet the shifting demand on consumption, they want more flexibility in how they deliver content.

Broadcasters understand one style of monetization that they are very successful at: the linear channel. The digital guys understand the subscription part of it. Each is now trying to assimilate a little bit of the other. Digital channels are looking at spinning up ad-supported networks. Recommendation systems are creating a more linear-looking system.

I see these two worlds — broadcast and digital — blending. You see it with the ATSC 3.0 rollout with premium content and data-delivery services. The commonality is using the bandwidth to create the best revenue-generating opportunities.

RBR+TVBR: Let’s ask that same question with respect to the radio business. Is one more advanced than the other when it comes to digital integration and accepting that digital content consumption may be the best way to reach the consumer?

BRICK EKSTEN: There is a lot to be learned from the radio industry, a highly efficient business. It used to be about personalities, and every footprint that radio had was associated with a personality. Today, you don’t spin the dial looking for a particular piece of content — you spin the dial looking for a particular type of content. And there is something to be learned there from the broadcasters.

If you start with the fact that the primary goal is to acquire and distribute content that creates a certain amount of revenue through advertising, it is a very specific business model. Now, apply the networks back to that and ask what the opportunity is for television. That answer is “reach.” You have an almost unlimited ability to create channels in a digital universe. And that, to me, sounds a lot like radio.

We are not limited by spectrum or partnerships. The shift means we will

How Audio Lessons Are Shaping TV Advancements

He’s a company veteran, with experience in podcasting and streaming, and was promoted to his current role of VP of Technology at StreamGuys in September 2022. Eduardo Martinez today is working hard to drum up interest for the newest version of StreamGuys’ reporting and analytics platform for live streams and podcasts.

The product was introduced at IBC 2022, and Martinez was asked by RBR+TVBR to explain its importance to radio broadcasters. “It gets us in the realm of industry-based stats,” Martinez shares from his San Diego home office.

The 2023 NAB Show will see StreamGuys place a particular focus on this offering. Then there are the programmatic ad services for broadcasters offered since July 2022. What are the opportunities here for both radio and the increasingly requested “visual radio” opportunities?

As Tyler Huggins at StreamGuys is overseeing the programmatic opportunities, Martinez is eager to talk about the interesting use case that “visual radio” presents.

“We’ve seen traditional radio companies get their foot into that, and that definition is different per broadcaster,” he says. “It can be simple, where you have a visual component to your morning show with cameras in the studio, or it can involve high-end production with PTZ cameras and multiple hosts. Depending on the format, you can add music videos to accompany what is being played over the radio station. It is bridging that gap from the original audio-only experience by bringing a visual component to your live streaming.”

When video is discussed, “those elements can be monetized in a very similar way to traditional, server-side ad insertion for audio,” Martinez says. “It can also be applied to the video space. It can either be programmatic service of ad insertion for video, pre-roll experiencing for messaging and localized to the content, or you can also do things like providing a hyperlocal ad experience or additional content experiences for that visual component.”

And, Martinez adds, this can be monetized in a similar way to traditional programmatic ad insertion.

With “visual radio” perhaps the hottest topic among broadcast technology leaders going into 2023, one question needs to be answered: If in-car consumption of radio, followed by access via a smart speaker, is how the average listener gets the audio content they want, is all of this chatter about visual radio for naught?

Martinez says traditional app- and web-based consumption provide opportunities. He points to how the traditional podcast world evolved to include video.

Does this mean StreamGuys is building visualization opportunities through new versions of smartphone apps for radio? “It’s an open landscape,” Martinez says.

start to look at creating content with respect to the audience. And in order to optimize for the audience, we will start looking at different ways to bring that content to them.

RBR+TVBR: Getting the content to every consumer requires the right technology. What did Qligent try to achieve in 2022 to aid broadcasters in the best way possible?

BRICK EKSTEN: We believe that our customers are looking for deeper data. Ultimately, more like Netflix and less reliant on Nielsen is the broadcasters’ goal. Customerspecific telemetry that helps guide the broadcaster in making better decisions, which can be used to determine audience churn — that is one way we are moving ahead as an industry.

rethink how we approach the problem to begin with?”

Eduardo Martinez

SALUTING BROADCAST MEDIA’S TOP TECH LEADERS

From the transition of free over-the-air television to ATSC 3.0-powered digital signals and bringing radio to as many devices as possible, today’s broadcast media technology professionals are working harder than ever to deliver. Here’s the good news: Audiences are responding, as the integration of linear and digital distribution of the content local broadcast media provides to the community remains vital and important to all.

In recognition of their efforts, the Radio + Television Business Report is proud to present its second annual

1DEL PARKS

President of Technology Sinclair Broadcast Group

2022 Ranking: No. 1

Topping our Broadcast Media’s Top Tech Leaders list once again is Delbert R. Parks III. Parks is celebrating 50 years at Sinclair, where he has held various operations and engineering positions since 1973. Today, he supports the company by overseeing engineering, technical operations, and facilities, as well as charting its future technical and operational direction. He rose to President of Technology in March 2022.

Parks has overall responsibility for the deployment of ATSC 3.0 and co-leads Sinclair’s technical and operational integration of the 21 recently purchased FOX Regional Sports Networks. He’s also directing the transformation of the company’s media and broadcast operations as they migrate to the cloud, and their future state.

It’s a big task, and one that saw Parks in June 2022 address ATSC 3.0’s new revenue-enhancing capabilities and business models at the 30th annual Korea International Broadcast, Audio & Lighting Equipment Show. “Cooperation with our South Korean partners will allow us to bring exciting new services to the communities we serve, and datacasting is essential to the reimagining of broadcast spectrum use,” Parks said. “We have just begun to explore ways to supplement the use of our channels, and we look forward to working with our Korean colleagues.”

Outside of Sinclair, Parks is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel who has held various commands during his 26-year reserve career. He’s also a member of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers and in 2015 was honored as a SMPTE Fellow.

list of Broadcast Media’s Top Tech Leaders. This year, we’ve expanded the list to 20 honorees, each of whom has demonstrated strong leadership and is acknowledged as a thought leader in the field.

Broadcast Media’s Top Tech Leaders is ranked and influenced by reader nominations and vetted by the editorial leadership of the Radio + Television Business Report. We proudly honor each of these technology leaders, and salute them for keeping their stations resilient and accessible no matter what trouble may be lurking in the wings.

Del Parks

2BRETT JENKINS

EVP/Chief Technology Officer

Nexstar Media Group

2022 Ranking: No. 2

Repeating as a close No. 2 behind Parks in our Broadcast Media’s Top Tech Leaders rankings is Brett Jenkins, who directs Nexstar’s IT and engineering functions for both broadcast and digital businesses. He came to Nexstar through its merger with Media General, where he served as VP/CTO. Before that, it was at LIN Media that Jenkins made his mark. He has also held technology positions at ION Media Networks and executive positions for Thales Broadcast & Multimedia and Thomson.

But what makes Jenkins one of Broadcast Media’s Top Tech Leaders is perhaps his early involvement in the development of the new ATSC digital television broadcast standard. Back in the 1990s, when Jenkins was working on circuit designs for television modulators, ATSC 1.0 was still in its formative stages. Today, Jenkins is an ATSC board member who believes the deployment of ATSC 3.0 is a must — if broadcast

television wishes to remain relevant in the years to come.

“In regulatory or business environments, for example, ATSC might be able to contribute technology and solutions that can accelerate the standard’s adoption,” he said. “At the same time, I want to make sure the organization maintains a forward-looking posture with respect to advances in technology. The 3.0 standard was designed to accommodate new technologies, so it’s important that we pay attention to the state of art and not be left behind.”

Jenkins also believes that ATSC 3.0 is “essential” and “an important enabler that allows broadcasters to pursue new business opportunities by serving new and different constituents in addition to the linear television viewer.” In his view, the flexibility found in all the layers, especially at the physical layer, is probably one of the most outstanding ATSC 3.0 features. Before embarking on his career at Nexstar, the Providence, R.I.-based technology leader worked on high-power TV transmitters at Comark, transitioning from the engineering team to management.

3SARAH

FOSS Chief Technology Officer

Audacy Inc.

2022 Ranking: No. 3

Taking the top Broadcast Media’s Top Tech Leaders position among audio content creators and distributors, appearing on this list for the second consecutive year is Sarah Foss. She’s in charge of Audacy’s efforts to innovate and differentiate its products and services via new technological capabilities. She also manages the company’s key technology initiatives, including software development, ad tech, business intelligence and analytics, data solutions, and Audacy’s live

and on-demand audio streaming business, AmperWave.

Foss previously served as Audacy’s Chief Information Officer and joined the company in 2020 from FreeWheel, the Comcast-owned media buying and selling platform. There, she served as SVP/Strategic Initiatives. Before that, Foss was the Ad Tech GM for Imagine Communications.

What is the role of media in technology at Audacy, as Foss sees it? That was a topic she discussed during Philly Tech Week in 2022, sharing ideas with Audacy VP of Advertising and Audience Products Kevin Greenwald.

Ensuring the content that is important to all consumers is delivered across all platforms is key, and how Audacy sees technology embedded in its content is one of the company’s

Brett Jenkins

4JEFF LITTLEJOHN

EVP/Engineering & Systems Integration

iHeartMedia

2022 Ranking: No. 5

Jeff Littlejohn, who climbs one notch on this year’s honor roll, has been at iHeartMedia since the Clear Channel Communications days. In fact, he’s entering his 30th year at the company, which owns more radio stations than any other in the U.S. — but is far more than AMs and FMs. In 2022, iHeartMedia fully embraced the metaverse, while iHeartRadio continued to attract consumers to its live and on-demand streaming.

Keeping all the technology together for iHeartMedia is Littlejohn, a Market Engineering Manager for American Media before joining a component of what is now iHeartMedia. From September 1989September 1992, he served in a similar role for Beasley Broadcast Group in Aurora, Ill. “I am honored and appreciative of the recognition,” Littlejohn said of appearing on this list.

Littlejohn also serves as the Chairman of the NAB Radio Technical Committee and is a recipient of the NAB Radio Engineering Achievement Award. He holds dozens of patents in the areas of media, advertising, and distribution of content.

Asked what he considers to be his greatest achievement in the last year at iHeartMedia, Littlejohn told RBR+TVBR , “I’ve been working with a team to reimagine the traditional broadcast studio, making it into a flexible workspace that can be dynamically reconfigured and rebranded. This dynamic concept allows any studio to serve any purpose for any station, creating redundancy and efficiency. These new studios focus on creating great radio, but also create a clean

visual that works well for video streaming and social. Much of the traditional hardware has been transformed to cloud-based applications, resulting in a much smaller and greener footprint for the traditional rack room.”

Looking ahead, what does Littlejohn consider to be broadcast media’s greatest strength, given all the attention to digital, streaming. and social media?

“The local connection we have with listeners and the always-on nature of that connection,” he says.

“Never is that more front and center than in the event of crises like natural disasters. As much as I hate to see the destruction from storms like Hurricane Ian, I am so energized by the way that radio keeps people supported, informed, and connected before, during, and especially afterward. In addition, an increasing focus on streaming, social, and podcast provides more ways that radio can connect better with listeners across additional platforms.”

Sarah Foss

Jeff Littlejohn

5DAVID BURKE

SVP/Chief Technology Officer

Gray Television 2022 Ranking: No. 4

Two years ago, David Burke was appointed to his current role at Gray Television, having spent the previous 22 years at Raycom Media. Before joining that company, Burke had something somewhat in common with Sinclair’s Del Parks — Burke served as an officer in the U.S. Air Force. Today, he’s again in the top 5 among Broadcast Media’s Top Tech Leaders, honored for his responsibility for the television engineering side, the IT side, and the broadcast side. Burke worked his way up from IT Director to Chief Information Officer to CTO, and says, “We’re just continually growing. You know, you hear every company talk about their company culture, but Gray actually walks the talk. During the pandemic, when tough times hit, a lot of the high-level decisions made favored the employee, and that’s what makes Gray Television great. To be associated with so many great individuals … I just can’t imagine how it could be any better.”

6MICHAEL COONEY

Chief Technology Officer and VP/Engineering

Beasley

Media Group

2022 Ranking: No. 7

With 61 radio stations in its portfolio, including Sports Talk juggernaut WBZ-FM “98.5 The Sports Animal” in Boston, Beasley Media Group has charged Mike Cooney with general supervision and oversight of all engineering, IT, and technology matters for its broadcast properties.

But Cooney’s responsibilities at Beasley don’t end there. He is integrally involved with the management of the capital and operating budgets at Beasley, too.

Cooney is the recent past Chairman of the National Association of Broadcasters Radio Technical Committee, a member of the NAB Automotive Digital Dashboard “DASH” Committee, a member of the Technical Committee for the Broadcast Traffic Consortium (BTC), and a former radio representative for the NAB FastRoads Committee. He has participated on the Broadcast Engineering Conference Committee and has presented at multiple NAB conferences. Furthermore, Cooney is a Certified Engineer for the Society of Broadcast Engineers and has been in corporate engineering management for over 30 years.

Cooney most recently gained the attention and

respect of his peers for ensuring the company’s radio stations in its home market of Fort Myers-Naples resumed broadcasting as swiftly as possible after the region was pummeled in fall 2022 by Hurricane Ian.

A September 2022 incident at an American Tower-owned site had forced Beasley to relocate its transmitters and throw damaged equipment in the garbage. It was a blessing of sorts. When Hurricane Ian came one month later, Beasley’s auxiliary site did not suffer from flood damage, while the American Tower facility had major flooding issues. With 90% of the market’s FMs off the air and WINK-TV forced to flee its main studio and offices, Beasley’s stations served as important lifelines in a time of need. Thanks to Cooney and the market’s Chief Engineer, Tigram Grant, Beasley demonstrated the importance of broadcast radio when catastrophe strikes.

Pat Browning

CHIEF

David Burke

Mike Cooney

7PAT BROWNING

Chief Information Officer

The

E.W. Scripps Co. 2022 Ranking: No. 6

Pat Browning began his career as a strategy and operations consultant for Deloitte, and today leads the enterprise technology strategy and operations for The E.W. Scripps Co., owner of broadcast TV stations and digital multicast networks ranging from Court TV to Ion. It’s also in the midst of a rebranding of its Newsy operation to Scripps News.

Ensuring all the technology that fuels Scripps’ linear and digital initiatives remains secure and operational is perhaps at the top of Pat Browning’s task list, even with his experience as a finance leader, procurement officer, and digital business systems and strategy leader.

In that last role, Browning led integration efforts for acquisitions — and led technology cloud migration, a key topic of focus across RBR+TVBR’s Winter 2023 Special Report.

Chatting with RBR+TVBR , Browning says, “We have a lot to be proud of. Our team has delivered transformational tools in support of our newsroom operations, solutions that optimize our ad delivery and operational savings. I am particularly proud of the diverse talent we have hired and developed into leaders. It is a major point of emphasis for Scripps to reflect the communities we serve, and I am proud of our team for contributing to that.”

Looking ahead, what does Browning believe are broadcast

media’s greatest strengths, given all of the attention being given to digital, streaming and social media? “At Scripps, we focus on the people and communities we serve. We have the power to build connections and inform and serve our viewers. It’s a relationship that is more personal than transactional. Technology has an important part to play in achieving this. We want to engage our audiences where they want to consume information, and we want to build strong and meaningful connections for our advertising partners.”

Lastly, Browning was asked how digital technology can best empower traditional linear media, ensuring its long-term vibrancy. “Digital technology provides many opportunities to enrich and extend the traditional media experience,” he says. “At Scripps, technology helps us to more efficiently and effectively achieve our mission. We try to avoid distractions and use technology with a purpose. Serving our communities and advertising partners is our priority. Those connections are key to our long-term sustained success.”

“We have the power to build connections and inform and serve our viewers. It’s a relationship that is more personal than transactional. Technology has an important part to play in achieving this.”

— Pat Browning

Pat Browning

AL LUSTGARTEN

SVP/Technology & Information Services Hearst Television 2022 Ranking: No. 8

Call it Al’s Last Hurrah on RBR+TVBR’s ranking of Broadcast Media’s Top Tech Leaders. In September, Al Lustgarten announced that he will retire in summer 2023, concluding more than 30 years with Hearst Television and some 40 years in various roles within Hearst Corporation. Lustgarten has been in his current role since 2020, and for 19 years before that was VP of Technology and Information Services, overseeing the company’s technology, information, and back-office ad operations. Lustgarten has also provided strategic leadership for many of the company’s new technology initiatives, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, and analytics; has played a critical role in overseeing Hearst Television’s cloud transformation; and has led all aspects of Hearst’s information security program.

Just how integral has Lustgarten been to the entire operation? “Al has been one of the most important common threads in the Hearst Television tapestry for over 30 years,” said Hearst Television President Jordan Wertlieb. “His leadership of the technology strategy, systems, and processes as well as his mentorship of many of our colleagues has been instrumental in the evolution of Hearst Television from its original footprint to the significant scale of today’s company. We are all grateful for the significant contributions to our company and the industry that Al has made to position all of our businesses for success for years to come.”

John Drain, Hearst Television’s CFO, added, “During

his tenure at Hearst Television, Al has witnessed many advancements in broadcast technologies, business models, and the operational needs that accompanied each of these changes. Al has consistently proven himself to be a versatile executive, meeting every new challenge and leadership opportunity. He has led many innovation initiatives to reorient and retool legacy practices and systems to meet

Kurt Rao

TEGNA salutes our own Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer

Al Lustgarten

contemporary demands and anticipate next-generation needs. It’s been rewarding to have him as a valued colleague.”

About his tenure at Hearst, Lustgarten said, “I’ve been fortunate and privileged to spend nearly my entire career at Hearst. The company has afforded me incredible opportunities — such as enabling me to be a part of the team building Hearst Television into one of America’s premier local broadcast companies. I’m thankful to all those who have worked with me, mentored me, and supported me; they have all contributed significantly to my success.”

Speaking at the Matrix Solutions Media Ad Sales in Fort Lauderdale, held in early November, Lustgarten noted that, between cord-cutters and the streaming audience, broadcast television is well-positioned to capitalize. “The streaming services have realized that there is an opportunity for them because their revenue has started to run into some challenges,” he said, adding that the perfect solution for the younger-generation streaming viewer is the combination of an ad-supported tier and traditional broadcast.

The comments are fitting as Lustgarten’s career is

9KURT RAO SVP/Chief Technology Officer

TEGNA

2022 Ranking: No. 10

With Standard Media’s pending acquisition and privatization of the company formerly known as Gannett, TEGNA hasn’t skipped a beat when it comes to ensuring its broadcast TV stations are fully prepared to engage with and attract audiences across all platforms — linear and digital.

Kurt Rao’s presence on the frontlines is well-known. And he’s a popular industry figure who most recently served as a panelist at the Matrix Solutions Media Ad Sales Summit, discussing the coming monetization opportunities ATSC 3.0 brings to broadcast TV.

That’s just one dimension of what Rao brings to TEGNA. In fact, he leads all facets of TEGNA’s technology strategy, including the development and implementation of the company’s next-generation client and customer technology offerings in the areas of content, advertising, data and insights, and media distribution. That’s in addition to broadcast operations and information technology.

Rao came to TEGNA in April 2018 after serving as Chief Information and Technology Officer for Time Inc., a role that saw him lead the technology operations across the organization and build platforms to support content across video and digital while enhancing consumer data analytics.

At the time of his hire, TEGNA CEO Dave Lougee — who will depart the company following its sale to Standard General — said of Rao, “We recognize that the needs of our consumers and clients are constantly changing. Kurt has been extremely successful in developing new and enhanced technologies across platforms to drive business value. As a champion of innovation and growth, Kurt will work across our company to develop an industry-leading technology infrastructure to meet our current and future needs.”

coming to a close. Lustgarten is a founding member of the TV Interface Practices (TIP) Initiative, a working consortium formed by local television broadcasters dedicated to promoting open interfaces to streamline advertising transactions for broadcasters and their media agency partners. And in 2022 he was instrumental in Hearst Television’s investment in the media sales gateway called Admiral, the sell-side tool that provides both the infrastructure and workflows to automate converged advertising sales — “a crucial step forward for the industry,” one media leader said in casting their ballot for Lustgarten.

As another industry executive who voted for Lustgarten said, “He has been instrumental in every sense of Hearst Television’s advances and innovations in broadcast and operational technologies and business models … but it’s Al’s impact-player role in the progress and evolution of industrywide practices — a role he has embraced with the energy he brings to his passion of long-distance running — that I think distinguishes him.”

Before joining Time Inc., Rao was an executive at Time Warner Inc., where he served as a corporate chief information officer. During his tenure, he helped build and implement a shared internal services technology organization. Rao has also worked as VP of Technology for NBC Universal and as Director of Application Development at Viacom.

Kurt Rao

10ROBERT

ACOSTA

VP of Information Technology

Spanish Broadcasting System

2022 Ranking: 10

As the Vice President of Information Technology for SBS, owner of Spanish-language radio stations across the U.S. and in Puerto Rico in addition to the MegaTV operation and the LaMúsica.com platform, Robert Acosta is accountable for the planning and implementation of IT solutions that directly help SBS in achieving its growth goals. He’s been with SBS since 2003, and was previously Director of IT.

Speaking with RBR+TVBR from SBS’s Miami headquarters, Acosta said he believes his top achievement at SBS in 2022 involves helping the company transform its cybersecurity culture through continuous threat assessments and enhancing employee knowledge of cybersecurity via enhanced security awareness training. “This has allowed us to establish and foster a cybersecurity culture where employees are motivated to see themselves as part of the solution in keeping the organization safe from cyber threats,” Acosta says.

Looking ahead, Acosta believes broadcast media’s greatest strengths lie not only in its ability to deliver premium content inexpensively to a large audience, but to deliver that content “when programmed intelligently, in a way that resonates with them and keeps them coming back for more.” He elaborates, “Broadcast media can also provide authentic content to the local community, becoming a trusted source of information and promoting audience loyalty.”

But how can digital technology best empower traditional linear media, ensuring its long-term vibrancy? “Digital technology can enhance the effectiveness of traditional linear media by providing the audience with improved content accessibility to augment what they already experience while listening to or watching their favorite broadcasts,” Acosta says. “Leveraging technologies like AI and second-screen viewing, broadcasters will be able to offer improved viewing and listening experiences for consumers.”

MIKE

11BALLERINI Chief Information Officer

Salem Media Group 2022 Ranking: 11

Compared to his peers on this Broadcast Media’s Top Tech Leaders list, Mike Ballerini possesses perhaps the most diverse background. While he’s today a global CIO and IT Strategist for a media company known largely for its conservative-leaning Talk radio content and Christian-themed music and publishing enterprises, Ballerini has held similar roles at companies in such field as electronics manufacturing, defense, aerospace, biomedical, consumer optics, health care, and agriculture.

Techies will perhaps be impressed by Ballerini’s extensive ERP selection and implementation experience, having completed more than 20 successful large-scale global implementations in 16 countries over a 40-plus-year career in IT.

As 2023 begins, Ballerini’s focus remains on “security, stability, and service” at Salem. “Security is on everyone’s minds and is perhaps the single most important focus of any company,” he says. “A solid security blanket keeps operations running smoothly despite constant attacks.”

Ballerini notes that the IT group at Salem is staffed with people “who go out of their way to serve.” He says, “My goal is to make sure we get the best people and keep them motivated.”

Weaving security into the DNA of Salem’s information network, through the use of technology,

has made Salem better able to deal with the continued challenge of cyberthreats. “I believe we are able to face the future confidently,” he shares. “The Internet, while being a powerful tool, also has a downside. Dependencies on connectivity have the potential for very big disruptions. Our focus is on using technology to provide multiple paths to access critical Internet resources.”

Embracing technology has also seen the increased use of cloud-based tools. But, Ballerini says, “The delicate balance between taking advantage of these tools and insuring compatibility and safety is our challenge. The rewards are huge.”

Robert Acosta

Mike Ballerini

12SCOTT SCHATZ

EVP of Finance, Operations, and Technology Townsquare Media 2022 Ranking: 12

For the second consecutive year, the readers of RBR+TVBR singled out Scott Schatz, a co-founder of “Local First” media company Townsquare Media, as one of Broadcast Media’s Top Tech Leaders

While most certainly Townsquare’s top IT leader, Schatz has deep experience in the financial world. Prior to co-founding Townsquare in 2010, he spent nearly a decade as an investment banker. In that role, he advised companies on valuations; mergers and acquisitions; and capital raises in the Technology, Media, and Telecom groups of Bear Stearns and J.P. Morgan. This came after Schatz received a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

Today, Schatz is ensuring Townsquare’s assets remain “future proof” for both its clients and those who choose to consume its audio content, local news via its many portals, and advertisements served through its digital media and programmatic platforms. He says, “We have worked to ‘futureproof’ Townsquare through investment in world-class software engineering and digital teams and training since we were founded in 2010. Having our engineering and development in-house has allowed us to ‘create the future,’ from building website templates and publishing platforms to our own custom CRM.”

This, Schatz says, has allowed Townsquare to be more nimble, move more quickly, and gain “enormous control and flexibility over the user and consumer experience.”

Scott Schatz

13DAVE KOLESAR Senior Broadcast Engineer

Hubbard Radio 2022 Ranking: 14

HD Radio on the AM band? If it wasn’t for Dave Kolesar and his pioneering efforts at “The Gamut” in Frederick, Md., the future of digital transmission on the kHz band would never have been possible. It’s that forward-thinking attitude that has made Kolesar recognized across broadcast media as one of its top technology leaders.

As the top engineer at privately held Hubbard Radio, Kolesar for the past 16 years has been charged with serving as the transmitter engineer for the nation’s top-billing radio station: WTOP/Washington, D.C. Oh, he’s also the guy to call when there’s an issue with WTOP’s original home at 1500 kHz, today WFED “Federal News Radio.” Then there is WWFD, the first full-time all-digital radio station in the United States. It’s branded as “The Gamut” because, as Kolesar has shared, the playlist runs the gamut of whatever he’s saved on his iTunes playlist.

Prior to working at Hubbard Radio, Kolesar was an Electronics Engineer in the Information Technology Division of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C.

Looking back at 2022, Kolesar tells RBR+TVBR , “I think the most significant thing that I’ve done over the past year has been to help the stations in the Hubbard Washington, D.C., cluster get to digital as quickly as possible.”

On the transmission side, this means not just broadcasting using HD Radio technology, but getting the metadata piece right.

“I’ve worked with Xperi Corp. to test new advanced FM digital operating modes, both hybrid and all-digital,” Kolesar shares. A big goal of those tests on WTLP-FM, a part of the WTOP Network serving Frederick, Md., was to demonstrate the ability to transmit additional bandwidth, as more data means more revenue. “A report to the FCC has been submitted, and we hope to get the results presented at the BEIT Conference at the 2023 NAB Show this spring,” Kolesar says.

14JASON ORNELLAS

Regional Director of Engineering-West Coast Bonneville International Corp.

2022 Ranking: 13

From Bonneville’s radio stations in Sacramento, Jason Ornellas is charged with ensuring the company’s properties west of the Rocky Mountains remain on the air and have all the technology in place to carry them into the future. As a 15-year broadcast engineer, Ornellas’ experience includes managing technical operations, system designs, building integration, budgets, and equipment standardization rollouts. He’s constructed numerous studio and transmitter facilities, too. Ornellas is also a member of the NAB Radio Tech Committee and chair of the PPM Subgroup committee

Kolesar’s team has also documented the performance of all-digital AM with a directional antenna system, and he says this should help broadcasters understand what is possible and what to expect when converting their AM facilities for digital operation.

“The greatest strength of broadcast media is its architecture — the ability to transmit to many people using a bandwidth-efficient system,” he continues. “Its greatest challenge is to update that architecture so that the user experience is competitive with IP-based delivery systems. We need to get that part right, so that we can continue to control a large part of our distribution. You can be at a competitive disadvantage when you primarily exist on someone else’s platform.”

Speaking from a transmission point of view, Kolesar also says that digital technology — and specifically HD Radio — updates AM and FM radio in both sound quality and the metadata experience. “It makes terrestrial broadcast radio look, sound, and feel like other digital services in a vehicle’s entertainment system,” he says. “Beyond transmission, participating in platforms such as DTS AutoStage and RadioDNS will further enhance the user experience. Embracing digital as fast as possible while leveraging the incumbency of radio in the dashboard will go a long way in keeping traditional broadcast radio vibrant in the future.”

Dave Kolesar

Jason Ornellas

of Next Gen Radio Architecture Working Group. He is currently serving as Treasurer for the Society of Broadcast Engineers and holds a Certified Broadcast Radio Engineer (CBRE) certification. He is also a member of the Audio Engineering Society and a regular contributor to radio engineering publications and frequent presenter at trade conferences.

With 22 radio stations, Ornellas in 2020, during the pandemic, earned praise for putting together a kit to keep Bonneville’s air personalities on the air. He recalls, “What a crazy time. As engineers everyone always looks to us for solutions and answers, and we couldn’t have ever thought of a scenario like this. As our employees all began working remotely through VPN and Microsoft 365 in the cloud, we had to quickly pivot to our broadcast operations. Our folks

are essential employees to what we do, and being live and local for the community is what Bonneville International is all about.

“We ordered 12 remote broadcast servers to make the home studio broadcast kit as turnkey as possible for our on air talents’ convenience. We ordered the best gear possible with a travel case to make our personalities feel comfortable and safe from home while sounding great.”

Tutorial videos were produced to show how to unpack and set up the equipment as well as use RCS Zetta2Go.

The file servers provided all with a sense of being on the network from home, with automation systems and on air talent continuing to provide the content. Ornellas says, “Everyone had to do their part to stay safe, and I think we accomplished that.”

15

CONRAD TRAUTMANN

Chief Technology Officer

Cumulus Media 2022 Ranking: NEW

There are five new names on the 2022 ranking of Broadcast Media’s Top Tech Leaders, and Cumulus Media’s CTO enters our honor roll at No. 15.

As the head of technology for a publicly traded audio content creation and distribution company whose assets include Westwood One, Trautmann relies on his deep background in technology and broadcast engineering. He rose to his current role from SVP of Technology and Operations in October 2021.

Trautmann joined Westwood One in 2000 as EVP of Technology and moved into his previous position in February 2016. Today, Trautmann not only directs Cumulus Media’s company-wide broadcast engineering and information technology needs but also has ultimate decision-making authority over purchasing, real estate, and facilities management across the company.

On a greater level, Trautmann serves on the NAB’s Radio Technology Committee.

“Conrad’s contributions to the company are countless,” said Cumulus Media CEO Mary Berner. “Unsurprisingly, Conrad has done a particularly commendable job successfully leading the company through the technical challenges presented by COVID-19, and by severe weather events we’ve experienced across the country. He has also been critical to broadening and advancing the technology that drives our growth platforms in digital and podcasting.”

Speaking with RBR+TVBR , Trautmann spoke with pride about how a redesign of Cumulus’

offices and studios across 2022 in support of the post-pandemic work environment has been a front-and-center project. “The pandemic taught us how to operate more efficiently,” he says, “and we’re applying those lessons.”

Trautmann was also asked what he believes to be broadcast media’s greatest strengths. In his view, it continues to be broadcast’s ability to reach the public when all other means of communication have failed. He also notes that a digital technology advancements such as Xperi Corp.’s AutoStage is “a perfect example of digital technology supporting traditional linear media.”

He continues, “In addition to providing a richer visual experience for radio on the dashboard and supporting over-the-air signals and station streams, it also provides listening data in near real time, which we’ve never had available before. We hope to see the expansion of AutoStage to support on-demand and station podcast listening as well.”

“The pandemic taught us how to operate more efficiently, and we’re applying those lessons.”

— Conrad Trautmann

Conrad Trautmann

16SHANE TOVEN

Senior Broadcast Engineer

Educational Media Foundation

2022 Ranking: No. 15

Shane Toven has been involved in the field of broadcast engineering for over 30 years, starting as a volunteer for KAXE-FM in Grand Rapids, Minn., where he learned the trade and became the station’s first full-time engineer. In 2006, Toven joined Wyoming Public Media at the University of Wyoming, taking the role of Director of Engineering. Twelve months later, he joined Educational Media Foundation, owner of noncommercial Christian Contemporary Music networks K-LOVE and Air1.

Today, Toven serves as Senior Broadcast Engineer, tasked with engineering research and development for the network. This includes looking ahead to what’s next in broadcast technology.

Toven chats about 2022, and the many achievements he was able to bring to fruition at EMF. “The past year feels like such a blur, and it’s difficult to focus on one specific achievement,” he says. “If I had to pick one, however, it would be successfully virtualizing the air chain of a station on a small island in the South Pacific. The station was due for some upgrades and hadn’t been visited since before the pandemic, so I took the opportunity to deploy a new virtualized technology stack I had been working on. It worked exceedingly well.

“This new deployment improved the service, will save us considerably in equipment and operational costs, and is much more sustainable in the long term. If it can scale and be deployed successfully there, I’m confident it can work nearly anywhere.”

Toven also shares that, in his view, broadcast media has a strength that digital media platforms can’t replicate. “Broadcast remains the original one-to-many distribution medium, available to anyone with a receiver,” he says. “Other digital media forms are still inherently a one-to-one connection between the user and the service, incurring additional costs for both the user and the content provider and prone to multiple potential points of interruption. The broadcast distribution model is infinitely scalable. No matter how many consumers use an over-the-air service, the infrastructure cost remains fixed.”

Toven adds that broadcasters also harness the unique opportunity to be there for their audience not only when

digital means are available, but when those means are not. “That said, broadcast remains one of the last holdouts of analog technology,” he observes. “I believe there are considerable opportunities for further innovation in terms of digital broadcast technologies to offer even better service to consumers. These technologies include HD Radio, 5G broadcast, ATSC 3.0, and others yet to come. Traditional broadcast and other digital media platforms have the potential to complement each other quite nicely as part of an overall strategy.

Toven also has thoughts on how digital technology can best empower traditional linear media, ensuring its long-term vibrancy. “Digital technology can serve as an excellent adjunct to traditional linear media by offering consumers a truly interactive experience,” he says. Examples include a rich social media presence, where listeners can interact with on-air personalities or dive much deeper into something they heard, such as a song or a news story.

“When broadcasters view digital technology as an opportunity to enrich the audience experience rather than as a competing product, it opens a number of new opportunities and potential revenue sources. This same digital technology and interactivity gives the broadcaster direct insight into their audience and consumer habits.”

“Broadcast remains the original one-to-many distribution medium, available to anyone with a receiver.”

— Shane Toven

Shane Toven

17PETE SOCKETT

Director of Engineering and Operations

Capitol Broadcasting Corp.

2022 Ranking: NEW

Making his debut in the Broadcast Media’s Top Tech Leaders rankings for 2022 is Pete Sockett, who has just completed his three-year term as a member of the ATSC Board of Directors.

It’s been quite a year for Sockett, who was a recipient of the 2022 NAB Engineering Achievement Award and is the chair of the ATSC 3.0 Advanced Emergency Alerting Implementation team.

A co-inventor of a geolocation patent, Sockett was singled out by such industry leaders as Joe Meleski, VP of Broadcast Licensing at Vertical Bridge. “Pete has had an active role in the television broadcast industry in assisting technology advancement,” Meleski said. “WRAL-5, owned by Capitol Broadcasting, was the very first digital TV station in the U.S. Sockett championed the digital transition in 2009, brought forth the first HD TV broadcast from camera to the

18PAT STAHL VP of Technology

ABC Owned Stations

2022 Ranking: NEW

He’s a leader who is “transforming tech nology organizations from just-in-time fire fighters to strategic business partners.” And he’s been doing just that in his current role for ABC Owned Stations since December 2021, when he was promoted from Executive Director of Technology.

Pat Stahl has gained a national reputation over the nearly four years he’s been with ABC, building on his experience as a Director of Tech-

19DAN WHEALY

Chief Technology Officer

Allen Media Group

2022 Ranking: NEW

In case you haven’t been paying attention, Byron Allen, described by many publications as a “media mogul,” has been on a quest to build the biggest local broadcast television group in the U.S. As of this writing, Allen Media Group, headquartered in Atlanta, comprises stations across 21 markets, including KITV-4 in Honolulu, the ABC affiliate serving the Hawaiian Islands.

Serving as the company’s CTO is Dan Whealy, a distinguished executive-level tech leader. He’s perhaps best known across the industry as the former Asst. Corporate Director of Engineering for Quincy Media, Inc., which was sold to Gray Television. Whealy has also been a Regional Chief Engineer for Quincy Media, was Chief

antenna, and helped launch the first licensed ATSC 3.0 NEXT TV station. He was also highly active with the FCC’s repack.”

WRAL-5, an NBC affiliate serving RaleighDurham, was also the first to adopt the DAS/Triveni AEA starter kit when the station launched its ATSC 3.0 operation with the nation’s first live simulcast from a commercially licensed television station.

nology and Operations for NBC and Telemundo stations across 40-plus markets. “While at NBC I managed a $65 million capital project portfolio upgrading distribution systems,” Stahl says. Today, he oversees technology strategy and core infrastructure for ABC’s eight owned stations while directly leading a team at WABC-7. “We are driving a wholesale technology migration to improve resiliency and flip the financial model while also enabling push-button content creation from around the country,” he shares.

Stahl also serves as the Chair of the New York State Broadcasters Association’s Futures Committee and is a mentor to up-and-coming talent within Disney and ABC Owned Stations.

Today, Whealy holds the distinction of being arguably the youngest television CTO in the industry, a role that also involves experience as the Director of Engineering for Big Radio’s five radio stations serving Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin. Whealy was with the Freeport, Ill.-based company from April 2004July 2009.

Whealy also happens to be an IFR-rated airplane pilot, and he’s put that experience to good use by heading up the company’s drone program. In fact, he pioneered Iowa’s first live drone video footage to be aired during live TV newscasts, at KWWL. Since then, his drone videos have been featured on NBC Nightly News, TODAY Show, and CNN. Whealy’s mark on KWWL also includes a multi-million-dollar upgrade of the station’s technical

Pete Sockett

Pat Stahl

Engineer for KWWL-TV in Waterloo, Iowa, and became the youngest Chief Engineer in Quincy Media’s history at age 23 when he was named to the role at WREX-TV in Rockford, Ill.

and facilities infrastructure while serving as a key stakeholder in completing a massive historic-preservation building renovation for KWWL in downtown Waterloo, Iowa, ensuring a 106-year-old structure could house a state-of-the-art broadcasting facility.

Asked what his top achievement in 2022 was, Whealy points to the transition of eight former Quincy Media, Inc., properties to Allen Media Group, just over a year ago. “This significant effort, resulting in a practical doubling of company size, needed careful coordination between multiple partners and stakeholders,” he recalls. “I am grateful for the talented teams we have within AMB that made it possible to carry out this heavy lift within the transition deadline without major impacts to station operations.

“The smoothness of the transition attracted industry peers from other TV groups who reached out to me and asked who we hired to manage the transition. It is a true testament to how good we were as a team during that project — a team I’m proud to be a leader on.”

Meanwhile, Whealy believes “owning local” is one of broadcast television’s greatest strengths, and one that will help Allen Media Group and its industry peers retain relevance with consumers well into the future. He says, “We have always been charged as broadcasters to serve our local communities, which is a fundamental value we must never

20RALF JACOB

EVP of Global Broadcast Engineering

TelevisaUnivision 2022 Ranking: NEW

“Given this is my fourth month on the job, you could say I’m still drinking from the firehose, but haven’t drowned yet.”

To say Ralf Jacob has a good sense of humor is perhaps an understatement. Yet he’s got a pretty hefty position — that of global broadcast engineering head for the world’s biggest Spanish-language broadcast media company.

On August 25, 2022, Jacob was appointed to the role, reporting directly to Wade Davis, CEO of TelevisaUnivision; Alfonso de Angoitia, Executive Chairman of TelevisaUnivision and Co-CEO of TelevisaUnivision Mexico; and Bernardo Gómez, Co-CEO of TelevisaUnivision Mexico.

This made Jacob “the key technology leader responsible for implementing the company’s global engineering transformation, by enabling cloud integration and other leading-edge technologies for the distribution of TelevisaUnivision’s content on all platforms.”

Jacob also oversees the company’s strategic partnership with Google around all content supply-chain technology, focused on streamlining media infrastructure to ensure efficiencies, stability, and scalability globally.

In case you’re wondering, Jacob does not hail from Mexico, nor is he American. Rather, Jacob is German, and joined TelevisaUnivision after serving as President of Verizon Digital Media Services (VDMS), rising from Chief Revenue Officer.

“When you merge entities of this magnitude, it’s not all about the tech stack overlaps, but the cultural differences one has to overcome,” Jacob tells RBR+TVBR . “The teams carry a lot of pride in their setups. How do you get to common ground

dilute or lose sight of as the technology around us presents opportunities that will change our business models. Owning local will help us win against the future technological winds of change, and when we win, so do our communities, viewers, and business partners. Maximizing all technologies that can help enable us to deliver our local content right where our viewers need will be critical to our long-term survival.”

when the subject of consolidation comes up? I am extremely proud of the professionalism and open mind the teams bring to the table as we review, assess, and decide on how we want the systems to interoperate.”

It’s a long-term engagement, Jacob shares, and will likely take three to five years for a complete IP transformation. To accomplish that goal, he says, “We truly opened the communications channels between the U.S., Mexico, and the digital teams and eradicated the walls that existed between them.”

What does Jacob consider his biggest challenge in the years ahead? “The interface debacle,” he says, noting that the “plethora of service providers and apps” makes it a challenge for some consumers. “How many clicks and scrolls does it take when you want to change from one show to another that might not be offered by the same provider? My thumb gets a daily workout routine, and it is incredibly annoying.”

His curiosity about how ATSC 3.0 and 5G proliferation will pan out is high. “It will most likely coexist,” Jacob says. “Once the FCC regulations call for the retiring of ATSC 1.0, it could get interesting. Each approach has its own disadvantage. For 5G, one needs a massive amount of additional cell towers. ATSC 3.0 has receiver requirements. We certainly are keeping an eye on both. But for ATSC 3.0 the added data layer and payload capacity play a tremendously important role in how ad tech will evolve in the living room and beyond. We have high hopes.”

ABOUT BROADCAST MEDIA’S TOP TECH LEADERS: This second-annual Honor Roll is produced from RBR+TVBR reader nominations, which were gathered in December 2022. Rankings are based on nomination totals, in addition to research and analysis by the RBR+TVBR editorial department. © 2023 Streamline Publishing.

Dan Whealy

Ralf Jacob

A TRIO OF NEXTGEN TV MILESTONES

Considered the biggest technological update to over-the-air television since the 1990s, NEXTGEN TV is “scaling rapidly” on connected TVs, and “captivating consumers” while creating new business opportunities for broadcasters. That’s the message being shared by Pearl TV, as NEXTGEN TV had a presence at CES 2023 at a Central Hall booth highlighting ATSC 3.0.

Believe it or not, a new NEXTGEN TV is purchased every seven seconds in the U.S. That’s according to the Consumer Technology Association, and it’s good news for broadcast television companies that still await a transition to ATSC 3.0-delivered broadcasts using the new digital standard.

While television sets under 50 inches likely don’t have that all-important NEXTGEN TV logo, based on RBR+TVBR analyses of major retailers, CTA says adoption of NEXTGEN TV-capable receivers is expected to grow by 75%-100% across the next three years.

With Anne Schelle, Managing Director of Pearl TV, in Las Vegas for CES, the coalition of U.S. broadcast companies transitioning to NEXTGEN TV appears to be finally ready to share with consumers what it has been telling the industry at events including the 2022 NAB Show.

Ahead of CES 2023, Pearl TV shared details of its “major milestones in the rollout of NEXTGEN TV to U.S. households” and the broader ecosystem of partners that enables the deployment of devices and the exciting new broadcaster application platform, RUN3TV.

As RBR+TVBR has shared, RUN3TV will allow a consumer to tune to a NEXTGEN TV channel and receive what looks just like a menu they would get if accessing the station’s app on a smart TV device. It allows viewing of not only the live feed of the station but also on-demand content.

“These latest developments focus on consumer and innovation options for electronics manufacturers and further underscore NEXTGEN TV’s trajectory to universal availability,” Pearl TV says.

The key phrase — and transition — for NEXTGEN TV as 2023 begins is “universal availability.” Until mid-2022, there was much chatter that ATSC 3.0-compatible television set adoption would take years. Then came a shaky global economy, impacted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and other factors. Pearl TV and ATSC reacted. Dongles entered the discussion. No longer was the purchase of a new TV set a requirement for NEXTGEN TV.

“Pearl TV’s growing FastTrack program is generating results that will boost household penetration even further, expanding into the low-cost and accessory device market to reach even more viewers,” Schelle said.

The big announcement heading into CES 2023 revealed that “FastTrack to NEXTGEN TV” partner MediaTek has moved into commercial production of its TV System on Chip (SoC) ATSC3 demodulators.

It’s a key initiative linked to the FastTrack program, which accelerates and streamlines the path for adoption of NEXTGEN TV technology by consumer electronic makers producing smart TVs and related devices at volume.

At the same time, a second partner — software maker iWedia — joined the MediaTek and Pearl TV partnership, creating a product that includes MediaTek’s latest SoC and iWedia’s NEXTGEN TV software stack. It will be precertified for compliance with the Consumer Technology Association’s (CTA) NEXTGEN TV logo requirements, A3SA Security, and the RUN3TV Application platform.

ATTRACTING THE CONSUMER

What is NEXTGEN TV? To help explain the advancement for broadcast TV to the everyday household, Pearl TV created a 2-minute, 20-second commercial featuring “The Johnson Family,” an African American couple with two children.

The Johnsons just purchased a NEXTGEN TV, and a “host” shows viewers how NEXTGEN TV takes viewing “to the next level.” First, the host points out that a NEXTGEN TV logo on the set indicates it’s capable of receiving the stations using the new broadcast standard — and “new built-in features that provide a new free over-the-air service and a whole lot more.” They include navigation bars, emergency alerts, and “bonus content.”

Then there are those “stunning video features” groups such as Pearl TV have been hyping for months. Indeed, the 4K HDR Ultra High-Definition video with brilliant colors is a step beyond. A wider contrast range “makes it feel as if you’re really there,” while NEXTGEN TV “amps up” the audio experience, the host explains, as the Johnsons engage in live sports and outdoor life programming. Immersive movie theater-quality sound is also promoted in the lengthy spot.

Perhaps the biggest audio improvement is consistent volume when one changes channels — addressing what is presently an irritant for ATSC 1.0 and app users.

What does the future hold? The ability to access multiple camera angles of live sporting events is one promise. Another is the ability to play along with game shows, and a personalized audio track selection (Español, or English).

The pitch ends with the line, “Go get an action TV, and get more TV.”

Anne Schelle