Updated July 2024, from an earlier report, posted June 21, 2022- Our first TV standard was NTSC, and it was used from 1941 through 2009. It featured 525-line video with FM audio for stereo broadcasts in the 1980s. By 2009, a new TV standard, ATSC 1.0, was adopted to bring high-definition video and 5.1 multi-channel audio. It also allowed local broadcasters to piggyback other subchannels and their primary signals. Now, our TV system will be changing again to ATSC 3.0. Just like ATSC 1.0 wasn't compatible with NTSC, ATSC 3.0 will NOT be compatible with ATSC 1.0.  

If you're a satellite or cable subscriber, you probably won't need to worry about this in the immediate future. These signal providers are currently working on changing the standards to allow for the passing of enhanced digital television, which will also affect your internet availability.

 

Nextgen TV is another website that explains what ATSC 3.0, or NextGen TV, is all about. In a nutshell, here's what it could mean, according to watchnextgentv.com and other sources.

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1 NextGenTV is received over-the-air from your area broadcasters, with the primary service being free. Still, it will require either an ATSC 3.0 receiver converter with your existing HDTV or a newer model HDTV with a built-in turner to receive the broadcasts. The roll-out of ATSC 3.0 TVs is underway, and many new flat-screen TV monitors already have nextgenTV tuners built in. The cost, though, may reflect the additional tuner. Nextgen TV add-on tuners are now being turned out and could be priced at less than $100.  (We're not experiencing the encryption that other markets are seeing now, but if you would like to see more about what could happen here, visit the TV Today for St. Louis and Indianapolis for details.)

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2. The video/audio quality of the primary signal will potentially be better. NextGen 3.0 promises built-in features that will greatly enhance your TV viewing experience. The audio alone will be able to eliminate volume changes between channels and shows and will offer a more "pleasant, uniform sound experience." Dialog won't get lost in the scene, and you will be able to set it to enhance the dialog and lower the volume of the sound effects, background noise, and music.  Overall, you'll be able to experience quality sound, similar to a movie theater.

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3 Dolby Vision will bring your video "astonishing brightness, contrast, and color." Expect a 4K HDR ultra-high-definition video with a sharper picture available with select programming WHEN it becomes available. Still, the door is open for even more video improvements in the future (8K, maybe even 16K). I don't expect that, though, for several years, if not a decade from now.

4. Expect at some time in the future interactivity between you and "your favorite shows, news, sports, and live events." You'll also get more localized emergency alerts and a viewer's guide that you can personalize.  This will allow viewers in areas with, for example, strong to severe weather to receive weather information as provided by your local stations but gives viewers the option to continue to watch the programming in areas under no such threat. MANY OF THESE OPTIONAL FEATURES WILL ONLY BE AVAILABLE THROUGH YOUR INTERNET CONNECTION WITH YOUR TV MONITOR.

 

5. Your local station would be able to target advertising in your area within programming. For example, one station serves more than one metro area, like most stations in central Illinois. That station could sell the same commercial availability more than once. With an advertiser only interested in the metro of their location, their advertising would be able to be targeted in that location. In contrast, other advertisers in other metros could target potential customers from their service area. Once again, an internet connection will be required to receive these options.
 

6 Interactive and other features will work with your internet connection, but you can still receive NextGen TV without an internet connection. Your location must be established in your receiver to benefit from geography-based features.

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7 Future enhancements are expected, some we can't imagine right now. This new technology, along with future software updates, will allow for future growth with the addition of new features and benefits.  

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8 Like with ATSC 1.0, each signal can add subchannels to its primary signal. It's unclear how many signals will be piggybacked on each primary, but various sources say that subchannels (SD or HD) could number up to 20.  

 

9 Even though the primary signal is intended to be free of cost, the station can program "pay-per-view" events on a subchannel or multiple subchannels. These may include sporting events, concerts, movies, etc. A couple of markets already offer pay-per-view for viewers in their area, but none have been very successful so far. 

 

10. The NextGen TV signal will be stronger and easier for smaller and even indoor antennas to receive successfully. Since all NextGen TV stations will come from one transmitter/tower, you'll only have to point a directional antenna to one site.

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11 It's also being proposed that broadcasters could become internet providers to offer Internet service to areas that might not have access to more traditional sources. 

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12. You can watch NextGen TV while riding in vehicles. (Legally, this doesn't include the driver!)

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13 Don't feel pressured to join the NextGen TV era. The government has not mandated that the changeover occur before a specified date. Local television stations will continue to broadcast ATSC 1.0 signals from the current towers/antennas for several years!

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So, what does it all mean for viewers here?      Click here for an explanation of Nextgen TV ATSC 3.0
 

1. The antenna/transmitters of what was formerly WCCU and WRSP are the home base stations for all of the Nextgen TV signals. That is, the ATSC 3.0 signals of all of the participating stations, under agreement from all owners of the stations, Nexstar, GoCom, and Sinclair, are coming from the current GoCom/Sinclair transmitters (real UHF channels 22 between Champaign and Danville and 16 near Mechanicsburg, Illinois.  Those transmitters/antennas/towers will place city-grade signals for all stations into all of the central Illinois metro cities (Jacksonville, Springfield, Decatur, Champaign-Urbana, Mattoon-Charleston, and Danville) and most of central and east central Illinois and western Indiana but also Bloomington-Normal and fringe into Peoria, Terre Haute (IN), and Crawfordsville (IN). Effingham may be beyond the fringe area and require more elaborate antenna systems from viewers. 

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2. That shift required the current channels and subchannels of WRSP/WCCU to be moved to other transmitters. What we know as WCCU, Channel 27, FOX-Illinois comes from the WICD transmitter and antenna, and WRSP, Channel 55, FOX-Illinois, comes from the WICS transmitter and antenna.

 

If you're watching 27.2-True Crime Network, it says it's 27, but it's coming from the WCIA transmitter, tower, and antenna. Here's where it gets complicated: Antenna TV from WRSP is coming from WBUI and WAND's transmitters/towers/transmitters in the Argenta-Oreana area (virtual channel 17) and in Danville on UHF channel 23 (still virtual channel 17), in the Jacksonville area on channel 29 (virtual channel 17) and the Effingham area on Channel 33 (virtual channel 17), even though it's identified as virtual channel 55.3. AntennaTV from WCCU is coming from WBUI, and its transmitter, tower, and antenna near Argenta-Oreana is still virtual channel 27.3.  True Crime is also coming from that same transmitter and is virtual channel 23.4. Still, it's also coming from the WCIX transmitter/tower/antenna east of Springfield, virtual channel 55.2, and from the WCIA transmitter/tower/antenna, which is virtual channel 27.2. Got it?

 

3. Don't expect all the features listed above to appear simultaneously. The rollout of all of the features above will take years, maybe a decade or so, to achieve.  For example, there isn't any 4K programming available, and it'll take millions to equip networks, TV stations, and other sources to broadcast 4K programming. (Remember how long it took for HD programming to reach down to local stations or even live color broadcasting to take place in the 60s and 70s? This will take longer) 

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4. Based on previous experiences with C-band satellite channel distribution and promises of features available with de-scrambling equipment, I'm not optimistic that viewers will see all of these promises develop, especially in central Illinois. The only differences I've seen in central Illinois are coming from the Sinclair and GoCom stations WICS, WCCU, WRSP, and WICD. That involves using the internet to see weather information and local news items on the screen with a 3.0 signal. So far, the effort has been there, but the results have been less than impressive or valuable.  

 

I'm concerned about the "interactivity" between viewers and stations, networks, etc., and whether those stations will find an investment in personnel and technology to follow through on such features beneficially. One possible exception could be sporting events when such features could be channeled from national sources. Significant events could see this feature occur long before other types of programming. 

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5. Don't be fooled into thinking your current outdoor antenna, if you're using one, will need to be replaced by a "special NextGen TV antenna." There's NO SUCH THING, like there's no such thing as a"Color TV Antenna" or "Digital HD TV antenna."  If you're using an antenna on a tower next to your home or on your roof, and it's working fine, it will continue to serve you well.

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Six converter boxes are available, but make sure they can receive scrambled video channels. 

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Markers below: Blue-already on the air, purple-coming soon