[mythtv-users] ATSC3 - Hearst stations turning on encryption

Steve Greene sgreene820 at gmail.com
Tue Feb 21 19:07:23 UTC 2023


I think we're seeing the death of the broadcast model in slow motion. Most
new content is developed for streaming platforms. Almost nothing new on
basic cable but reality TV.

Steve Greene
(301) 842-8923
historicity.co
An independent archival professional specializing in still photography,
moving images and recorded sound.


On Tue, Feb 21, 2023 at 1:38 PM Gary Buhrmaster <gary.buhrmaster at gmail.com>
wrote:

> On Mon, Feb 20, 2023 at 8:05 PM Ian Evans <dheianevans at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > A big picture/future question here. I'm a Canadian so I'm not up on
> > the FCC rules but thought the main licensed channel (eg ABC, CBS, FOX,
> > NBC, PBS) had to be carried in the open.
>
> It is (very very) complicated and has been discussed
> in the list in the past, but with digital broadcasting and
> sub-channels almost any channel can be designated
> as the "main" channel for purposes of meeting the FCC
> requirements to maintain its broadcast license (as long
> as it serves the public good, which is a different kettle
> of worms).  And, of course, with almost all (two exceptions
> known, and I think one may have lost a partial waiver)
> being lighthouse stations, pretty much all the stations
> which have broadcast network affiliations are sharing
> the same transmitter, so almost all are secondary.
>
> > Anyway, it looks like Hearst owned stations in Orlando and Tampa have
> > turned on encryption on their ATSC3 signals.
>
> Quite honestly, I expected a lot more stations would
> have at least experimented with protected path required
> content during their initial testing phases (as being
> able to understand the issues is going to be important
> moving forward whether or not they eventually decide
> to make some content protected).  For example, it
> turns out that a major TV manufacturer's firmware
> did not work, and required an update, but that was
> not seen until recently because no one had tried it.
>
> > Silicondust says their
> > hardware/software will be able to handle it, but I think the
> > suggestion was the licensing would effectively end third party access
> > for software like MythTV.
>
> Only solutions that implement and obtain
> certification as supporting a protected content
> path will work (in ATSC 3.0 terms, that is A3SA).
> In practice open source products are not going
> to work directly in that environment any more
> than they can record protected path required
> cable channels, which have essentially the same
> overall requirement (given that many stations
> may eventually simulcast their content over the
> internet in addition to OTA, for coverage reasons,
> things may get interesting, but I sort of expect
> a widevine L1 requirement if/when some
> stations try that if they also require a protected
> content path).
>
> > I know the ATSC 2.0 signals are still around
>
> ATSC 2.0 never happened (although some of
> the ideas were integrated into nextgen TV) there
> is only ATSC 1.0, and now ATSC 3.0.  It is
> expected ATSC 1.0 will be around for an
> extended period, as the FCC has no deadlines,
> only minimum allowed times as to when ATSC
> 1.0 must still be transmitted (which is at least
> 5 years, but in practice is going to be a lot
> longer (probably at least a decade), although
> perhaps as a reverse lighthouse).
>
> > but is it safe to assume
> > that years down the line the corps will freeze out the open source OTA
> > DVR crowdt?
>
> As mentioned previously, it is complicated, but
> some content may likely stay accessible, and
> some content may not.  And it might even
> depend on resolution (it is possible to let people
> view "SD"/"HD" quality and require a license and
> protected content path for "QHD"/"UHD"/"4K"
> quality (should any of that ever exist)).
>
>
> Whether any OTA content will be worth recording
> (as many/most content owners are moving to a
> paid, or (unskipable) ad supported, streaming
> model for any of their more premium content)
> is a different matter.  There are some who think
> the networks will be essentially gone in something
> over a decade, as the next set of major sport
> league contracts will almost certainly not
> include network exclusivity, and that is one
> of their primary known hooks on viewers.  And
> given the increasing costs of scripted TV, and
> that the advertisers are paying less and less as
> viewer numbers go down and as people skip the
> ads[0], it is likely that reality programming will
> eventually dominate.  It is not at all clear if there
> are enough people who need to watch how Gordon
> Ramsey will humiliate contestants this week to
> sustain a network schedule.  At least one network
> said the quiet part out loud and suggested a first
> pullback and cutting a third of their content hours
> soon (others have unofficially talked the same),
> although they eventually pulled back on the
> suggestion (but what is old will be new again).
>
>
>
>
>
> [0] Did Autohop, TiVo, and other ad-skipping solutions
> kill the OTA ad supported revenue model?  Discuss!
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