In a big move for the advancement of the next-gen TV transmission standard known as ATSC 3.0, MediaTek has become the first SoC provider to complete evaluation tests of Verance Aspect—selected by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) as an “essential component” for next-gen transmissions.
The collaborative evaluation tests come as the companies announced that joint demonstrations of MediaTek’s digital TV platforms integrated with the Aspect watermark will be demonstrated in Las Vegas in January, during the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
With the completion of the tests, MediaTek has joined smart TV manufacturers and broadcasters in testing and advancing Next Gen TV. These follow a nationwide 2017 SmithGeiger research study of 1,201 consumers about new ATSC 3.0 features, including those enabled by Aspect. Its findings demonstrate the willingness of consumers to pay a higher purchase price and expedite their near-term purchase windows for smart televisions as a result of the new ATSC 3.0 and Aspect-enabled features.
Meanwhile, a large number of broadcasters are also using Aspect.
These include Capitol Broadcasting’s WRAL-TV and WRAZ-TV in Raleigh, PBS member stations WUCF-TV in Orlando and KPBS-TV in San Diego, and O&Os tied to Fox, NBC, Telemundo, and Univision.
Verance is developing “go-to-market” partnerships for Aspect with consumer electronics companies and chip manufacturers, with technology industry leader Eric Anderson leading the charge.
Anderson joined Verance in September 2017 as SVP/Chief Partnership Officer. He most recently worked at Gracenote, where he led the development of products for smart TVs, broadcasters, networks, brands and cable services; Gracenote is now owned by Nielsen.
