Miami broadcaster WPLG on Monday said it had upgraded to the new standard of over-the-air television, ATSC 3.0, bringing five channels to the next-generation technology.
ATSC 3.0, also known as NEXTGEN TV has been slowly expanding across the country. WPLG is the fifth major station in Miami to adopt the standard after NBC affiliate WTVJ, Telemundo’s WSCV, CBS’s WFOR, and Televisa Univision’s WLTV after the others made the switch in January. The addition of WPLG means all of the major networks in Miami are on NEXTGEN TV.
Beyond ABC affiliate WPLG, Local10+, WSVN (Fox), WSVN (TheGrio TV), and WSVN (This TV) also got upgraded to the new standard.
NEXTGEN TV already covers more than 70% of the TV audiences in the U.S. The standard brings sharper video and better audio quality, as well as the ability to send different feeds based on geography. In October, New York switched on ATSC 3.0 for the first time through WNET and Long Island-based WLIW21. People with TV antennas will need to rescan for the channel on Monday to get the channel again.
But the standard has faced some issues. ATSC 3.0 includes digital rights management, software designed to prevent piracy, that make it tough to work with existing digital video recorders or tuners. One Boston station said on Monday that it was reverting back to ATSC 1.0 because of some technical issues, but hopes to move forward with the upgrade again. LG has said it would stop supporting ATSC 3.0 because another company claims to hold patents covering some of the tech used in the standard.
WPLG serves viewers in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Monroe counties.