D j vu: Are we back to Betamax?
Predicting the rate and direction of technology adoption often seems to be as much of an art (indeed, perhaps a dark art) as it is a science. It was nearly half a century ago (!) that one of the first real format wars emerged - where Sony and JVC clashed in the VHS/Betamax battle. Decades of economic analysis have been devoted to the emergence of the war - and its outcomes. For all intents and purposes, Betamax should have been the winner: it offered greater horizontal resolution, lower noise, reduced luma/chroma crosstalk, and overall was visually the better standard. It also had a year more than VHS to penetrate and shore-up its market hold. But consumers are tricky things, and a significant range of what economists like to call network externalities' ended up holding sway on the outcome.
And even with 50 years of observing both consumer and industry behavior in relation to technology adoption, it seems that collectively we're not necessarily any better placed to guess what factors will influence take-up. One only has to look at Zuckerberg's quiet withdrawal away from the multi-billion dollar Metaverse, as his eyes turn to the parallel multi-billion dollar rise of ChatGPT, to see how even the biggest players can't always read the market.
ATSC, as easy as 1,2 3. Right?
So, what does all this talk of tech-take-up rates tell us about the ATSC 3.0 saga? The standard, in development for more than a decade and approved by the FCC for rollout in 2017, still seems to languish in no-man's land, failing to hit its true potential, always on the cusp but never in the limelight.
Well, as with Betamax, it's certainly not any factors pertaining to its technological capabilities holding it back. We've talked about the benefits at some length in our previous blog, but to sum up its benefits in a sentence: ATSC 3.0 has the ability to bring all the advantages of IP to an entirely wireless environment - improving broadcast quality, increasing functionality, augmenting reliability and security, extending reach, and just generally improving everything for broadcasters, for advertisers, and for audiences. Indeed, the benefits really can't be overstated, because although there is a great focus on ATSC 3.0 as Next Gen TV', the truth is it has applications that extend well beyond just broadcast, since it in effect represents more generally a wireless IP distribution platform. Which is quite a big deal really.
So, where's the issue? Broadcasters are champing at the bit to make use of its commercial potential. Consumer manufacturers are (mostly) supporting it. What's the obstacle?
It is, essentially, regulatory. While the FCC was ready to endorse the standard all the way back in 2017, their approach was a tad tepid.
In essence, in 2017, the FCC authorized -but did not instruct -television broadcasters to use ATSC 3.0 if they so wished - meaning it was a voluntary and market-driven approach to adoption. More than this, they implemented a requirement that broadcasters maintainnearly-identical broadcast in the original ATSC 1.0 standard as well. So, broadcasters could choose to move to ATSC 3.0, but only as well, not instead. While that requirement was due to sunset' this year, it appears to have been given a stay of execution: broadcasters are still having to devote dual resources to ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 outputs, despite being eager to move forward properly with the latter.
Note how much this differs from the approach taken in the transition from analog NTSC to ATSC back in 2007 - 2009, which was mandatory. Indeed, it's almost the inverse of it - since with the NTSC/ATSC switch they actually requiredbroadcasters to stop broadcasting analog in 2009. So there's a marked difference in approach here: in the NTSC/ATSC transition, the FCC actively pushed for the end of an old standard, and the harkening of a new one. Now, in this new era of ATSC 1.0/3.0 transition, the FCC is actively pushing the maintenance of an old standard, and crippling broadcasters in their adoption of the new one - not just in terms of operational inefficiency, but the undue occupation of huge swathes of the broadcast spectrum.
Arguably then, it has nothing to do with the technology, and nothing to do with the market - and all to do with the regulatory handcuffs that the FCC has imposed.
None-the-less, the FCC argues it is on the side of progress. In April, FCC chair Jessica Rosenworcel said: Today, we are announcing a public-private initiative, led by the National Association of Broadcasters, to help us work through outstanding challenges faced by industry and consumers. This Future of Television initiative will gather industry, government, and public interest stakeholders to establish a roadmap for a transition to ATSC 3.0 that serves the public interest. A successful transition will provide for an orderly shift from ATSC 1.0 to ATSC 3.0 and will allow broadcasters to innovate while protecting consumers, especially those most vulnerable.
The pressure is on
It is clear in Rosenworcel's statement that the FCC's motivation to push forward comes strongly from pressure being put on them by the NAB. And in turn, the NAB is feeling that pressure from below, because the market seems set to undergo another seismic shift. What do we mean by that?
Well, streaming hit the industry hard and fast, and by all accounts appeared to fundamentally change the paradigm. Every article you read in, say 2010, declared the death of Linear TV and conventional advertising. But a decade on and the streaming market looks very different; fragmented, with lower subscription numbers, greater frustration from audiences regarding commissioning and content creation strategies, a lack of transparency, and an apparent need to resort to more traditional profit models, in
North America Stories
14/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
14/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
14/11/2026
Newest Lenses, Horizon Anamorphic Seminar & Guided Lens Character Experience Highlight Creative Possibilities
At the 2026 Toru CAMERIMAGE Film Festival, ZEISS...
14/11/2026
Sonnet Announces Black Friday Sale on Select Products
Brie Clayton November 14, 2026
0 Comments
WHAT: Sonnet Technologies is having a sale on a select...
14/11/2026
Berklee Alumni Shine at the 2026 Latin Grammy Awards This year's winners included songwriters, engineers, and performers who contributed to acclaimed reco...
13/11/2026
The UIM E1 Series wraps its third season this week with the Bombay Sapphire E1 Miami GP, Nov. 11-14, on Biscayne Bay at the Miami Seaplane Base on Watson Island...
13/11/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
13/11/2026
Singer-songwriter Benson Boone will headline entertainment for the Discover NHL Winter Classic between the Utah Mammoth and Colorado Avalanche at Rice-Eccles St...
13/11/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced the Blackmagic Ambisonic Microphone, a 7th order ambisonic microphone array that captures spatial audio for immersive video prod...
13/11/2026
SMPTE has announced that The Studio B&H and Riedel Communications will provide the video infrastructure and communications technology for the Solutions Hub at t...
13/11/2026
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) has announced the theme and program focus for the 2027 HPA Tech Retreat, which takes place Feb. 14-18, 2027, in La ...
13/11/2026
Football Manager 27 Touch is available on Apple Arcade starting today. The game ...
13/11/2026
MotoGP has announced a two-year media rights agreement with ESPN covering the Un...
13/11/2026
Apple Sports, the free iPhone app, has added the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to its lineup of supported sports, in time for Saturday's UFC 334. The...
13/11/2026
The NBA and Fanatics Studios, the joint venture between Fanatics and entertainme...
13/11/2026
ESPN held its annual EDGE Innovation Conference last night and offered up an ove...
13/11/2026
Regional sports network gives Ithaca College, SUNY Cortland students a platform to thrive
One of the biggest games in Division III college football will be pla...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Blue Lucy, the workflow orchestration and integration platform for broadcasters, rights owners and localisation companies, today announced an integration with c...
13/11/2026
Krotos announces Black Friday offers on Studio Pro and Studio Max
Brie Clayton November 12, 2026
0 Comments
First-year annual plans start at US$195.99...
13/11/2026
Blackmagic Design Announces Blackmagic Ambisonic Microphone
Brie Clayton November 12, 2026
0 Comments
New 7th order ambisonic microphone with 108 MEMS...
13/11/2026
Meet the Berklee Student Setting Planetary Motion to Music With his compositional platform SoniKosmos, Javier Roqueni aims to make the universe the ultimate i...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , er...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , er...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Amagi, the media industry cloud company, today announced a partnership with Golden Times Media Technology (stock code 920021.BJ), a Beijing-based media and tech...
13/11/2026
CGI (TSX: GIB.A) (NYSE: GIB), one of the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world, together with its Malaysian partner, Cedar ...
13/11/2026
SMPTE, the home for media professionals, technologists and engineers, today announced that The Studio B&H and Riedel Communications will provide the video infra...
13/11/2026
iWedia, a global leader in connected TV software solutions, will present its software-first approach to DRAM optimization at Android TV APAC Summit 2026 in Bang...
13/11/2026
From pediatric research to smart hospitals, AI is helping care teams spend less time on routine tasks and more time with patients.
Health systems and startups...
12/11/2026
Industry leaders examine how Dynamic Media Facility, Media eXchange Layer, and c...
12/11/2026
The junior Tar Heel is embracing the technical and creative challenges of live production while emerging as a leader and mentor in the control room...
12/11/2026
Gracenote, Nielsen's content intelligence business, has released its fifth a...
12/11/2026
RTL Deutschland will bring the NHL to free-to-air TV in Germany starting Nov. 30...
12/11/2026
Clear-Com supported On Air 2026, a 24-hour student-led broadcast connecting 45 u...
12/11/2026
uniqFEED has opened a Remote Operations Center (ROC) in Madrid, Spain. It is already operational, delivering virtual advertising for LaLiga matches. The ROC is ...
12/11/2026
Disney, ESPN and the NBA will present Dunk the Halls, the third real-time animated NBA game using Sony's Beyond Sports data visualization technology, on Chr...
12/11/2026
Van Wagner has launched Van Wagner RELAY, a digital platform for official athlet...
12/11/2026
Deal brings together two of the industry's most established graphics brands and significantly expands Vizrt's footprint in U.S. sports and regional broa...
12/11/2026
Euro TV Production GmbH of Austria has upgraded its outside broadcast vehicle with Lawo technology. The mc 36 Classic console in service since 2019 was replaced...
D j vu: Are we back to Betamax?
