This is the year when we’ll finally start seeing the introduction of ATSC 3.0. This is the newest upgrade to broadcast television and is the first big upgrade since TV converted to all-digital over a decade ago. ATSC 3.0 is the latest standard that’s been released by the Advanced Television Systems Committee that creates the standards used by over-the-air broadcasters.

ATSC 3.0 will bring several upgrades to broadcast television that should make it more competitive with cable company video and Internet-based programming. For example, the new standard will make it possible to broadcast over-the-air in 4K quality. That’s four times more pixels than 1080i TV and rivals the best quality available from Netflix and other online content providers.

ATSC 3.0 also will support the HDR (high dynamic range) protocol that enhances picture quality by creating a better contrast between light and dark parts of a TV screen. ATSC 3.0 also adds additional sound channels to allow for state-of-the-art surround sound.

Earlier this year, Cord Cutters News reported that the new standard was to be introduced in 61 US markets by the end of 2020 – however, that has slowed a bit due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But the new standard should appear in most major markets by sometime in 2021. Homes will either have to buy ATSC-enabled TVs, which are just now hitting the market, or they can buy an external ATSC tuner to get the enhanced signals.

One intriguing aspect of the new standard is that a separate data path is created with TV transmissions. This opens up some interesting new features for broadcast TV. For example, a city could selectively send safety alerts and messages to homes in just certain parts of a city. This also could lead to targeted advertising that is not the same in every part of a market. Local advertisers have often hesitated to advertise on broadcast TV because of the cost and waste of advertising to an entire market instead of just the parts where they sell service.

While still in the early stages of exploration, it’s conceivable that ATSC 3.0 could be used to create a 25 Mbps data transmission path. This might require several stations joining together to create that much bandwidth. While a 25 Mbps data path is no longer a serious competitor of much faster cable broadband speeds, it opens up a lot of interesting possibilities. For example, this bandwidth could offer a competitive alternative for providing data to cellphones and could present a major challenge to cellular carriers and their stingy data caps.

ATSC 3.0 data could also be used to bring broadband into the home of every urban school student. If this broadband was paired with computers for every student, this could go a long way towards solving the homework gap in urban areas. Unfortunately, like most other new technologies, we’re not likely to see the technology in rural markets any time soon, and perhaps never. The broadband signals from tall TV towers will not carry far into rural America.

The FCC voted on June 16 on a few issues related to the ATSC 3.0 standard. In a blow to broadcasters, the FCC decided that TV stations could not use close-by vacant channels to expand ATSC 3.0 capabilities. The FCC instead decided to maintain vacant broadcast channels to be used for white space wireless broadband technology.

The FCC also took a position that isn’t going to sit as well with the public. As homeowners have continued to cut the cord there have been record sales in the last few years of indoor antennas for receiving over-the-air TV. Over-the-air broadcasters are going to be allowed to sunset the older ATSC 1.0 standard in 2023. That means that homes will have to replace TVs or will have to install an external ATSC 3.0 tuner if they want to continue to watch over-the-air broadcasts.