New media technology ‘Next Gen TV’ launches in Santa Barbara

KEYT NewsChannel 3 began the process of bringing new technology to broadcast television for Santa Barbara and the Central Coast.

It’s a whole new way for TV stations to offer content and KEYT’s parent company, News-Press & Gazette (NPG) is on the front lines of building it. This new project will create a new standard of digital television.

Next Gen TV will produce clearer and crisper images and audio with the ability for users to interact with content to personalize their broadcast viewing experience. The technology will also provide improved emergency alert services targeted to your location.

Next Gen TV also supports enhanced mobile reception, so viewers can access unlimited live local and national news, the most popular sports, and entertainment programs and children’s shows on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets over the air without having to rely on cellular data services, explained the National Association of Broadcasters. NAB adds that there are no monthly fees for this technology but adapters may need to be purchased to use Next Gen TV with existing television sets.

Eventually, the technology will be built into televisions and other devices.

The Bradley family who owns NPG joined first responders, politicians and other television executives at KEYT studios in Santa Barbara on Thursday, Oct. 5 as the market #124 station launched the first Next Generation Television station on the West Coast.

“Santa Barbara will actually have an impact on the future of broadcasting,” said Eric Bradley, News-Press & Gazette Co-Owner.

“This is a really big deal for Santa Barbara and our station is going to be the smallest market in the country that’s going to develop and design and launch this technology. ATSC 3.0, the next generation of TV,” said Mark Danielson, General Manager-NPG of California.

Next Gen TV features High Definition content that will revolutionize the way we stay connected in times of emergency.

“This community here has seen some natural disasters over the last year or so with the fires in the floods. When this technology is fully implemented we’ll be able to warn our community on what’s going on better, so we should be able to save lives,” said Bradley.

The blending of broadband and broadcast television makes it easy for folks to consume media the way they do on their phones and there are different feeds for different people or different neighborhoods.

“It’s going to offer everyone an easier way to consume media in a common way. So if you’re used to using Netflix and applications like that on your cell phone today, or your computer, you’ll be able to do that with your television now,” said Jim DeChant, NPG VP of Broadcast Technology.

The technology is so advanced, it won’t become mainstream in our homes for two to five years.

“The Korean and Japanese and American manufacturers are building the equipment now,’ said DeChant

“This is going to be a technology that will help our broadcasting division be a player in the field. If we don’t invest in this technology we fall behind the Facebooks and the Googles,” said Bradley.

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It’s a multi-million dollar effort taking the first step into the future.

“What NPG of California is, we are a family-owned company. We’ve been investing in our community, our employees and our infrastructure so that we can build for the future and really ATSC 3.0 is going to get us well into the future and we’re very enthusiastic about what it is going to do for everybody,” said Danielson.

The federal government gave KEYT approval for this new station. It will use Channel 17 in Santa Barbara that until now, provided the over-the-air signal for KKFX Fox 11 and KCOY 12. That signal will now be used for this new technology.

To learn more about Next Gen TV, visit https://www.nab.org/innovation/NextGenTV.asp.