SpectraRep, DigiCAP, and Heartland Video Systems Form Strategic Alliance to Accelerate Adoption of ATSC 3.0 by Public Television Stations
Strategic Alliance announced at the NAB Show 2023 addresses the unique needs of public broadcasters.
Chantilly, VA (April 17, 2023) – SpectraRep is pleased to announce a strategic alliance with Heartland Video Systems and DigiCAP to support public television stations in their adoption of the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) 3.0 standard. The alliance will leverage the deep broadcast experience of each company to provide public stations with guidance on the planning, budgeting, and integration of the ATSC 3.0 standard. ATSC 3.0 is a next generation broadcasting standard that allows for enhanced features such as 4K Ultra High Definition (UHD) video, immersive audio, interactive content, and targeted advertising.
SpectraRep’s President, Mark O’Brien, expressed his commitment to the new alliance saying, “We believe ATSC 3.0 will revolutionize the broadcasting industry, and we share this vision with Heartland Video Systems and DigiCAP. Our companies have complementary expertise and extensive experience with public broadcasting, and we know the challenges and opportunities very well. Our combined effort will deliver a unique value to public television stations as they look to transition to ATSC 3.0 and enhance their broadcasting capabilities.”
Heartland Video Systems, a provider of broadcast equipment and solutions, will bring its expertise in broadcast engineering, integration, and support to the alliance. DigiCAP, a South Korean company, specializes in solutions and equipment for the broadcasting industry, particularly for the emerging standard of ATSC 3.0. SpectraRep, a provider of emergency alerting through datacasting, will provide its expertise in ATSC 3.0 content delivery, including its innovative and proven IncidentOne® solutions, which leverages the power of the digital television (DTV) network to deliver data to first responders at incident scenes.
“We value our deep personal and professional relationships with our friends in public television,” said Dennis Klas, President of Heartland Video Systems. “We felt we could provide even better service by showing not only how, but why, public stations are critical to ATSC 3.0 success. Public stations need to be included as their markets transition to NextGen TV.”
In addition to expounding on the value around the transition to ATSC 3.0, the firms say that a significant goal of the alliance will be to help stations simplify hardware selection, system integration and datacasting services. With the help of the alliance, public stations will be assisted in finding lighthouse partners and paths to bandwidth monetization that will make ATSC 3.0 services faster and easier to implement.
“Broadcasting in ATSC 3.0 is only part of the challenge,” said John McCoskey, SpectraRep COO and former PBS CTO. “Identifying enterprise and commercial customers, ingesting, and managing proprietary data and managing those relationships is what SpectraRep has been doing in ATSC 1.0 for over 20 years. Improved reception, additional capacity and mobile applications are tools SpectraRep can leverage to improve existing customer relationships and identify new ones. We very much look forward to helping the industry move forward through this strategic alliance.”
Joonyoung Park, DigiCAP SVP said, “South Korea has more experience with ATSC 3.0 than any country in the world. We have a great deal of knowledge and experience that will benefit public broadcasters on both the transmit and consumer device side, which we are excited to share.”
The companies will meet regularly to share expertise, relationships, and outreach to improve public television’s awareness of, and access to, ATSC 3.0. One tool that is available for download now is: Twenty-Five Essential Considerations for ATSC 3.0 Conversions: A guide for public TV stations transitioning to ATSC 3.0. (Visit www.spectrarep.com and click on the Resources link to download.)
About the Companies in the Strategic Alliance
Heartland Video Systems
Heartland Video Systems is the industry-leading broadcast equipment supplier and integrator for public television. HVS is a comprehensive resource for all broadcasting needs, from design and product selection to full broadcast system integration and ongoing support.
Heartland’s in-house equipment evaluation and testing lab is state of the art. Heartland can now integrate and test the components of your ATSC 3.0 air chain in their lab before it is delivered. This eliminates integration problems, station down time, and saves money.
Read about Heartland Video Services unique ATSC 3.0 Integration Lab:
The NAB recognized Heartland’s technical expertise by inviting them to showcase ATSC 3.0 capabilities at the 2022 NAB show. HVS integrated 12 unique products into three separate ATSC 3.0 broadcast chains on the show floor.
Read about that exhibit here:
SpectraRep
For more than two decades SpectraRep has been working with our public television partners to deliver public safety, education, and other datacasting services. SpectraRep has been a datacasting leader in ATSC 1.0 deployments. The same equipment, with no modifications, now also works in ATSC 3.0.
SpectraRep’s pandemic home-schooling program was the most successful program of its kind reaching students in 12 states and three municipalities, all delivered with broadcast spectrum from public television.
This past July 4th, SpectraRep used ATSC 3.0 spectrum to connect and support multiple first responder agencies during the Independence Day celebrations on the National Mall in Washington DC.
DigiCAP
DigiCAP provides ATSC 3.0 transport chain (or broadcast scheduler) and home gateway devices. They have been supplying broadcasters in Korean and the US with ATSC 3.0 broadcast scheduler since 2017 when South Korea launched ATSC 3.0 commercially, and 2020 when Sinclair launched ATSC 3.0 in Las Vegas market.
Since then, DigiCAP has reinforced their public television leadership role with ATSC 3.0 transmit and reception innovations.
Read how DigiCAP and SpectraRep worked with KNME-TV, New Mexico, the first Public TV station to Deliver ATSC 3.0 remote learning and public safety datacasting services.
https://us4.campaign-archive.com/?e=[UNIQID]&u=b1c6da50fa8e8f6e0fa646ab0&id=8251e1f7c1
Read how DigiCAP has advanced ATSC 3.0 gateway technology:
https://us4.campaign-archive.com/?e=[UNIQID]&u=b1c6da50fa8e8f6e0fa646ab0&id=c692141269
Media Contacts:
MacKenzie Lovings
mlovings@bia.com
703-606-3481
Mark O’Brien
mobrien@spectrarep.com
703-802-2975
Robert Udowitz
rudowitz@bia.com
703-621-8060