Pearl TV, the consortium of U.S. broadcast companies leading the nation’s transition to NEXTGEN TV, and its network partners today announced its presence at CES 2024 in Las Vegas, Jan. 9-12, spanning new feature demonstrations, new devices, and thought leadership. Since the NEXTGEN TV rollout commenced in 2020, broadcasters have driven nearly 18% year-over-year growth in U.S. household access and spiking 22% in 2023 boosted by the launch of six top 20 markets. As the rollout and delivery of new features continues, its nationwide trajectory of reaching 75% of American viewers in January 2024 underscores NEXTGEN TV’s appeal and embrace among consumers and broadcasters alike.
Broadcaster collaboration, technical expertise and visionary investment enabled NEXTGEN TV to reach 12 new markets in 2023 and deliver 83 free channels to viewers. Top 20 media markets launched include New York, Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, Minneapolis, and Miami. NEXTGEN TV has changed the landscape of broadcast TV to provide viewers with a future-proof and innovative way to enjoy local news, sports, and entertainment.
“2023 was a key year for major markets in their NEXTGEN TV transition, as these six metros represent significant opportunities for viewers to enjoy the benefits of NEXTGEN TV while also enabling broadcast innovation to flourish and preserve the role of local news and entertainment in American homes,” stated Anne Schelle, Managing Director of Pearl TV. “As 2024 approaches, it’s all about the consumer and more—more interactive features, more accessory options at retail, more broadcaster applications enabled by the RUN3TV platform, and more new markets and second sticks. CES is the perfect place to showcase what’s new and in store for consumers who are excited to be on the NEXTGEN TV wave.”
Multiple NEXTGEN TV features and advantages will be showcased within the Advanced Television Systems Committee booth, #19744 in the Central Hall. In addition to standalone upgrade accessory receivers, new integration options for consumer electronics manufacturers will be shown, including a new platform offered by Sony Semiconductor, Alticast, and Amlogic, a global leader in system-on-chip platforms for the smart TV market. Visitors will be able to experience:
- Thrilling Over-the-Air Sports: Every game feels like a front-row seat with favorite sports teams whose games are delivered from local stations. Understanding the overarching popularity of live sports viewing, broadcasters throughout the country are expanding the range of free, over-the-air sports matchups.
- More Accessory Devices at Retail: While millions of NEXTGEN TV sets will be sold in the coming year, a new crop of NEXTGEN TV upgrade accessory receivers that are both certified to carry the NEXTGEN TV logo and also verified for content security are now available to consumers – with more options on the horizon in 2024. A wide variety of affordable devices enable easy upgrades of existing TV sets.
- Better Picture, Better Sound: In addition to an immersive audio demonstration, the outstanding picture quality delivered by HDR through NEXTGEN TV will be highlighted as an ideal way to add color depth and brightness to broadcast images.
- Broadcast Internet Protocol (IP): Another benefit for NEXTGEN TV viewers is the availability of more viewing options through IP connections, enabling broadcasters to add services that aren’t able to transition due to spectrum constraints and opening the door to more viewing choices with the same innovative features of NEXTGEN TV.
“Amlogic has joined forces with Sony and Alticast to offer a high-performance reference design solution to enable faster time-to-market for ATSC 1.0/3.0 smart TVs,” stated James Xie, Senior Vice President of Corporate Business Strategy, Amlogic. “This turnkey solution is integrated with Sony Semiconductor’s market leading tuner/demodulator chips, as well as Alticast’s ATSC 1.0/3.0 software stack that has been validated through industry conformance testing. This collaboration ensures a seamless and high-performance foundation for next-generation smart TVs.”
A feature built into select TV models manufactured by Hisense, LG, Samsung and Sony, NEXTGEN TV is widely available to consumers at retail across more than 100 models, starting at $479, and viewable at https://www.watchnextgentv.com/. While features may vary by device and broadcaster as commercial service expands in local markets, NEXTGEN TV is designed to be future proof, enabling a viewer’s television set to advance with technological improvements. NEXTGEN TV, powered by the IP-based ATSC 3.0 standard, is also a complement to streaming platforms, as it doesn’t compete for household bandwidth with over-the-top content.
“The Chicago market—a top three media market in the U.S.—will be one of the first NEXTGEN TV launches in 2024, bringing the free service to approximately 3.6 million television households according to industry rankings, and just in time for Super Bowl LVIII, especially as live linear television has never been stronger in sports,” continued Schelle. “Unique in 2023 was the rise of second sticks in markets that have previously launched, like New York, Minneapolis, and Miami, underscoring the demand for NEXTGEN TV from viewers, and embrace by broadcasters. These second sticks enable more stations in those markets to deliver NEXTGEN TV services and we’ll continue to see this in 2024, when San Antonio and others launch.”
The New Standard in OTA Television
NEXTGEN TV, a free OTA service, is the first major overhaul to the Advanced Television Systems Committee’s standard for receiving over-the-air signals in 25 years. Now broadcasting in more than 70 markets, NEXTGEN TV makes possible:
- Stunning 4K and High Dynamic Range (HDR) video
- Consistent volume across channels
- Added voice clarity with Dolby’s Voice +
- Movie theater-quality sound
- Enhanced internet content on demand
- Advanced emergency alerts and information
- Expanded and hyperlocal news
- Dual language capabilities
Media and analysts interested in meeting with the NEXTGEN TV team at CES 2024 can contact pearltv@havasformula.com, or visit booth #19744, Central Hall, at the show.
Consumers can learn more about NEXTGEN TV by visiting www.watchnextgentv.com, which offers a guide to cities already on the air, where signals will soon be rolling out, and available television models.
About Pearl TV:
Pearl TV is a business organization of U.S. broadcast companies with a shared interest in exploring forward-looking broadcasting opportunities, including innovative ways of promoting local broadcast TV content and developing digital media and wireless platforms for the broadcast industry. Pearl’s membership, comprising more than 820 TV stations, includes eight of the largest broadcast companies in America: Cox Media Group, Graham Media Group, Gray Television, Hearst Television Inc., Nexstar Media Group, Sinclair Broadcast Group, the E.W. Scripps Company, and TEGNA Inc.
