D.C. Memo: Shocker – Largest LPTV Owner Seeks FCC OK to Shut Down Free TV
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5G TV: A little more than a week before the annual NAB trade show, the largest Low Power TV station owner in the U.S. has advanced a bold idea that could become the talk of the Las Vegas-based event. HC2 Broadcasting Holdings Inc. has asked the FCC to embrace a fundamental restructuring of the LPTV sector and in the process perhaps through innovation address FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s concerns about the U.S. falling behind China in the rollout of advanced wireless services. In a filing Friday, HC2 asked the FCC to consider allowing LPTVs to rely exclusively on datacasting using the global 5G broadcasting transmission standard and eventually sunset their obligation to provide any free over-the-air TV service. Full power TV stations, meanwhile, are deep into their transition to the ATSC 3.0 transmission standard. “While this proposal includes a requirement to deliver at least one free-to-air standard definition signal, with the remaining capacity available for ancillary and supplementary services, the [FCC] should examine whether the time has come to allow all 6 MHz of LPTV spectrum to be exclusively devoted to datacasting without the need for a free-to-air signal, given the ubiquitous nature of 5G-capable devices,” HC2 said in a petition for rulemaking submitted by attorneys David A. O’Connor and Jeffrey J. Gee at Wilkinson Barker Knauer. HC2 is owned by Innovate Corp. under Chairman Avram Glazer, who is the son of Malcolm Glazer, owner the NFL Tampa Bay Buccaneers and majority owner of English Premier League club Manchester United. Under the HC2 proposal, LPTV’s reliance on 5G Broadcasting would mean beaming content directly to millions of compatible iPhones and Android devices, bypassing the networks of mobile carriers like AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. “The 5G Broadcast standard permits an LPTV station to transmit a single 5G signal to its entire service area, using the same 5G transmission protocol utilized by mobile network operators. 5G Broadcast signals may be received by any 5G mobile device, including phones, tablets, and IoT devices equipped with a modem that can receive 5G Band 108,” HC2 said, adding that the shift to datacasting should be voluntary. HC2 said shutting down traditional TV service in favor of datacasting made sense because mobile phones and tablets have become ubiquitous substitutes for TV sets. “Unlike with other broadcast transmission systems, the necessary additions to mobile device hardware for the support of 5G Broadcast are minimal because the necessary components are present or soon will be in many 5G-compatible devices,” HC2 asserted. (More after paywall.)
