ATSC 3.0 Everywhere is Chris Ripley's Top Priority at Sinclair

ATSC is the collection of technology standards covering broadcast signal bandwidth and transmission crafted by the Advanced Television Systems Coalition The third or 30 iteration of that collection is now under review at the FCC With Donald Trump now the nation39s 45th president and Ajit Pai as the FCC39s new chairman Ripley expects 30 to be fasttracked and in play companywide before the end of 2017quotI couldn39t be happier about the change in FCC leadershipquot Ripley says quotPai represents regulatory equality for broadcasters For us getting 30 through the FCC should not be controversialquotA notice of proposed rulemaking from the FCC on 30 is expected to circulate sometime this month If there39s no opposition in or out of the media industry ATSC39s next generation of standards could be adopted by the commission this summerFor Ripley who succeeded David Smith as CEO after two years as Chief Financial Officer five opportunities immediately open up First the creationamp160and transmission of content and applications anywhere through smartphones and tablets Second stations being able to push data and Web services into viewers39 homes in a multiplatform manner amp160Third the implementation ofamp160targeted advertising centralized or through individual stations to households by demographic geographyamp160or lifestyle habits quotMore relevant less generic ads would be seenquot Ripley explains Fourth the creation andamp160launch ofamp160services to run on nonbroadcast business models similar to the growing assortment of subscription and adsupported digital services as Netflix Hulu or Amazonamp160Fifth and no means least is a quantum upgrade in both bandwidth and signal compression ability that would allow individual Sinclair stations to carry as many as 20 channels That also would expand the company39s ambitions as an emerging multicast network providerOver the next few months Sinclair will go from delivering one multicast network nationally to three with the science fiction net Comet TV comanaged with MGM being joined by TBD a mix of Web programming for Millennials and Charge another MGM collaboration featuring actionadventure farequotThose three services are just the beginningquot Ripley adds quotWe intend to do a lot more in the world of 30quot What39s more every one of these opportunities would open another dimension for his company the exploding household universe with smart TV sets and devices making TVs smart such as Roku Google Chromecastamp160and Apple TV amp160More than half of America39s TV households according to recent research from a number of media authorities possess smart sets or devicesAs ATSC 30 adoption moves forward Ripley and his colleagues are creating strategies to integrate a number of advertising functions at the national and station levels That includes widespread adoption of programmatic techniques including a national programmatic platform for agency and media buyer use the ability to embed coupons and other offers into interactive ads dynamic insertion technology and measurement taking mobile and smart TV audiences into account the latter a top priority at Sorensen Media the Salt Lake Citybased organization with Sinclair as an investorWith all this integration Sinclair can be in better shape to grab considerable share of a network ad spot marketplace Ripley estimates to be at 50 billion quotThis sales channel is growing like a weed and we want to make the process so easy that a buy can be initiated and automated anywhere with a clickquot he explainsOther nearterm goals on Ripley39s horizonDevelop more news programming that Sinclair stations across the country can program each week and perhaps put into general syndication elsewhere Full Measure the investigative halfhour newsmagazine running Sunday mornings in the majority of Sinclair39s 81 markets is a model for future efforts many involving NewsChannel 8 the Washington DC area allnews channelAll these unfolding arenas for growth add up to one more belief on his part quotAs we expand horizontally and vertically we will increasingly be competing with diversified media companies instead of other TV broadcastersquot Ripley concludes quotWe want to own and operate brands on a multiplatform basis No matter the platform we39re out to be a top providerquotamp160With this Ripley believe itClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this article are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggers

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ATSC 3.0 Everywhere is Chris Ripley's Top Priority at Sinclair

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Simon Applebaum

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ATSC 3.0 Everywhere is Chris Ripley's Top Priority at Sinclair

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