On August 14, Lon Seidman of the Lon.TV YouTube channel and Tyler Kleinle of the Antenna Man YouTube channel met with members of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Media Bureau at FCC headquarters in Washington, D.C. The meeting, attended by officials including Hillary DeNigro, Evan Morris, Evan Baranoff, Erin Boone, Mark Colombo, and Maria Mullarkey (some via Teams), focused on their opposition to the ongoing transition to ATSC 3.0, the next-generation over-the-air (OTA) television standard. The duo, both advocates for cord-cutting and experts in antenna television, presented a detailed slide deck outlining their concerns, particularly the impact of Digital Rights Management (DRM) encryption on consumer adoption.
Seidman and Kleinle argued that DRM encryption, enforced through opaque private regulations by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (A3SA), is the primary barrier to widespread acceptance of ATSC 3.0 tuners. Unlike ATSC 1.0, which requires only FCC compliance and allows inexpensive devices like a $23 tuner/DVR to enter the market, ATSC 3.0 demands costly “NextGen TV” and A3SA certifications. This has resulted in a significant price jump, with the cheapest compliant option, the ADTH ATSC 3.0 box, retailing at $89 in the FCC filing by Lon.TV and Antenna Man they describe it as “That box also comes with gaping security holes”. The company behind ADTH boxes denies these claims saying its products are secure and receive regular updates. Kleinle, who manufactures a low-cost ATSC 1.0 tuner, noted that the certification costs would have exceeded his manufacturing expenses, effectively locking small businesses out of the market.
In a statement to Cord Cutters News ADTH said:
“The ADTH NextGen TV Box receives regular firmware and software updates, and we are committed to security. We take any concerns seriously and maintain an independently built and controlled software environment that avoids the unauthorized modifications seen on some other devices.
Like other ATSC 3.0 tuners, our products use an AOSP baseline, which is standard across the industry. Security and performance are ensured through active patching and controlled distribution.
The ADTH USB tuner works well with devices such as the Walmart onn 4K Pro, and we are expanding compatibility to platforms not designed for broadcast AV, like Fire TV Cube and Google TV 4K. To help customers, we released the ADTH Tester app so they can easily check compatibility. We will continue working with broadcasters to improve performance and add new features such as Unconnected Mode and upcoming network tuner functions.”
The presenters highlighted retail evidence from Walmart in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, and Best Buy in Waterford, Connecticut, where ATSC 3.0-compatible TVs were scarce or unadvertised, despite antenna sales remaining strong. They demonstrated that unencrypted ATSC 3.0 content can be played on a variety of devices—including a 7-year-old LG OLED TV, Roku TV, Apple TV, Xbox, iPhone, and iPad—using an HDHomeRun Flex 4K tuner, bypassing the need for expensive certifications. However, DRM encryption limits compatibility to a narrow range of Samsung Tizen, Google/Android TV, and Fire TV devices, excluding over half of the current smart TV and set-top box market.
Further, they cited issues with certified tuners, such as the Zinwell set-top box requiring an internet connection despite marketing claims otherwise, and the ADTH dongle failing on most tested devices according to FCC filing by Lon.TV and the Antenna Man. They also referenced Tablo’s delayed ATSC 3.0 DVR release—owned by A3SA member Scripps—due to DRM costs, with preorders refunded. The duo warned that DRM poses public safety risks, potentially blocking access to weather alerts during internet outages or device glitches.
Seidman and Kleinle challenged broadcasters’ claims that DRM protects valuable content, pointing to trends like UFC matches airing on CBS and partnerships with Scripps, Tegna, Weigel, and Gray. They criticized A3SA’s lack of transparency, enforced through NDAs, and called for removing private regulations to allow self-certification, arguing that market forces would naturally weed out ineffective devices. Emphasizing viewers’ needs over industry profits, they urged the FCC to adopt an unencrypted ATSC 3.0 standard, leveraging its benefits while preserving the tradition of free OTA TV.
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Update: We updated the story to add that the statements about ADTH come from Lon.TV and the Antenna Man’s FCC filing.