Obsolete in 2028?
The television set you have just purchased and connected to your new antenna to start your cord-curation journey with the free over-the-air broadcast channels may no longer work if the FCC allows the Broadcasters to stop simulcasting their ATSC 1.0 channels and fully transition to the new NextGen TV (ATSC 3.0) transmission standard.
What is NextGen TV?
NextGen TV (ATSC 3.0) is an over-the-air broadcast television standard that shifts from the older ATSC 1.0 format toward an IP-based, more flexible architecture.
From the Public Notice published April 7, 2025 (MB Docket No. 16-142)
The Petition proposes: “a two-phased transition deadline. … full-power stations in the top 55 markets (reaching about 70 percent of viewers) would be required to transition fully to ATSC 3.0 … in February 2028, with the remaining markets by February 2030.”
DRM debate and what the FCC is requesting comments on
As the transition rolls forward, the FCC is seeking public comment on how DRM (digital rights management) fits (or doesn’t) into NextGen TV.
- Under ATSC 3.0, broadcasters can encrypt signals or apply DRM-type controls on what was traditionally free over-the-air television. Antenna Land
- Critics argue this could erode the “free to air” nature of broadcast TV, raise barriers for viewers, and limit device compatibility (e.g., DVRs, third-party tuners) because of proprietary certificate systems, encryption, and certification burdens. Antenna Land+1
- The FCC has explicitly recognized “widespread consumer frustration” over how DRM-capable broadcasts are being done, and is soliciting comments on:
- Whether broadcasters should be allowed to encrypt any portion of their over-the-air signal. TV Tech
- What rules should govern DRM/certification/compatibility to ensure consumers aren’t locked out of signals or forced into paywalls, and to maintain device/maker-choice? Antenna Land+1
- How to balance broadcaster innovation (new revenue streams, datacasting) with the public interest obligations of broadcasting and free access. Antenna Land+1
- The FCC is asking whether DRM should be allowed, how tightly it should be regulated, whether new TVs should be mandated to support NextGen TV (with or without DRM), and how the transition should protect viewers and competition.
Lon.TV YouTube Video on Big DRM Debate
Lon shares some great information on the debate over the broadcasters’ desire to encrypt their NextGenTV signals and require device manufacturers to pay license fees to allow you to continue to watch the Over-the-Air signal. This has limited the adoption of ATSC 3.0 in most television sets.
Link to the FCC Draft Ruling: https://lon.tv/drm107
FCC Filing Instructions: https://lon.tv/fccinstructions Use this link to Lon’s instructions on how you can provide your comment to the FCC and help save Free TV.
I upgraded to the HDHomeRun FLEX 4K device because it was one of the only devices on the market that included two ATSC 3.0 tuners. When I first installed the new device, I enjoyed the superior reception and 4K image quality of three of the big four broadcasters (ABC, CBS, & FOX) and the local PBS and CW stations through the HDHomeRun app on my AppleTV device, connected to my primary television, but not through the ROKU streaming device in another room. The local NBC affiliate was already using DRM to block its nextgenTV signal.
Today, when I checked the ATSC 3.0 channels again on the AppleTV, I now only receive the CBS signal in the clear; all the others were blacked out. I also discovered that some of the programs I regularly scheduled on my DVR from those ATSC 3.0 signals were blacked out after they switched on their DRM; hours of black screen.
The Downfall of ATSC 3.0 NextGen TV
Tyler the Antenna Man provides a thorough history of the development of the ATSC 3.0/ NextGen TV standard and the difficulty of set-top-box manufacturers are having getting their devices approved to decrypt their blacked out programming. He also details the efforts of Lon and Tyler in fighting back against the organizations behind the push for DRM.
ATSC 1.0 Rollout
ATSC 1.0 — the first digital television broadcast standard in the U.S. — began rolling out in the late 1990s after the FCC formally adopted it in 1996. The first experimental and early commercial ATSC 1.0 broadcasts went on air in major markets around 1998, with public launch milestones in cities like Washington, D.C., and New York soon after.
Broadcasters operated digital ATSC 1.0 signals in parallel with their older analog NTSC signals for more than a decade to give viewers time to upgrade equipment. The full nationwide transition came on June 12, 2009, when the FCC required all full-power stations to shut down analog NTSC transmissions and broadcast exclusively in ATSC 1.0 digital format. (Low-power and translator stations were given extensions until 2021.) That switchover marked the end of analog TV broadcasting in the United States and the full adoption of ATSC 1.0 as the standard.
The year 2009 was busy for us at AT&T U-verse. As each market cut over to the new ATSC 1.0 transmitters, it required us to re-point antennas and reconfigure our receivers, all in the maintenance window at 3:00 A.M..
Low-income consumers stuck with their old analog NTSC television sets received a subsidy for a new ATSC tuner device in order to continue to receive the new broadcast signal. Will there be a similar program in 2028, or will these consumers now be locked out of their local weather forecast as the next hurricane barrels toward their coast?
These are our frequencies!
TV broadcasters pay modest annual regulatory and application fees to the FCC (in the thousands, or based on population at a very low per-person rate). Wireless carriers, by contrast, pay very large sums (billions) for spectrum licenses via auctions. The business models and rights differ: broadcast licenses are granted under conditions of public interest and free-to-air use; mobile spectrum is competitive, auctioned, monopolistic, and profit-driven.
The C‑band Auction (US) (mid-band spectrum), one reference reports that the US raised over $80 billion in bids, and that the big carriers (Verizon Communications, AT&T Inc.) spent tens of billions. IEEE Communications Society+2RCR Wireless News+2
The Broadcasters are granted the use of these frequencies for public interest. They’ve leveraged the use of these licenses into large for-profit media empires worth billions of dollars. Can we allow the FCC to block the public from our broadcast frequencies?
No! Say it often. Say it loud.
Let the FCC know we want to save our Free TV.
FCC Filing Instructions: https://lon.tv/fccinstructions Use this link to Lon’s instructions on how you can provide your comment to the FCC and help save Free TV.
Follow Lon TV and the Antennaman; they are honorary members of the Cord Curator’s Guild’s Wall of Fame for all they do to help with our cord-curation. They have great tips and reviews on the equipment and systems critical to our journey.
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