• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, January 9, 2024

The television players backing the ATSC 3.0 broadcasting standard, aka NextGen TV, are using this week’s annual CES event to spotlight new developments that should help accelerate the standard’s long-delayed widespread adoption by consumers.

Two of the more notable announcements: a partnership between the Roxi licensed music video service and Sinclair Broadcast Group to bring what are being billed as the first fully interactive broadcast TV channels to the U.S., and the integration of ATSC 3.0 in upcoming TCL smart-TV models.

U.K.-based Roxi, which is entering the U.S. market in the first quarter, is backed by high-profile players including Simon Cowell and Kylie Minogue. It provides access to about 100 million music videos, hundreds of curated music video channels, games and karaoke, and is free with ads or ad-free by subscription.

In addition to its broadcast partnership with Sinclair, Roxi will be available through partnerships with smart-TV brands including LG, Samsung and Sky.

The Sinclair initiative will bring three interactive music channels — the Roxi Music Channel, the Roxi Music Karaoke Channel, and the Roxi Music Games Channel — into U.S. homes early this year.

Through Roxi’s FastStream technology, which allows interactive TV channel experiences to be broadcast over the airwaves with the ATSC 3.0 standard, linear channels will offer interactive features — including pause, play and skip — without the need to download or launch TV apps.

The technology can also be used to allow skipping and other interactivity within newscasts, among other applications.

Sinclair will handle the technical and business ends of the music channels, including ad sales and distribution in markets that do not have Sinclair TV stations.

The partners say the innovation will allow linear TV to compete in an environment in which streaming has made consumers accustomed to being able to interact with media to customize their experiences.

Pearl TV, the consortium of broadcasters behind NextGen TV, has estimated that more than 10 million ATSC 3.0-capable TV sets will be in U.S. homes

Insufficient household penetration of ATSC 3.0-capable smart TVs or other devices has been one of the biggest obstacles to widespread adoption of the standard. Pearl TV, the consortium of broadcasters behind NextGen TV, has estimated that more than 10 million ATSC 3.0-capable sets were in U.S. homes by the end of 2023.

The hope is that the Roxi channels will have high visibility in the U.S. and help motivate consumers to buy TV sets with integrated NextGen capabilities.   

“We’re confident this partnership will help accelerate the adoption of NextGen TV by delivering entertainment features that consumers will increasingly come to demand on their televisions,” said Skip Flenniken, vice president and GM of technology business development at Sinclair.

A decision last year by LG Electronics to discontinue integrating the ATSC 3.0 standard in its 2024 TVs was a blow to the initiative, but NextGen is now touting new OEMs coming on board, as well as new accessories that allow consumers to adapt existing TVs to use the technology, which can enable high-quality video and sound via UHD/4K signals and mobile reception, as well as interactive capabilities.

More than 100 NextGen-TV products will be available to U.S. consumers in 2024.

In addition to TCL’s just-announced decision to integrate the standard in new smart TV models — joining Sony, Samsung and Hisense, among other brands — the number of available accessory models is expected to double in 2024.

A report released by CES host Consumer Technology Association projects that the U.S. install base of NextGen TV receivers will top 10.3 million in 2024, and that consumer sales of NextGen TV products will rise 45% -- even though it also projects that TV sales overall will be flat. 

With NextGen TV market launches in Chicago, San Diego and Tucson set for early 2024, the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) projects that 75% of U.S. households will have the technical ability to access the standard. 

“Now that broadcasters have reached this important milestone, attention turns to strengthening the number of available consumer receivers and improving the viewing experience,” said  ATSC President Madeleine Noland.