3 stations apply for ATSC 3.0 or “4K”
May 11, 2020A couple of weeks ago, alert reader Doug T. sent me an email link to the post below. I read it and got totally confused. Of course it might have been one of those sleepless nights and I might have been further out of it than I assumed I was! Please read it, I’ll wait…
Got that? No? Good thing I asked Doug to translate for us!
Well, Sinclair has been testing the Next Gen TV ATSC 3.0 standard (i.e. OTA 4k HD Broadcasts) in Baltimore for a while now. If I’m reading into things correctly, it seems to be that the technology will be coming here with 4, 22, and 53 being the first stations in the market to deploy the technology at some point in the future.
Doug T.
Well, Doug is right. Back on April 22/23, the Hearst-owned WTAE-TV and the Sinclair-owned WPGH-TV and WPNT-TV applied for a modification to their licenses for 4K signals that will transmit from a host antenna, in this case WPNT, from the tower atop the station at 750 Ivory Avenue, Pittsburgh. Meanwhile, the regular digital signals will continue to operate for those without over the air 4K-enabled sets.
In late 2018, CordCuttersNews.com said the technology is a way off… but it looks like it’s sooner than later in Pittsburgh.
WTAE-TV Modification App
ReferenceCopyWPGH-TV Modification App
WPGHWPNT-TV Modification App
WPNT
Any news of improved terrestrial over-the-air television is good news. It’s always good to get access to better entertainment that doesn’t involve spending more money to get it. Aside from the very, very minimal fees involved in the applications, does anyone know how much this improvement in the quality of the picture on the screen is going to cost the stations? How much more will they have to earn in advertiser revenue to even break even on these improvements?
Great. Another converter box I need for my 1982 Zenith. B-)