Live from InterBEE Japan: NAB's Gordon Smith Highlights ATSC 3.0 and Importance of Live Sports Broadcasting By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Thursday, November 14, 2019 - 12:14 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
In a year when international sports are dominating Japan it is only fitting that sports broadcasting and production was the main theme of Inter Bee 2019, Japan's major broadcasting and digital technology exhibition. Gordon Smith, NAB, president and CEO, took to the stage to discuss the tight relationship between sports content, over-the-air broadcasting, and the future deployment of ATSC 3.0.
NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith discussed the important relationship between sports and broadcasting at Inter BEE, Japan's annual broadcast exhibition.
It's obvious to all of us that live sports content remains the most popular broadcast content worldwide, said Smith. The most watched events are the Olympics and the World Cup and in the U.S. 18 of the top 20 primetime telecasts in 2018 where sports related with the NFL ranking the top spots. And all but one of those 18 shows aired on broadcast TV.
Smith tied together the need for broadcasters to invest in innovation in order to serve local communities. Those investments expand and improve the quality of the content that viewers and listeners value.
No other medium connects and supports the sports we love to fans and neighbors across the country, he said. Here in Japan the same broadcast community provides the best sports content and [broadcasters in the U.S and Japan] have a deep respect for each other and forums like this where we share ideas and technologies. At NAB last year we had over 1,000 Japanese attendees and we appreciate our close working relationship with NHK at the NAB show where they have been a consistent exhibitor of advanced technology. The first HDTV system was shown in the U.S. at NAB in the late 1980s. Their contributions along with NEC on things like 8K, UHD, hybrid broadcasting displays, and other demos allow our attendees to see technological wonders they otherwise would no see anywhere.
Stating that broadcast sports is the economic anchor for broadcasters in the U.S., Smith discussed the new opportunities around ATSC 3.0, the next-generation over-the-air broadcast standard that opens the door to reach sports fans in new ways.
Gordon Smith said ATSC 3.0 will be deployed in 70 percent of U.S. markets by the end of 2020.
It's the world's first broadcast standard with both broadcast and broadband together, he explained. Broadcasters will be able to deliver UHD video quality with theater-like sound along with interactive applications and mobile reception. And the U.S. is committed to deploying it with 61 stations covering 70 percent of the U.S. to begin ATSC 3.0 broadcasting in 2020.
The type of exciting next-gen applications that it will allow include things like giving sports fans the ability to pull up statistics on the same screen as the game itself. And the ability for reception on the go has caught the eye of rental car companies like Avis and Budget while the ability to geo-target can provide a lifeline by allowing for targeted public warnings to be delivered as efficiently as possible. And NAB is doing what it can to make sure broadcasters have maximum freedom in terms of the type of services that can be deployed.
We are working with the government to ensure there is as much flexibility as possible for broadcasters to provide the very best services to viewers, said Smith.
He also gave the Japanese broadcasters, cellular service providers, and consumer electronics manufacturers credit for placing FM receiver chips in cellular phones and allowing for consumers to receive FM signals on phones. In times of emergency, when cellphone networks can be unreliable, those efforts could save lives.
Technologies are changing the game for sports broadcasters, he said, adding that artificial intelligence will make it easier for the creation and distribution of sports highlights. Broadcasting is becoming more immersive, more interactive, and a more personalized experience and it will continue to evolve and transform the experience and also create new revenue streams.
North America Stories
14/06/2026
HBO Comedy Rooster Shot with URSA Cine 17K 65
Brie Clayton June 14, 2026
0 Comments
Large format brings viewers intimately close to characters.
Black...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air seven Athletes Unlimited Softball...
12/06/2026
The United Football League will host its FAST Innovation Suite at the 2026 United Bowl presented by Credit One Bank on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET at Audi...
12/06/2026
PTZOptics and LayerJot will present live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how natural-language AI prompting, robotic camera control, and on-device comput...
12/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026, featuring...
12/06/2026
Ateme has announced that Eurovision Services is using Ateme's software-based frame-rate conversion technology for international live event workflows. The de...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin and Simplestream have announced a partnership with Xperi to simplify the launch of OTT streaming services on TiVo OS smart TVs and devices. The collabo...
12/06/2026
Net Insight has announced that a multinational technology company is deploying a...
12/06/2026
MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLB Players Association, has announced a partnership with Athletes First to develop and sell brand partnerships across...
12/06/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall have announced the CommandKeyboard-Advanc...
12/06/2026
Comcast Smart Solutions announces a new smart technology deployment with Major L...
12/06/2026
Elevation Worship completed the initial leg of its Elevation Nights 2026 tour ...
12/06/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced KONA IP25 support for Colorfront Transkoder and ...
12/06/2026
Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8) will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7321, Ce...
12/06/2026
Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould has announced the appointment of Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer. The Pac-12 describes the hire as the first CTO appo...
12/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced AMPP Edge Live, a production system combining Grass Valley hardware, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU acceleration, and AMPP OS in a single platf...
12/06/2026
At one time a trailblazer with the launch of the Longhorn Network, the Universit...
12/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
12/06/2026
Chyron has announced PAINT 10.4, an update to its illustrated replay and sports ...
12/06/2026
SVP, Production, Mark Gross: With the new schedule, with not having every Sunday night, it has given us an opportunity to take a step back and reimagine what o...
12/06/2026
For Televisa Technical Engineering Manager Roberto N nez Ibarra and the small team of 12 technicians and two production personnel at the IBC things are already ...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Collaboration enables uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 I/O ...
12/06/2026
URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Organic visuals projected on a giant scre...
12/06/2026
MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services ...
12/06/2026
AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro
Jessie Electa Petrov June 12, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic point trac...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Simplestream, a provider of OTT and broadcast solutions, and technology provider Xperi, to...
12/06/2026
Leostream Corporation, creator of the world-leading Leostream Remote Desktop Access Platform, today announced Jigsaw24, a leading B2B IT solutions provider wit...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AgentPerf from Artificial Analysis, the industry's first agentic AI benchmark, gives developers, enterprises and infrastructure providers a clear way to com...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils First-Look Images from Villaflor, Santiago Mitre's New Film
Entertainment
12 June 2026
GlobalArgentina
Link copied to ...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Cross the Boundaries of the Real World into the Spirit Realm i...
12/06/2026
A fentanyl countermeasure that adapts to combat future black-market drugs Scripps Research scientists developed a vaccine that teaches the immune system to rapi...
11/06/2026
The immense size of the tourney and its Atlantic-spanning operation also disting...
11/06/2026
Nielsen has released a new soccer fandom consumer research report, The Fans Behind The Game: FIFA World Cup 2026 Edition, examining the soccer audience in the...
11/06/2026
Telemundo will launch its FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage on Thursday, June 11 with...
11/06/2026
FuboTV Inc. has announced a distribution agreement with NBCUniversal. Fubo customers can now stream Telemundo and Universo, with NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), NBC...
11/06/2026
DAZN has announced its in-app features for FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage in Spain...
11/06/2026
Roblox has released the 2026 Roblox Digital Expression Report: Wave 4 - Sports D...
11/06/2026
FIFA has unveiled DNA, the Official FIFA World Cup 2026 Anthem, performed by A...
11/06/2026
ESPN will provide English- and Spanish-language news and information coverage of FIFA World Cup 2026 across its U.S. media platforms from June 11 through July 1...
11/06/2026
The latest product of the outstanding RIT Sports Network program, this recent grad from Long Island is carving out a promising path in broadcast engineering
In...
Live from InterBEE Japan: NAB's Gordon Smith Highlights ATSC 3.0 and Importance of Live Sports Broadcasting By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
