Interactivity Will Be Focal Point of ATSC 3.0

ATSC 3.0, the new standard that will soon be launched by the Advanced Television Systems Committee, will be more than just a protocol for the transmission of audio and video to viewers. ATSC 3.0 will also have an interactive side that could foster a new wave of app development for both terrestrial and online broadcasters. ATSC 3.0 will allow viewers to have experiences with their TV sets that are close to what they’re already getting with smartphones and tablets.

This interactivity comes courtesy of ATSC 3.0’s compliance with W3C standards for internet communication. Developers will be able to create apps that can now run in a web browser. This offers a wide range of potential opportunities for broadcasters and content producers. For example, if viewers are watching a news broadcast, developers using these new standards could create apps that aggregate related news items alongside the broadcast. Programs that include viewer polls or voting systems could benefit by building those interactive features right into their apps, instead of asking viewers to call an automated phone system or visit a website. ATSC 3.0 will also make it easy for viewers to opt into targeted commercial and marketing offers.

The rollout of ATSC 3.0 and its interactive components will take place later this year. The upcoming 2016 ATSC Annual Broadcast Conference is being billed as the “Countdown To Launch” of ATSC 3.0. The conference will host a series of events relevant to the release of this new broadcast standard.