NextGen TV

ATSC 3.0 aka NextGen TV over-the-air (OTA) standard for North America. ATSC 3.0 is a new version of the Advanced Television Systems Committee standards, defining how exactly television signals are broadcast and interpreted. ATSC 1.0 standard definition goes up to 1080i (interlaced) MPEG-2 while the upgraded ATSC 3.0 offers the higher than human perception on a home TV screen 4K Ultra High Definition compression via the H.265 HEVC codec.

ATSC 3.0 will also let broadcasters track your viewing habits with the Internet integration component. Tracking information can be used for targeted advertising, just like companies such as Facebook and Google use online. Ads specific to your viewing habits, income level and even ethnicity will be used.

NextGen TV is IP-based, so in practice it can be moved around your home just like any internet content can right now. For example, you connect an antenna to a tuner box inside your home, but that box is not connected to your TV at all. Instead, it's connected to your router. This means anything with access to your network can have access to over-the-air TV.

Conversion of TV broadcast stations in the United States is not being mandated by the FCC as of 2023. The transition to DTV was federally mandated, but the FCC’s approach to ATSC 3.0 is to put the decisions and timeline mostly in the hands of station owners, with some guidance from the commission on protecting traditional digital broadcasts. Stations that switch to NextGen TV will still have to keep broadcasting ATSC 1.0 for five years.

• In November of 2017, the Federal Communications Commission approved ATSC 3.0 as the next generation of broadcast standard, on a "voluntary, market-driven basis."
• NextGen TV is not backward compatible with current TV tuners. To get it, you'll eventually need either a new TV or an external tuner.
• Devices like Tablo will use NextGen TV and also a converter for your ATSC 1.0 television to receive NextGen (projected 2024 new version)
• As of 2023 only the ZapperBox M1 at $250 is near NextGen TV certified and available to consumers as a conversion box for ATSC 1.0 televisions.

NextGen TV tuners are full of nasty DRM and requiring meeting DRM requirements for certification. Enforcement of disabling the ability to skip commercials automatically will be a mandatory part of the DRM requirement. Further DRM requirements in the works could restrict consumers from having the ability to record specific broadcasts, time to get out that old VCR again! NextGen DRM could theoretically cripple DVR products like Tablo and TiVo. Some stations in South Korea, for instance, are already using ATSC 3.0 to broadcast 4K video, and those feeds are encrypted to prevent viewers from recording with a DVR.

The future of DRM could make NextGen TV require pay-per-viewing on OTA broadcasts, or premium channels. Just like the loss of many FTA satellite channels we could see OTA broadcasts become unwatchable without a subscription.

Many ATSC 3.0 DRM Tuners Need Internet - which is a huge problem for privacy concerned consumers. Not connecting the television set to the Internet is the best way to defeat the networks ability to track your viewing habits. Consumers may find that their television station reception will not work unless the set is connected to the Internet. Requiring Internet connectivity just to watch television is more than unacceptable. No one should be forced to have Internet service or use their Internet service to access basic over the air television.

Because of DRM and these restrictive tuners, if your Internet service goes out during an event such as severe weather, you wont be able to watch important weather information from local TV stations unless these deficiencies are corrected.

Unless the DRM component is reduced or eliminated, the conversion to NextGen TV is not recommend and consumers should be encouraged to resist. Legislation may be necessary to mandate limits on what broadcasters can restrict with DRM and completely eliminate any Internet connectivity requirement for reception DRM decryption.

The broadcast industry, through an organization called Pearl TV, is forcing manufacturers to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to certify their players to encrypt and restrict the signal all the way to the television. This includes ensuring that even the HDMI signal is encrypted. Trying to watch live TV that is encrypted via the new ATSC 3 DRM has proven to be a disaster using currently available converters like the ADTH NextGen TV Box.

DRM has NO PLACE in OTA broadcast television! Resist converting to NextGen TV.

The name Anne Schelle will come up a lot in discussions trying to dismiss the dangers of DRM. Anne Schelle is one of the villains and a spokeswoman for oppression of your ability to enjoy free OTA television.