Five Stations in Cincinnati Begin Broadcasting NextGen Signals

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Gray, Hearst, Scripps, Sinclair, Deerfield cooperate on conversion

Cincinnati skyline at night
(Image credit: Jason Zhang/Wikimedia Commons)

Five TV stations in Cincinnati on Tuesday began broadcasting using the new NextGen TV format, designed to bring viewers better picture and sound along with a range of digital services.

The Cincinnati stations are WCPO, owned by E.W. Scripps, WKRC (Sinclair Broadcast Group), WLWT (Hearst Television), WXIX (Gray Television) and WSTR (Deerfield Media).

The stations have been planning and collaborating on the switch over for months. WSTR converted to ATSC 3.0, the NextGen format, and will broadcast the programming from all of the stations in the new format while the number of receivers grows. The other stations will continue to broadcast in the existing format but will switch over once a critical mass of receivers is in the market.

Viewers using antennas can rescan their TV sets to make sure their service is not interrupted.

The planning process was led by BitPath, which is developing data broadcasting services enabled by ATSC 3.0.

NextGen TV service is already on the air in more than 30 cities.

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.