It means more potential eyeballs and, incidentally, a guarantee of active internet access for that return data path. TV broadcasters, on the other hand, are huge fans of ATSC 3.0 on mobile phones. "The market" determined you didn't need an FM tuner in your phone, and in the few phones that had an FM tuner, if you bought it through an American provider, it was almost always disabled. T-Mobile made a preemptive strike along those lines all the way back in September 2017, writing a white paper (PDF) that, among other things, claims, "In light of the detrimental effects that inclusion of ATSC 3.0 can have on the cost and size of a device, the technology trade-offs required to accommodate competing technologies, and the reduced performance and spectral efficiency that it will have for other mobile bands and services, the decision as to whether to include ATSC 3.0 in a device must be left to the market to decide." Ever wonder why your phone doesn't have an FM radio tuner? Same reason.
If suddenly you can get lots of high-quality content for free on your phone, they potentially lose money. Free TV on your phone?Īnother point of potential contention is getting ATSC 3.0 tuners intoĪre in the business of selling you data. That said, we'll keep an eye on this for any further developments. You will inevitably lose some of the other features of NextGen TV, however. While it also requires Internet access, if this type of thing bothers you, just don't connect your TV or NextGen TV receiver to the internet. There is a silver lining: There will be an opt-out option. Return data path is still in the planning stages, even as the other aspects of NextGen TV are already going live. Pretty much every app, streaming service, smart TV and cable or satellite box all track your usage to a greater or lesser extent. The finer details are all still being worked out, but here's the thing: If your TV is connected to the internet, it's already tracking you. Sure, the return data path could also allow "alternative audio tracks and interactive elements," but it's the targeted ads and tracking many observers are worried about. Today, over-the-air broadcasts are pretty much the only way to watch television that doesn't track your viewing habits. This is something brand-new for broadcast TV. Not only does this allow a more accurate count of who's watching what shows, but it creates the opportunity for every marketer's dream: targeted advertising.Īds specific to your viewing habits, income level and even ethnicity (presumed by your neighborhood, for example) could get slotted in by your local station. One of NextGen TV's more controversial features is a "return data path," which is a way for the station you're watching to know you're watching. Broadcast TV will know what you're watching
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