Pearl TV, a consortium of U.S. broadcasters transitioning to NextGen TV, and its network partners said it will present new features and devices at the CES 2024 in Las Vegas in January.
Broadcasters have driven an 18% year-over-year growth in U.S. household access since its launch in 2020 and a spike of 22% in 2023 after launching in six top 20 markets. NextGen has launched in 12 new markets this year, including New York, Philadelphia, Boston, San Francisco, Minneapolis, and Miami. NextGen TV is on track to reach 75% of U.S. households in January 2024, offering 83 free channels, including local news, sports, and entertainment.
NextGen TV aims to change the landscape of broadcast TV and provide households with a “future-proof” way to watch local stations.
“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,” said 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.”
New NextGen TV features will be showcased at the Advanced Television Systems Committee booth in Central Hall at CES 2024. It will highlight upgrades to accessory receivers new integration options for electronic manufacturers, such as the platform offered by Sony Semiconductor, Alticast, and Amlogic. The receivers expand the range of free sports broadcasts, verified for content security.
“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,” said James Xie, senior vice president of corporate business strategy at 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.”
NextGen TV is a free over-the-air service and 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 said the new features will enable:
- 4K and High Dynamic Range 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
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article’ incorrectly stated NextGen TV’s reach.