MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.—Broadcasters have announced plans for a Tuesday, Aug. 22, event at the University of Minnesota that will mark the beginning of NextGen TV, aka ATSC 3.0 broadcasts in Minnesota.
The event at the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication will be hosted by Minneapolis television broadcasters, the Minnesota Broadcasters Association, the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota, and Pearl TV.
The launch of NextGen TV broadcasts involved Sinclair’s WUCW-TV (CW, channel 23); Hubbard’s KSTP-TV (ABC, channel 5); CBS’ WCCO-TV (CBS, channel 4); Fox’s KMSP-TV (Fox, channel 9); and Tegna’s KARE-TV (NBC, channel 11).
The broadcasters are working with Pearl TV to launch NextGen TV signals.
The event at the Hubbard School will host station and network executives, NAB executives, government officials, and university students to officially mark the stations’ switch on the new transmission standard.
During the event, attendees will get a behind-the-scenes look at the stations’ collaborative work and several future-forward demonstrations of the new service including enhanced video with High Dynamic Range, expanded audio options, interactivity, and internet-delivered content for viewers, the organizers said.
Broadcasters will also discuss the US rollout and the importance of the Minneapolis market launch and highlight the growing receiver device ecosystem available to consumers at retail.
In addition, the NAB plans to announce that the University of Minnesota will be the host school for its next PILOT Next Generation TV Fellowship.
The fellowship is an immersive program designed to educate and introduce students to television broadcasting through practical experience, the NAB said.
The event will be held 10-11 a.m. CT on Aug. 22, 2023, Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Murphy Hall, Room 100, University of Minnesota Twin Cities Campus in Minneapolis, Minn.
TV Tech has been covering all the launches of NextGen TV signals around the country. Our full coverage can be found here.
Our list of the markets where NextGen TV broadcasts have been launched is here.
