Sinclair Is Upgrading 90 TV Stations for ATSC 3.0 Next Gen OTA TV

[Retail Fan+ (Justin Hill)]

Sinclair Is Upgrading 90 TV Stations for ATSC 3.0 Next Gen OTA TV

by Luke Bouma, Cord Cutters News
March 30, 2019

Yesterday it was announced that Sinclair has selected Rohde & Schwarz to supply more than 100 high-power transmitters for 90 television stations. These new transmitters are the first step to rolling out ATSC 3.0 next gen over-the-air TV.

So, what is ATSC 3.0 OTA TV? ATSC 3.0 is a new standard that will bring a long list of new features to over-the-air TV. Two main features that will really excite cord cutters are 4K HDR picture with better sound and better over-the-air TV coverage.

There are other great features, such as detailed custom weather alerts and interactive news stories. Yet the biggest selling point for cord cutters is the fact that ATSC 3.0 does a far better job covering a larger area compared to the current OTA TV standard.

“We partnered with Rohde & Schwarz for the installation of the R&S THU9evo to commence our repack efforts about a year ago. This is a very nice product, and Rohde & Schwarz has proven to be an incredible partner for Sinclair by providing great service and support from comprehensive consulting and site surveys all the way to installation, commissioning, proofing and after-sales services,” said Harvey Arnold, VP of engineering at Sinclair Broadcast Group.

Not all 90 television stations will go live with ATSC 3.0 this year. Earlier this year, ATSC said that by the end of 2019 Sinclair will have roughly 26 markets live with the new OTA TV.

R&S said that this new transmitter will not only help Sinclair upgrade to ATSC 3.0 OTA TV but will also save Sinclair 50 percent on energy costs compared to the older conventional transmitters.

Source: TVTechnology

[TheFugitive]

When they decide to go to ATSC 3.0 will I lose my current ATSC feeds?

[retailisking]

When they decide to go to ATSC 3.0 will I lose my current ATSC feeds?

Full-power stations that adopt ATSC 3.0 have to simulcast their stations in legacy ATSC 1.0 format for five years. Low-power stations can "flash-cut" to ATSC 3.0 with no simulcasting mandate.

[TheFugitive]

Can you even buy an ATSC 3.0 converter at this point?

[retailisking]

Can you even buy an ATSC 3.0 converter at this point?

It's kind of a chicken-and-egg situation right now. Without stations broadcasting the new signals yet there isn't an incentive for manufacturers to produce outboard decoders or sets with integrated ATSC 3.0 decoders. That will quickly change as stations roll out the new technology. One caveat is that ATSC 3.0 is a voluntary standard, but I don't think it will end up like AM Stereo.