Progress Partners on the Effect of ATSC 3.0 on Local Media [VIDEO]

The following is part of TV[R]EV’s “Eyes On Local” video series. Interested in learning more? See our new “Local OTT: What You Need to Know” special report.

ATSC 3.0 is poised to change over-the-air broadcast television in new ways for both networks and consumers alike. That impact may be most felt on the local level too, where it helps introduce advanced elements to content -- both in terms of programming and advertising -- that were previous locked.

Progress Partners' Expert-in-Residence Mary Ann Halford expands upon the effect of ATSC 3.0 for local media in the video below:

"When it does happen and evolve, I think it will provide a lot of really interesting features for audiences. I mean, clearly there will be a lot more interactive elements. One would gather that much of that will be in the newscasts right away, largely because that's programming that local broadcasters control.

They're going to have to ultimately work at getting deals with the network's and the content providers in order to be able to do more interactivity around those particular shows. It will allow for more targeting for advertising. It'll allow for upselling services, it will allow for e-commerce so you could have some products being featured on a local news show but you could also have a 'click-to-buy' button at the same time or somebody promoting a local event and you can click to buy a ticket. You know, somebody's being interviewed on the local morning talk show and you could wind up doing things like that. So it'll be interesting there.

There are lots of different discussions about what the business models are going to be. I think they can be very powerful, but then again, it is going to be interrupted a bit in terms of what's happening right now (in terms of COVID-19)."