Has anyone else noticed the ads on TV for "Nextgen TV"? The "Nextgen" is a new broadcast standard, that supersedes the ATSC 1.0 standard that has been in use since 2009. Remember when we went from the 50s through the 90s. with a single broadcast standard, so, you could buy a new TV, without worrying about the new one becoming obsolete and unusable, before it was worn out?

For several years now, the FCC has required TV stations to continue to broadcast in ATSC 1.0, after they started transmitting in ATSC 3.0, until ATSC 3.0 reached a certain level of market penetration. Well, thanks to the money grabbing going on, ATSC 3.0 tuners are so expensive they are only installed in high end TVs. LG was sued by a company with a patent claim, that was not part of the patent pool, and lost, so LG deleted ATSC 3.0 tuners from all it's sets. So, after several years, ATSC 3.0 penetration is still well below what the FCC wanted, before allowing stations to turn off their ATSC 1.0 transmitters.

TV station owners have cried to the FCC that it is a "burden" to keep simulcasting in ATSC 1.0, and asked to be allowed to turn their ATSC 1.0 transmitters off. The FCC has proposed giving them a green light, at their own discretion, to shut down ATSC 1.0.

Fortunately, the new Samsung TV I bought two years ago, has streaming built in. The thrift store rescue TV in the back room does not support streaming, but, Best Buy sent me a $10 off coupon last summer, when they had a Roku stick on sale, so the thrift store TV now streams as well. It will take a bit of research, but I suspect that the little I watch over the air, is available via a free streaming service. I will need to experiment with the Roku stick and an HDMI to analog audio/video adapter to see if my DVR can access streaming channels. The bad part is, I may need to step up my broadband service, in speed and data ration, as I have noticed some streaming channels buffer from time to time.

Anyway, here's the skinny, via one of the TV technology YT channels I follow.

YouTube: The End of Free OTA TV on ABC, CBS, FOX, & NBC Gets FCC Approval Unless You Upgrade (Cord Cutters News)

Steve...all hail the "JCs", everyone else can get stuffed