LAS VEGAS – Sinclair Broadcast Group, the largest owner of local TV stations in the U.S., is teaming up with Korea’s SK Telecom to create new services such as personalized ads and in-vehicle TV broadcasting, the companies announced late Monday from the Consumer Electronics Show.
The two companies pledged to fund and manage a joint venture company that will develop broadcasting services based on new transmission standard ATSC 3.0, and plan to launch those services in the U.S. market later this year.
ATSC 3.0, the latest version of the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) standard, will support advancements including mobile viewing, 3D television, 4K Ultra High Definition (UHD), high dynamic range (HDR), high frame rate (HFR), and wide color gamut (WCG) picture quality, as well as immersive audio, says the news release. The standard will give rise to new services such as personalized advertisements, in-vehicle terrestrial TV broadcasting, and map updates plus support two-way communication between broadcasting companies and user's smartphone/vehicle/TV by recognizing user's personal IP address.
Will all U.S. television broadcasting stations expected to adopt broadcasting solutions based on ATSC 3.0 within the next decade, the joint venture company will market its new solutions both domestically and globally.
"Sinclair is excited to partner with SK Telecom, a wireless technology leader, to explore and commercialize solutions that optimize the economic value of our spectrum, our broadcast infrastructure, our programming ventures and our emerging OTT platforms”, said Sinclair president and CEO Chris Ripley. “Bringing these assets together in a converged broadcast/broadband platform environment will be a significant value multiplier."
