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Five years ago, the rollout of the ATSC 3.0 next-generation broadcast standard, or NextGenTV, began during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Broadcasters have been working steadily since to launch new 3.0 stations, with the biggest task being clearing the necessary spectrum in major markets to support 3.0 broadcasts while still maintaining existing ATSC 1.0 services.
NextGen TV launches have required complex “channel-stacking” agreements between multiple stations that squeeze legacy 1.0 broadcasts into existing 6 MHz “host” channels by making aggressive use of compression technology, so that one or two full 6 MHz channels can be cleared to broadcast NextGenTV signals. The process is a complicated dance of shuffling the lighthouse station’s primary and secondary 1.0 program streams among multiple 1.0 hosts, with diginets from host stations sometimes switching sticks in order to create the most efficient 1.0 multiplexes across a market.
When complete, channel-stacking manages to free up enough capacity for the major network affiliates to group together and launch 3.0 broadcasts on a now-vacated 6 MHz channel. To date, these 3.0 broadcasts have been simulcasts of their main 1.0 channel in the 1080p format (sometimes with high dynamic range), as stations are required to under the “substantially similar” regulations on 3.0 from the FCC.
The channel-stacking approach has been successful, and 3.0 is now on air in 78 Nielsen markets across the country covering 76% of U.S. households, according to ATSC. More than 14 million NextGenTV receivers have been shipped to retailers to date, with NextGenTV sets available this year from