NAB Show Preview: NextGen TV at a crossroads between spectrum, standards and transition

ATSC 3.0, the next-generation over-the-air broadcast standard, has been a fixture of NAB Show conversations for several years. This year the discussion arrives at a more consequential moment.

Deployments are expanding, international markets are providing real-world data on what the standard can deliver and a regulatory decision in Washington is forcing U.S. broadcasters to think more concretely about timing.

The Federal Communications Commission is currently weighing whether to set a hard cutoff date for ATSC 1.0 or leave the transition timeline to individual broadcasters.

The National Association of Broadcasters, which produces NAB Show, has publicly advocated for a mandatory cutoff, arguing it would accelerate adoption and give stations and device manufacturers the certainty needed to invest. The FCC has not issued a ruling.

NAB’s Alison Martin on NextGen TV: Firm deadlines, DRM and MVPDs

Momentum after uncertainty

ATSC 3.0 deployments have slowed in recent years, partly due to uncertainty around how and when the 1.0 transition would be resolved. That momentum has since picked back up.

“NextGen TV conversations increasingly center on integration within broader IP transformation strategies. ATSC 3.0 is live in a growing number of markets as deployment regains momentum following regulatory uncertainty around the ATSC 1.0 transition,” said Rick Young, senior vice president and head of global products at LTN.

For stations moving forward, the operational requirements are substantial.

Upgrading to ATSC 3.0 means new transmission infrastructure: exciters, advanced encoders and IP-based signal processing, while continuing to run legacy ATSC 1.0 services in parallel for viewers who have not yet acquired compatible devices. 

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“Broadcasters are adapting established workflows to an IP-native architecture built around metadata and flexible service layers, requiring updated tools and operational alignment. As IP infrastructure becomes more pervasive, ATSC 3.0 is increasingly integrated into a network-of-networks model designed to enhance scale, resilience, and service flexibility across broadcast and broadband environments,” Young added.

One argument for moving past the transition debate is what ATSC 3.0 actually enables once infrastructure is in place.

The standard supports 4K HDR video, improved audio, enhanced emergency alerting and interactive services — capabilities that are not available on ATSC 1.0. And, of course, new streams of monetization for broadcasters.

On the compression side, newer encoding tools are making the spectrum math more workable.

“MPEG-5 LCEVC operating as an enhancement layer on top of VVC means stations can deliver 4K HDR at below 10 Mbps, making the best use of spectrum allocation and facilitating a transition,” said Fabio Murra, senior vice president of product and marketing at V-Nova.

VVC, or Versatile Video Coding, is a compression standard designed to deliver higher image quality at lower data rates than its predecessors. LCEVC or Low Complexity Enhancement Video Coding is a complementary layer that can improve the output of other codecs without significantly increasing processing demands.

Brazil as a reference point

While U.S. broadcasters weigh the regulatory and infrastructure questions, Brazil has moved ahead with its own next-generation broadcast standard, DTV+, which shares technical foundations with ATSC 3.0.

“The NextGen TV conversation has shifted decisively from standards debates to ecosystem validation. Brazil’s TV 3.0 provides the clearest evidence: a presidential decree formalizing the standard, Globo TV on air with DTV+ pilot transmissions in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, and an end-to-end supply chain growing quickly,” said Murra.

Brazil’s rollout is targeting a commercial launch in 2026, with encoder and decoder manufacturers already aligned around the standard. For U.S. broadcasters, the Brazilian deployment offers a working example of what a coordinated national transition looks like in practice.

Infrastructure consolidation

Beyond the transition question, some vendors are pointing to ATSC 3.0 as an opportunity to simplify broadcast infrastructure rather than simply add to it.

The migration away from C-Band satellite toward Ku-Band and IP distribution is running alongside the ATSC 3.0 rollout, and some are positioning integrated hardware as a way to reduce operational complexity.

“This enables broadcasters to adopt a simplified, cost-effective, playout-to-delivery solution that combines advanced playout, premium encoding and ATSC/DTV+ delivery on a single appliance, thus breaking the traditional silos between playout and encoding and delivery,” said Eric Gallier, vice president of video customer solutions at Harmonic.

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Analysis: NextGen TV reaches the awkward middle stage

The infrastructure consolidation argument may carry particular weight for smaller station groups and affiliates, where engineering resources are limited and the cost of running parallel systems through the transition period is a genuine operational burden.

The FCC’s decision on the ATSC 1.0 cutoff, whenever it comes, will likely set the pace of everything else. Until that question is resolved, NAB Show remains the annual checkpoint where the industry measures how far the transition has come and how far it has left to go.

NAB Show 2026 opens April 18, with exhibits running April 19-22 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Make sure to check out the latest NAB Show News in our dedicated section or visit the NAB Show website to register for the show.