Noncommercial TV station and network representatives said they are working hard to move to the new ATSC 3.0 broadcast transmission standard and its opportunities for enhanced emergency alerts, interactive educational programming and more, but that it is a challenging change and they can't predict when a nationwide rollout will be accomplished.

America's Public Television Stations, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and PBS made those points in comments to the Federal Communications Commission, which has sought input on the status of the rollout of the new standard.

The noncoms said they are not seeking waivers of the requirement that they continue to simulcast an ATSC 1.0 signal, suggesting that would not be in their viewers' interest. If the stations stopped broadcasting in 1.0, viewers would need a new TV or converter since the ATSC 3.0 standard is not backward compatible.

Also: NAB Says ATSC 3.0 Will Reinvent TV

They pointed out that noncoms have been pioneers in new technology, including in satellite-delivered programing, and that while they "embrace" the new technology, the logistics of the rollout out were not exactly "hugging them back," particularly given their limited budgets.

"The unique considerations faced by noncommercial educational licensees under the ATSC 3.0 regulatory framework and various marketplace factors make it infeasible to predict a precise timeframe for a nationwide public TV (PTV) transition to ATSC 3.0," they told the commission.

And while they pointed out noncom ATSC 3.0 rollouts have increased by 300% in the past year, that is only from three stations to a dozen, with a couple more rollouts in the works, including WNET New York and KPTS Wichita, Kansas.

They said that while those stations are now broadcasting in ATSC 3.0 -- and have found partners to help them simulcast -- "other PTV stations have not yet had the opportunity to participate in a 'group' launch...or have not yet found feasible partners to meet ATSC 3.0 local simulcasting rules." Nine PTV stations are participants in commercial “group” launches via Pearl TV and/or Bitpath.

They also said the FCC was already well aware that stations serving rural areas and satellite stations serving state lines rather than defined DMAs "cannot readily meet the FCC’s simulcast requirements (and are not presently intending to apply for simulcast waivers until sufficient numbers of households have ATSC 3.0-capable receivers or funding becomes available to distribute low-cost receivers." PTV prides itself on its universal service mission and providing programing to the underserved communities that could lose out in any flash cut to ATSC 3.0.

While the noncoms said they have made significant strides forward in deployment, much of that is toward a long-term rollout and exploration of public services use cases in the near term, including advanced accessibility and curriculum-driven education.

The FCC in June sought public and stakeholder input on how TV stations’ transition to the ATSC 3.0 NextGen TV standard is going.

Among other things, the FCC wants to gauge broadcasters’ progress toward “voluntary, market-driven” deployment of the technology.

ATSC 3.0 allows broadcasters to deliver ultra-HD TV, immersive audio, emergency alerts that could wake up “sleeping” devices, more localized content, targeted advertising, datacasting and more. ■

In a move billed as advancing both innovation and diversity, some top noncom media executives will be tapped to brush up their digital skills.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting said Monday (Sept. 13) that it has tapped The Poynter Institute to develop a Digital Transformation Program to "coach up" 80 senior public media execs on "transforming" their digital culture. The program will be funded, not surprisingly, by a grant from CPB, which allocates the federal government's noncommercial media funding.

Getting that training will be 75 public media station CEOs plus the head of the five National Multicultural Alliance (NMCA) groups.

Also Read: CPB Funds Station Efforts to Combat COVID-19 Misinformation

The nine-month program includes webinars and one-on-one coaching in, among other things, "attracting and growing new and diverse audiences, increasing audience engagement, converting audiences to loyal members, and driving new revenues from digital channels," according to CPB.

CPB already has a Digital Culture Accelerator Program currently mentoring 22 station participants, but is expanding that effort through the new program.

The program is expected to launch in January 2022.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has named Kathryn Washington senior VP, television content, effective Dec. 19. She had been VP, television content, overseeing national broadcast and digital content.

Her charter is to work with public TV stations and independent producers to fund "innovative, diverse and creative programming and content for national public media audiences."

CPB oversees the distribution of federal funding for noncommercial media to over 1,500 TV and radio stations. That funding accounts for an average 15% of station budgets.

"Kathryn is a dynamic leader who has played a significant role advancing CPB’s work developing broadcast media, programs and services that reach all Americans,” said CPB President Patricia Harrison. “At a time when public media’s role of bringing important information and stories to communities is more important than ever, Kathryn’s strategic vision, paired with her deep background in the public media system, will be invaluable as we develop strategies to support programming that reflects our diverse society.”

Washington joined CPB in 2009 and has served as senior director of content strategy and director of diversity and innovation.

A House subcommittee has recommended $515 million for public broadcasting for fiscal year 2023, according to the America's Public Television Stations (APTS), an increase of $50 million.

The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies has also recommended $20 million for the interconnection facilities that allow the local stations to carry national programming.

No word yet on whether the Ready to Learn Department of Education early learning grant program will be funded.

Noncommercial broadcasting is forward funded to try and insulate it from politics, though its appropriation has been a political football for years as Republicans accused it of being too liberal and tried to cut funding.

But Republicans and Democrats now appear to be on the same page about fully funding the service, even as President Donald Trump has tried to defund it in each succeeding budget.

The money actually goes to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the independent agency set up by Congress in the 1960s to hand out the approximately 15% of noncom budgets that comes from federal dollars. The rest is from corporate sponsors and contributions from viewers and listeners.

“America’s Public Television Stations are most grateful that the House Appropriations subcommittee has recommended an appropriation of $515 million for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) for Fiscal Year 2023,” said Patrick Butler, president and CEO of America’s Public Television Stations.

Last June, amid the President's cries for de-funding CPB, legislators on both sides agreed to full funding-plus as well. 

PBS, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and America's Public Television Stations, which have been doing their FCC commenting collectively as "PTV," have told the FCC it should reject some MVPDs' suggestion that public TV stations pay the costs for operators to receive the new ATSC 3.0 signals.

That came in reply comments filed with the FCC, due this week, on its proposal to let broadcasters roll out the new IP-based transmission standard on a voluntary basis. FCC chair Ajit Pai has said he wants to have a final order allowing that rollout ready for a commission vote by year's end.

Related: Sinclair Takes Aim at MVPDs Over ATSC 3.0

In the filing, PTV pointed out that some MVPDs asked the FCC in their comments to require stations to cover both the costs of getting the signal to the MVPD and the costs MVPDs "may incur" in receiving and transmitting the signal.

PTV called that an attempt to punish stations for voluntary deployment of next-generation television.

"[T]the Commission should reject requests to shift that cost to public television stations," the noncoms said. "The fact that a PTV station may make its ATSC 1.0 signal available via an arrangement with a transmission partner is no basis for changing this well-established division of responsibilities."

The FCC has proposed allowing stations to take a Jack Spratt approach to the transition, with one station delivering both its own and an in-market partner's signal in ATSC 3.0, while the other station broadcasts both its own ATSC 1.0 signal (the current standard) and its partner's.

PTV, which was one of the original petitioners that asked for the ATSC 3.0 rollout, is squarely behind that approach and, for regulatory purposes, treating the originator as the regulatory entity. That way, noncoms could share with commercial stations, since the noncom would be credited as the originator, rather than the commercial partner that was delivering the noncom signals.

As predicted, Donald Trump's new "America First" budget, which is being released at 7 a.m. Thursday (March 16), will zero out funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the non-profit company that provides most of a half billion dollars in federal money for noncommercial media.

The confirmation came from Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney, who outlined the president's budget in a conference call with reporters, calling it a "hard-power" budget that required cutting "soft-power" programs.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer had circulated a Washington Post story this week about the budget that mentioned the expectation CPB's funding would be cut; the administration would be unlikely to pass around a story that conflicted with its plans.

Asked whether CPB's $421 million in funding would be eliminated, Mulvaney shot back, "Yes," then finessed his answer a bit, but essentially only on a technicality.

"No, I'm, sorry, I was too quick with that," Mulvaney said. "We propose ending funding, but technically what you will see is its elimination, but you'll see an amount of money in the budget necessary for us to unwind our involvement in CPB, but it will see a zero next to it; the policy is, we're ending federal involvement with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting."

The budget is only a blueprint, and Congress must approve its line items. Congress created the CPB in the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, which declared it to be in the public interest.

While Republicans, and even some Democrats, have in the past balked at the funding and pushed for cuts, more recently CPB has had support from both sides for full funding.

CPB is forward-funded as a means of keeping politics out of it, and in June of last year, the company was fully funded through 2019. But it now looks like it will be backward-defunded. Mulvaney said 2017 funding would be for "winding down" the government's involvement and that the CPB would be zeroed out in 2018.

Mulvaney did not talk specifically about CPB beyond saying it was being defunded, but said that to increase the budgets for Defense and Homeland Security, and to provide billions for "The Wall" -- including $1.5 billion in 2017 and more than $2 billion in 2018 -- the administration would make dollar-for-dollar cuts to programs he said were indefensible.

CPB is the largest single source of funding for public radio, television and related online and mobile services, according to its website. It provides about 15% of the budgets for noncommercial media organizations, with the rest coming from corporate underwriters and contributions from viewers.

More than 70% of CPB’s federal funding goes directly to local public media stations, the CPB's website notes, at an average annual cost per American of $1.35.

Among other takeaways from the call with Mulvaney was a 28% reduction in the State Department's budget, much of that from foreign aid programs.

Mulvaney also said the budget would include cuts in infrastructure spending, which would appear not to square with Trump’s plan to spend on infrastructure upgrades, but Mulvaney added that money was being moved out of less efficient programs and parked to be used in more efficient ones.