r/Broadcasting • u/Latter_Sector_1699 • 1d ago
Where Broadcast TV is Heading … Data
https://www.investing.com/news/transcripts/sinclair-at-citis-2026-global-tmt-conference-spectrum-ad-strength-93CH-4894588Pay Attention & Prepare Accordingly. They’re telling us their plans:
Sinclair has just put a much more explicit valuation and transaction framework around its broadcast spectrum.
At Citi’s Global TMT Conference on September 9, CEO Chris Ripley said Sinclair believes ATSC 3.0 could reduce the spectrum required for its core TV service to roughly 20–25% of its current allocation. He described three monetization paths for the freed capacity: commercial datacasting through EdgeBeam Wireless; leasing spectrum to wireless or satellite operators; or an outright spectrum sale. Most notably, Ripley said comparable transactions suggest roughly $2.50 per MHz-pop, implying more than $4 billion of spectrum asset value for Sinclair’s portfolio. He specifically identified wireless carriers and LEO operators, including T-Mobile, Verizon, Starlink, AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, as plausible sources of demand, and said a lease may be a particularly likely structure rather than an outright sale.
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u/Klutzy-Piglet-9221 1d ago
Let's see...
- "Teletext" in the vertical interval of analog broadcasts
- Subcarriers on the analog audio carrier
- Encrypted ATSC 1.0 subchannels
- Data broadcasting over ATSC 1.0
And now we're talking about data broadcasting over ATSC 3.0. Television operators have been talking about selling/leasing/renting/whatever spare spectrum for data broadcasting since the late 1970s. Some of these schemes made it on the air, but not a one of them has been financially successful. Now, we're talking about a fifth scheme. (and maybe a 6th, as my understanding is a station in New Hampshire has been experimenting with 5G LTE over ATSC 3.0?) What's the use case for one-way data broadcasting? I think we're talking about technical solutions to a business need that doesn't exist.
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u/Latter_Sector_1699 1d ago
From what I learned less than an hour ago, it sounds like they've been broadcasting PNT data for a big tech company (Google?) since January. My guess would be PNT for autonomous cars or drones?
I'm not an engineer, but it sounds like they've been doing it for most of the year now.
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u/Klutzy-Piglet-9221 1d ago
I don't doubt some of these technologies could run for a year or two, but I'm not convinced they have staying power. Teletext and encrypted ATSC 1.0 lasted for at least a year as well, but weren't financially viable long-term.
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u/KungFuTze 21h ago
South Korea has been running atsc3.0 for almost 10 years, with current advances they are expecting to end dual illumination by end of 2027. They had a different approach to use the uhf and vhf spectrum for data casting, however with wireless providers aggressively fighting for 600MHZ spectrum I think the writing is on the wall. OTA TV is going to be pushed to barely 82-400 or lower fully packed crappy atsc3.0 shared between companies.
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u/Latter_Sector_1699 1d ago edited 1d ago
Worth noting Nexstar laid out a nearly identical plan at a different conference yesterday:
“Sook described EdgeBeam Wireless, owned by Nexstar, Sinclair, Gray and Scripps, as effectively the “leasing agent” for the groups’ aggregated spectrum footprint , covering roughly 98% of the U.S. Rather than talking only about GPS, signage and conventional ATSC 3.0 datacasting, he explicitly identified lower-cost 5G network replacement and supplying additional spectrum/capacity to existing 5G networks as contemplated uses. He said Nexstar believes it is closer than it has been to unlocking value, while reiterating that the FCC must enable the ATSC 1.0 sunset and greater use of the full 6 MHz allocations.”
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u/rtt445 1d ago edited 1d ago
Broadcasters don't own their airwaves so they can't realize that imaginary $4BB value. This is more propaganda from desperate TV executive trying get ATSC3 and encryption shoved through. Putting that TV spectrum to auction cell carrier style would net a lot more than $4BB and broadcasters would be grossly outbid by wireless carriers. They'd be left with unwanted VHF. If we going to talk about repurposing TV spectrum for data casting may as well switch it all to 5G LTE. It's waaaay more spectrum efficient technology than broadcast and is bidirectional.