PUBLIC MEDIA VENTURE GROUP
November 11, 2020
VIA ECFS
Marlene H. Dortch Secretary Federal Communications Commission 45 L Street, NE Washington, DC 20554
Re: Ex Parte Presentation in GN Docket No. 16-142, MB Docket Nos. 20-74, 20-145
Dear Ms. Dortch:
On November 9, 2020, Marc Hand, CEO of Public Media Venture Group (“PMVG”), Vincent Curren, Advisor for PMVG, John Lawson, President of Convergence Services, Inc. (“CSI”), an advisory firm to PMVG, and Anya Shetler, Senior Consultant to CSI, met by videoconference with Commissioner Brendan Carr and Benjamin Arden, Legal Advisor for Media Issues to Commissioner Carr.
The parties discussed PMVG’s efforts to facilitate the transition among public television stations to the next generation television broadcast standard, ATSC 3.0, and some of the ways public television stations may use ATSC 3.0 and single frequency networks to deliver additional services to the public beyond linear television. The parties stressed, consistent with PVMG’s comments in the Broadcast Internet proceeding, the importance of clarifying the Commission’s rules related to the delivery of ancillary and supplementary services in an ATSC 3.0 environment. In response to a question concerning the FCC’s pending proceeding on distributed transmission systems (DTS), PMVG expressed its support for the proposed changes, citing the comments of The Merrill Weiss Group on the relationship between signal strength and ATSC 3.0 data capacity.1
Pursuant to 47 C.F.R. § 1.1206(b)(2), a copy of PMVG’s written presentation is attached hereto.
Sincerely,
/s/ Mark Hand /s/ Marc Hand Chief Executive Officer [email protected]
1 See Comments of the Merrill Weiss Group, LLC, MB Dkt. No. 20-74, GN Dkt. No. 16-142 (June 12, 2020), at 39.
4845 Pearl East Circle, Suite 101, Boulder, CO 80301 (303) 781-5101 Meeting with FCC Commissioner Carr November 9, 2020 Agenda • Introductions • Mission • Conditions for ATSC 3.0 launch • Beta deployments for Broadcast Internet hybrid networks • Exploration of policy alignment o Digital divide o Remote learning o Local news o Advanced emergency alerting Meeting Participants PMVG – Leadership • Marc Hand, CEO • Vinnie Curren, Strategic Advisor Convergence Services, Inc – Advising PMVG • John Lawson, President • Anya Shetler, Senior Consultant • Kevin Curtin, of Counsel The Public Media Venture Group
WHO: 32 public media organizations 130 stations 240 million Americans WHAT: Business and technology development group FOCUS: Technology and media opportunities leveraging Next Gen TV (ATSC 3.0) Stations in the Public Media Venture Group
• Arkansas PBS – Statewide • KVIE – Sacramento, CA • WCTE – Cookeville, TN • Alabama Public Television – • Nebraska Network – Statewide • WETA – Washington, DC Statewide • New Mexico PBS – Statewide • WFYI – Indianapolis, IN • Colorado Public Radio/PBS12 – • Nine • WGBH – Boston, MA Denver, CO • Network – St. Louis, MO • WJCT – Jacksonville, FL • Houston Public Media – Houston • OPB – Portland, OR • WNET – New York, NY • Iowa PBS – Statewide • Public Media Group of Southern • WOSU – Columbus, OH • Kansas City PBS – Kansas City, MO California – Los Angeles, CA • WTTW – Chicago, IL • KCTS-TV – Seattle, WA • SCETV – Statewide • Kentucky Educational Television – • UNC-TV – Statewide (NC) Statewide • Utah Education Network – • KERA – Dallas, TX Statewide • KPBS – San Diego, CA • Vegas PBS – Las Vegas, NV • KQED – San Francisco, CA • VPM – Richmond, VA Conditions Needed for Launching ATSC 3.0 • Access capital markets for infrastructure and business development • Spectrum for simulcasting • Public TV duopolies – first to launch • Channel sharing with commercial stations • Low Power TV partnerships • Low-cost STB converters (gateways/media hubs) • Service and business rationales PMVG is working to…
• Help stations transition to ATSC 3.0 and other scalable technologies • Develop shared infrastructure and platforms that are beyond the capacities of any one public TV station • Create new revenues and services that benefit PMVG stations and that can extend to the full public broadcasting system • Raise the capital needed to support PTV transitions, business development and full participation in the infrastructure platforms associated with 3.0 NextGen TV Beta Projects in Development – Stations and Potential Partners
• Virginia Public Media – K-12 and Community Colleges • New Mexico PBS – Indian schools and reservations • Kentucky Educational Television – K-12 • South Carolina ETV – K-12 • UNC-TV – K-12 • Nebraska Educational TV – NOAA/National Severe Storms Laboratory Use Case: Remote Learning Development of Home Media Hubs
• Multiple tuners, ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0 • Wi-Fi connectivity in home • Cellular return path • Significant memory for pre-positioning content • Security and privacy protection • Ease of installation and use • Affordable price point Learning Software Development
• Ease of use for teachers and students • Graphical user interface for beginning readers • Ability to upload, pre-position, and manage learning media files • Integration of back channel, where available • Easy integration with existing learning management systems Use Case: Local News New Models for Local News with NextGen TV
• PMVG has initiated the Public Media Mergers project • Nine public media entities that acquired or merged with local digital news services, such as WAMU’s acquisition of The Dcist • Creating merger models that can be replicated in other markets • Using Broadcast Internet for Advanced Emergency News and Information • Objective: Public service application of 3.0 Broadcast Internet Use Case: Advanced Alerting Consistency
“The public must know what emergency alerts are—what they sound or look like and what they signify.” - FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, July 2018 Amendment of Part 11 of the Commission’s Rules Regarding the Emergency Alert System, PS Docket No. 15-94; Wireless Emergency Alerts, PS Docket No. 15-91
15 UX Prototype 2019 Advanced Warning and Response Network 17 NOAA/NSSL and NET Potential Collaboration
National Severe Storms Laboratory, Norman, OK Discussion • Mission • Conditions for ATSC 3.0 launch • Beta deployments for Broadcast Internet hybrid networks • Exploration of policy alignment o Digital divide o Remote learning o Local news o Advanced emergency alerting Contact Information
Marc Hand PMVG CEO [email protected] +1 (303) 781-5101
John Lawson CSI President [email protected] +1 (703) 347-7070