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The Fcc Is Seeking Comments On The Proposed Atsc 3 0 Deadlines

Leo Migdal
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the fcc is seeking comments on the proposed atsc 3 0 deadlines

In February, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) asked the FCC to set a deadline for shutting down ATSC 1.0 and transitioning to ATSC 3.0, also known as NextGen TV. Now, the FCC is seeking comments on the proposal, as well as any other potential issues that should be discussed before the transition. The NAB suggested a two-phase plan. First, they asked that stations in the top 55 markets, which cover about 70% of U.S. households, switch to ATSC 3.0 by February 2028. The second phase would have all remaining markets make the switch before February 2030.

Comments can be submitted here, where you can also read the comments of other interested parties. In the document seeking comments, the FCC notes that it received thousands of complaints from consumers about Digital Rights Management encryption on ATSC 3.0 signals which could block consumers from watching programming. The FCC asks “What steps can or should the industry and/or the Commission take to ensure broadcasters are able to protect their content and signal, while also ensuring viewers are able to continue to... Individuals and companies are also seeking comments about additional issues with moving to ATSC 3.0, specifically mentioning a few potential barriers to the transition, including: While May is one of those months that does not have any routine, scheduled FCC filing deadlines, there are still a number of regulatory dates and deadlines that are worthy of note for broadcasters. As detailed below, this includes comment deadlines in several FCC rulemaking proceedings, the effective date of the FCC’s application fee increases (including fees for broadcast station applications), the deadline for LPTV to Class A...

As always, remember to keep in touch with your legal and regulatory advisors to make sure that you don’t overlook any other regulatory deadlines we may have missed here or ones that are specific... One May date with potential broad interest is May 23 – the effective date of the FCC’s January Order increasing its application fees by an average of more than 17%, including those for broadcast... We previously provided more details on our Broadcast Law Blog on the increases and suggested that, where possible (e.g., in connection with internal company reorganizations or for planned technical changes), broadcasters file applications as... The EAS rules also have broad application. May 2 is the deadline for comments responding to the NAB’s petition for rulemaking requesting that the FCC amend its Emergency Alert Service (EAS) rules to permit EAS participants, including broadcasters, to use software-based... The NAB requests that the FCC act promptly on its request because one of the two remaining legacy EAS device vendors recently decided to cease production of its EAS device due to difficulties in...

The NAB states that using software-based devices would safely and reliably mitigate these issues and do so quickly as the software-based system can operate on many legacy EAS devices. There is another emergency-related deadline this month, though it may be postponed. May 27 is the tentative deadline for all commercial and noncommercial full-power TV, Class A TV, LPTV, and TV translator stations to begin using the station’s secondary audio channel to provide aural descriptions of... This requirement has been consistently delayed since being adopted by the FCC in 2013 because there is no technology to provide automated conversion of this graphic information into speech. In November 2024, the NAB filed a petition for rulemaking proposing that the FCC allow TV stations to comply with the FCC’s audible crawl rule by providing “textual crawls that provide emergency information duplicative... See our discussion here, here, and here.

As the FCC has not acted on the NAB’s proposed resolution, look to see if another extension is granted before the May 27 deadline. There are numerous other comment deadlines in FCC proceedings. May 7 is the deadline for comments responding to the NAB’s petition for rulemaking asking for a hard deadline for full-power TV stations to complete the transition to the new ATSC 3.0 transmission standard. The NAB proposes that the transition occur in two phases: TV stations in the top 55 markets would be required to transition by February 2028; and TV stations in remaining markets would have a... The NAB asks for several rule changes to assist with the transition, including requiring that new TV sets sold after February 2028 be ATSC 3.0-compatible, and updating the MVPD carriage rules to reflect the... The NAB also proposes that the FCC eliminate the “substantially similar” requirement (requiring that stations’ ATSC 3.0 principal broadcast stream replicate their ATSC 1.0 broadcast) earlier than the current July 17, 2027 sunset date.

Reply comments are due June 6. The regulator is seeking public comments on a Fifth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would make it easier to transition to 3.0 broadcasts When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission has set deadlines for comments on its newest proposals for NextGen TV, aka ATSC 3.0, with comments due on Jan. 20, 2026 and reply comments by Feb.

18. As previously reported, the regulator released a “Fifth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM)" on NextGen TV on Oct. 29 (GN Docket No. 16-142, Fifth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, FCC 25-72). The FCC commissioners voted to go ahead with the FNPRM at its October meeting. On April 7, 2025, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) released a Public Notice seeking comment on the Petition for Rulemaking (the Petition) filed by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) asking the...

Comments are due on May 7, 2025. Reply comments are due June 6, 2025. On February 6, 2025, NAB filed the Petition, seeking to accelerate the transition to Next Gen TV. In the Petition, NAB proposes a two-phased transition. For the first phase, full-power stations in the top 55 markets would be required to transition fully to ATSC 3.0 in February 2028 (with limited waivers for smaller and noncommercial stations). Stations in the remaining markets would be required to transition fully to ATSC 3.0 in February 2030.

The Petition includes additional proposals to facilitate the transition. For example, NAB proposes that the FCC amend section 15.117 of its rules to require that all TV broadcast receivers include ATSC 3.0 tuners. NAB also asks the Commission to consider the need for updates to MVPD carriage rules and the FCC’s rules addressing broadcast transmission standards. In addition to seeking comment on these issues, the FCC also invites comment on the Future of Television Initiative Report (the Report), which NAB filed on January 17, 2025. The Report summarizes discussions and progress made during the transition from the current ATSC 1.0 standard to ATSC 3.0. The Federal Communications Commission is advancing a framework that would eliminate mandatory simulcasting requirements for television broadcasters adopting the ATSC 3.0 standard, according to a notice of proposed rulemaking circulated ahead of the commission’s...

The document outlines a voluntary, market-driven approach to transitioning from the current ATSC 1.0 broadcast standard to ATSC 3.0, commonly marketed as NextGen TV. Unlike previous digital television transitions, the proposal would allow individual stations to determine when, and whether, to discontinue legacy 1.0 broadcasts. “We propose to permit stations to continue to voluntarily transition from a 1.0 signal to a 3.0 signal while giving them greater freedom to serve the specific needs of their local markets,” the document... The commission tentatively concludes that simulcasting should remain permissible but not compulsory, with the agency eliminating the current requirement that programming on both formats be “substantially similar.” The proposal addresses persistent technical and economic tensions that have characterized the ATSC 3.0 rollout since the commission authorized permissive use of the standard in 2017. Broadcasters have deployed 3.0 service in more than 90 markets covering approximately 70 percent of the U.S.

population, but capacity constraints imposed by simultaneous 1.0 and 3.0 transmissions have limited implementation of advanced features including ultra-high-definition video, immersive audio and mobile reception capabilities. CFXGATE = window.CFXGATE || {}; CFXGATE.ajaxurl = 'https://www.cablefax.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php'; CFXGATE.pageTemplate = '/code/wp-content/themes/cablefax2019/page.php'; CFXGATE.id = '502225'; CFXGATE.action = 'get_premium_content'; CFXGATE.cb = Math.floor(Math.random() * 1e16); //cachebuster jQuery.ajax({ method: "POST", url: CFXGATE.ajaxurl + '?cb=' + CFXGATE.cb, xhrFields: {... Public broadcasters won’t have to adopt ATSC 3.0 anytime soon if they don’t want to. That’s the biggest takeaway from the FCC’s notice of proposed rulemaking for ATSC 3.0, also known as Next Gen TV. While the commission wants to strip away some regulations that could hinder support for the new broadcast standard, for now it’s stopped short of setting cutoff dates for the existing ATSC 1.0 standard or... The FCC will likely vote on its proposed rules next year.

The lack of an ATSC 3.0 mandate should come as a relief for public broadcasters that aren’t prepared to upgrade, but some broadcasters believe that the new standard won’t go anywhere without a clearer... “If you don’t mandate it, it’s probably not going to happen,” Franz Joachim, CEO at New Mexico PBS and former chair of America’s Public Television Stations, said in an interview. ATSC 3.0 uses an IP-based architecture to broadcast information over the public airwaves, similar to how data flows over the internet. It also makes broadcasts more efficient by using newer compression formats such as High Efficiency Video Coding. In February, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) asked the FCC to set a deadline for shutting down ATSC 1.0 and transitioning to ATSC 3.0, also known as NextGen TV. Now, the FCC is seeking comments on the proposal, as well as any...

Things are about to get messy for free, over-the-air TV. This week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) passed a notice of proposed rulemaking that’s designed to allow broadcast TV stations to adopt the emerging ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard more quickly. If the FCC enacts these rule changes, broadcasters will no longer need to support the ATSC 1.0 standard that works with most TVs and tuners. Instead, they’ll be able to scale back their ATSC 1.0 coverage and even switch over to the new standard entirely. Broadcasters say they have no incentive to abandon ATSC 1.0 anytime soon, and that the rule changes would just give them more flexibility to support the new standard. Viewers, however, stand to lose clarity on how long their existing TVs will keep working with an antenna, and whether they’ll keep getting all the same content.

ATSC 3.0, also known as NextGen TV, brings new capabilities to over-the-air broadcasts, including 4K HDR video, enhanced dialog, Dolby Atmos audio, and interactive content. Broadcasters started rolling out ATSC 3.0 in 2019, and stations in more than 90 U.S. markets now carry ATSC 3.0 channels. ATSC 3.0 is not backwards compatible, so viewers can’t access it unless their TV has an ATSC 3.0 tuner, or they have an outboard ATSC tuner box. Most TVs continue to ship with only ATSC 1.0 support, and external tuner boxes still cost upwards of $90. Only about 11 percent of U.S.

households can get ATSC 3.0 today, based on broadcasters’ estimate of about 14 million compatible TVs sold to date.

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In February, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) asked the FCC to set a deadline for shutting down ATSC 1.0 and transitioning to ATSC 3.0, also known as NextGen TV. Now, the FCC is seeking comments on the proposal, as well as any other potential issues that should be discussed before the transition. The NAB suggested a two-phase plan. First, they asked that stations in the top 55 market...

Comments Can Be Submitted Here, Where You Can Also Read

Comments can be submitted here, where you can also read the comments of other interested parties. In the document seeking comments, the FCC notes that it received thousands of complaints from consumers about Digital Rights Management encryption on ATSC 3.0 signals which could block consumers from watching programming. The FCC asks “What steps can or should the industry and/or the Commission take t...

As Always, Remember To Keep In Touch With Your Legal

As always, remember to keep in touch with your legal and regulatory advisors to make sure that you don’t overlook any other regulatory deadlines we may have missed here or ones that are specific... One May date with potential broad interest is May 23 – the effective date of the FCC’s January Order increasing its application fees by an average of more than 17%, including those for broadcast... We p...

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The NAB states that using software-based devices would safely and reliably mitigate these issues and do so quickly as the software-based system can operate on many legacy EAS devices. There is another emergency-related deadline this month, though it may be postponed. May 27 is the tentative deadline for all commercial and noncommercial full-power TV, Class A TV, LPTV, and TV translator stations to...

As The FCC Has Not Acted On The NAB’s Proposed

As the FCC has not acted on the NAB’s proposed resolution, look to see if another extension is granted before the May 27 deadline. There are numerous other comment deadlines in FCC proceedings. May 7 is the deadline for comments responding to the NAB’s petition for rulemaking asking for a hard deadline for full-power TV stations to complete the transition to the new ATSC 3.0 transmission standard....