ATSC 3.0 hosting of Nebraska PBS

[IM42A]

Sinclair, Nebraska Public Media Launch Free Virtual Channel Hosting in ATSC 3.0

Maybe I'm just being thick, but how exactly is this different from an ATSC 3.0 lighthouse merely offering the local PBS station on a subchannel? And what is "BEST"?

WWMB-21 Florence/Myrtle Beach is doing, so far as I can tell, the very same thing with SCETV in their market.

 

[tripinva]

The difference is there's no actual video or audio over the air. It's a pointer built into the broadcast to an internet stream. So if the TV signal goes out but the internet stays up, the stream also fails. Also, if you don't connect your TV to the internet, it doesn't work. The worst of both broadcast and streaming in one!

- Trip

 

[IM42A]

The difference is there's no actual video or audio over the air. It's a pointer built into the broadcast to an internet stream. So if the TV signal goes out but the internet stays up, the stream also fails. Also, if you don't connect your TV to the internet, it doesn't work. The worst of both broadcast and streaming in one!

- Trip

Okay, I see that now, I didn't catch that part when I read the article. I'm assuming it's a similar pointer as is used by Sinclair to deliver the T2 tennis network. I've been able to see that via WGWG's lighthouse in Charleston (hard to get here in Columbia but I can pick it up now and then).

 

[fybush]

Okay, I see that now, I didn't catch that part when I read the article. I'm assuming it's a similar pointer as is used by Sinclair to deliver the T2 tennis network. I've been able to see that via WGWG's lighthouse in Charleston (hard to get here in Columbia but I can pick it up now and then).

Exactly this! The rest of the story, as far as I can tell, is that most of Nebraska PBS' ATSC3 data stream is being used for various experiments in public safety datacasting. The data pointers to the streaming services don't take up many bits at all.

 

[tripinva]

Okay, I see that now, I didn't catch that part when I read the article. I'm assuming it's a similar pointer as is used by Sinclair to deliver the T2 tennis network. I've been able to see that via WGWG's lighthouse in Charleston (hard to get here in Columbia but I can pick it up now and then).

Yep, exact same thing. Also used for WPBT in Miami, I believe. There may be a few others like this as well.

- Trip

 

[IM42A]

Exactly this! The rest of the story, as far as I can tell, is that most of Nebraska PBS' ATSC3 data stream is being used for various experiments in public safety datacasting. The data pointers to the streaming services don't take up many bits at all.

I thought of that. Theoretically, a station could have many such pointers, and not take up the kind of frequency space that full-blown subchannels would.

 

[inari]

These pointers are going to be a headache in the future. I could see one day scanning for channels on a new ATSC 3.0 TV and it bring up 500 channels and 400 of them are pointers. Broadcasters will love it because they can charge each channel per month to be "pointed to" and then viewers are stuck will 100 informercial and shopping channels, 100 channels of guys broadcasting from their basement, 50 channels of flat earth and reptilians, 25 rerun channels, 20 weather channels, and, if we are lucky, 5 channels of something actually watchable.

 

[IM42A]

These pointers are going to be a headache in the future. I could see one day scanning for channels on a new ATSC 3.0 TV and it bring up 500 channels and 400 of them are pointers. Broadcasters will love it because they can charge each channel per month to be "pointed to" and then viewers are stuck will 100 informercial and shopping channels, 100 channels of guys broadcasting from their basement, 50 channels of flat earth and reptilians, 25 rerun channels, 20 weather channels, and, if we are lucky, 5 channels of something actually watchable.

You can always deselect the channels you don't want on your receiver. That's what I do with home shopping channels.

 

[Mediafrog+]

It would be interesting if the same “pointer” technology was applied to audio platforms. Imagine a combination radio and WI-FI receiver, or a car entertainment system with radio and cellular connectivity. Radio stations could have HD subchannels as they do now, but countless additional pointer channels that would launch an audio stream.

I had not heard of ATSC 3.0 pointer channels before, though pointer channels are common on cable TV systems. Shows that the capabilities of the new standard are still being explored, though I think we’re going to be well into the 2030s before 3.0 catches on, and that is far from assured.