As we approach the third decade of the 21^st century, the television industry is at a significant crossroads. Research from Unisphere Research based on responses from almost 500 media industry professionals suggests that viewership hours of live streamed over-the-top (OTT) video will surpass those of broadcast television in the next five years. The evolution of OTT content tends to pitch it in direct competition with traditional over-the-air (OTA) broadcasting but it doesn’t have to be a case of either/or.

New devices - such the Android TV-based AirTV – are integrating OTA and OTT content, overcoming some of the limitations of each and playing to their strengths. One of the biggest concerns consumers have with streaming services is the lack of local channels, for example, so the integration of OTA technology addresses that gap in content. Most operators deploying Android TV are doing it with this integrated approach, in part because they see OTA as a long-standing, well understood channel that fills the gaps that are left by pure streaming technology.

With this convergence, it is all the more vital to have a solution that offers robust and comprehensive Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) and High Dynamic Range (HDR) delivery and manage the complexity of multiple formats and networking environments. Broadcasters around the globe want to incorporate state-of-the-art systems and capabilities into their next-generation systems and the upcoming ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard is likely to play a big part in those efforts. 

Setting the standard

ATSC 3.0 is nearing completion and rollout has begun in the first half of the year in Korea, which is taking the lead on ATSC 3.0 deployment in anticipation of broadcasting its home Winter Olympic Games in 2018. What will make ATSC 3.0 so crucial is that it is internet-compatible in a way that the original High Definition (HD) over-the-air transmissions are not. Arcane, broadcast-only protocols are becoming a thing of the past and in their place is standard internet protocol (IP) delivery.

ATSC 3.0 will bring IP packets over the air, with the audio and video sent in separate streams. This will mean that multiple languages, for instance, can be delivered over separate paths, some of which could come via a hybrid OTT path. ATSC 3.0 also supports the idea of a broadcast plus broadband, or a hybrid broadcast/broadband TV approach. This is very interesting in the context of recent innovations by network service providers around the world which are specifically designed to support both OTT and OTA capabilities.

As a result, the standard will also bring a lot more flexibility than we have seen in the past. Unlike with previous iterations, ATSC 3.0 allows for so much choice – consumers could have 4K video, HDR or a wide color gamut, and eventually frame rates of up to 120 frames per second. Dense packing of multiple films or TV episodes in a single TV channel could also be available. There are some broadcasters that want to maximize the number of programs they can get over a single 6MHz TV channel and offer something like the “skinny bundles” that are being offered commercially by some satellite providers.

Hybrid delivery will also augment these possibilities - broadcasters will possibly want to deliver sub-HD resolution over the air and augment that with spatially scalable video to get to full HD in the home, but have mobile reception receive just the smaller picture, with more transmission robustness.

Staying ahead

The business case for this integrated content is a compelling one. The ability to deliver targeted advertising is something that service providers will relish, with the potential for smart TVs or smart boxes with local storage to use advertising inventories that can be dynamically inserted based on user preference, or demographic information such as ZIP codes. There’s a strong awareness of the potential benefits of the combination of broadcast and broadband and the robust interactive functionality between the two.

The challenge for network service providers is that it typically takes time for a new technology to be distributed over their satellite or cable networks. If a service provider sticks to only those means of distributing content, it is difficult for them to be at the leading edge of HDR and other new technologies.

There is also the challenge posed by consumers that are either slow on the uptake of newer technologies, or simply unaware of their potential. It will be crucial in the short term to ensure that consumers who have TVs that work only with SDR video don’t get left behind as broadcasters migrate to HDR, something which Technicolor has developed an approach for that can create a unified SDR/HDR experience. Awareness is also crucial - many consumers are not aware of what is available over-the-air -but this is an easier case for service providers to solve with education. Streaming really can breathe new life into OTA and a lot of emphasis on this aspect of the integrated offering will be seen from the companies rolling this technology out.

New solutions for old issues

Of course, there is still the long-standing issue of ensuring that the consumer is getting good OTA reception. Sometimes you plug in the antenna and it just works, but there are still occasions when the consumer needs some help. In the future, we are likely to see more tools coming out to help with self-installation - finding the best place in the home for the antenna, for instance - as well as new architectures for streaming that content throughout the home. ATSC 3.0 will be vital in this end picture as a standard that is essentially targeted at improving signal reception.

Once finalized, ATSC 3.0 is likely to gain traction very quickly. It is designed to do a couple of things that are vitally important to this market, improving indoor antenna reception and bringing in advanced HDR technology. A streaming-plus-OTA hybrid will provide the ideal scenario for deploying HDR because it is always easiest and quickest to deploy new technologies over streaming services. With this in mind, it is no surprise that Netflix is leading the way in terms of HDR content and delivery today.

ATSC 3.0 brings in advanced HDR technologies that are optimized for higher quality and for efficient delivery of linear content, which is key to what the broadcasters care about. In addition, it will enable three to four times more bandwidth than is typically available using streaming technologies, meaning a much higher quality signal.

That combination of technological factors is a great “one-two” punch for delivering HDR. Streaming enables operators to get HDR to market quickly and make it pervasive, and those that can offer integrated OTT and OTA systems are really setting themselves in the driver’s seat as the industry continues to develop new and innovative ways of delivering content to the end user.