Adoption Outlook Clouded by Doubts over Costs and Transition Timing

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., April 20, 2017 — More than 75% of broadcast industry executives say they are excited about ATSC 3.0, while more than 70% reported that their station’s conversion is either unscheduled or more than two years away.

These results come from a survey of local broadcast television professionals fielded in January 2017 by WideOrbit, the media industry’s technology platform for connecting audiences and ads everywhere.

The final report, ATSC 3.0 and The Future of Broadcasting: The Industry View, summarizes the broadcast industry’s understanding of ATSC 3.0 and its potential benefits and costs. Respondents were sales, traffic, engineering and general business executives at station groups across the United States.

Highlights

• Broadcasters are enthusiastic about ATSC 3.0 and most are taking steps to adopt it. More than 75% of respondents said they are excited about ATSC 3.0. More than half said their station group is actively examining whether to make the transition.
• The broadcasting industry has not completely assessed the cost of ATSC 3.0. Respondents offered a wide range of predictions of the cost per station for ATSC 3.0 transition. Capital investment and operating costs remain a crucial area for media companies to understand before moving forward despite the findings of a recent BIA/Kelsey report that large and medium-sized markets stations can recoup ATSC 3.0-related incremental costs in three years.
• Broadcasters don’t have a complete picture yet of the technologies that need to be replaced or upgraded. Respondents do not have a clear idea yet of what technology upgrades will be required nor the software and business practices for accommodating an advanced interactive advertising business.
• For ATSC 3.0 to be successful, viewers need the industry to offer compelling reasons to make the switch. Respondents said that improvement in the audience experience, which was a key driver to the rapid consumer adoption of HDTV, is ATSC 3.0’s least important benefit. Perhaps as a result, more than half of broadcasters are concerned that consumers won’t purchase ATSC 3.0-compatible televisions.

Commentary

Mickey Wilson, chief marketing officer at WideOrbit, said:

“This survey shows that behind the broadcast industry’s enthusiasm for ATSC 3.0 and its promise of new advertising opportunities, broadcast executives are excited about the ability to deliver advanced advertising campaigns for their clients and nearly all of them understand its potential for opening new revenue streams and business models.

“There are still a lot of unknown factors that broadcasters should approach in a thoughtful way, including identifying and satisfying requirements for new hardware, software, skills, and sales, traffic and billing processes.

“We recommend that media companies carefully research the technical requirements for operating an ATSC 3.0-based advanced advertising business. They can start today by collaborating with their hardware and software vendors to define their group’s ATSC 3.0 strategy and how they can work together to realize it.”
 

About WideOrbit
WideOrbit is the leading provider of advertising management technology for cable networks, local television stations and radio stations. More than 3,200 broadcasters and networks leverage WideOrbit solutions to streamline operations, maximize revenue from traditional, digital and programmatic channels and extend their business across distribution platforms. Our clients include Entercom Communications, Entravision Communications Corporation, Gray Television, Inc., Meredith Corporation, NBCUniversal, The E.W. Scripps Co. and Tribune Media. WideOrbit is headquartered in San Francisco with offices across the United States as well as London, Paris and Gothenburg, Sweden.

WideOrbit® and the WideOrbit logo® are among the trademarks of WideOrbit. Other trademarks belong to their respective owners. WideOrbit reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and specifications and pricing at any time without notice, and is not responsible for errors that may appear in this document. © 2017 WideOrbit Inc. All rights reserved.

For press inquiries, contact media@wideorbit.com.

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