ATVA Statement on ATSC 3.0 Transition

Washington, D.C. – The American Television Alliance today commented on the FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to allow broadcasters to deploy the ATSC 3.0 standard.

Statement of American Television Alliance national spokesman Trent Duffy:

“If implemented properly, the ATSC 3.0 standard could bring some important benefits to consumers, including access to higher quality 4K video, immersive sound, and more efficient spectrum usage.  However, a number of questions have been raised by public interest groups, ATVA, and others that the rule-making process must answer.

“We are pleased that the draft NPRM invites comments on these important matters. We are especially pleased to see questions about how the new standard could impact retransmission consent negotiations and the potentially significant costs associated with the transition–including what new equipment pay TV customers would have to acquire and whether Pay TV customers would be compelled to pay additional fees to receive the new signals.

“The deck is already stacked against the consumer during retrans negotiations. This is why retrans fees are rising at unsustainable levels and television blackouts have reached a crisis point.  Consumers cannot fully benefit from next generation TV if it increases their costs and worsens the already broken retrans system.”

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The American Television Alliance (ATVA) brings together an unprecedented coalition of consumer groups, cable, satellite, telephone companies, and independent programmers to raise awareness about the risk TV viewers face as broadcasters increasingly threaten service disruptions that would deny viewers access to the programs they and their families enjoy.

For more information about ATVA, visit our website. Follow us on Twitter @ATVAlliance.