Broadcast infrastructure company Radio Frequency Systems (RFS), which is installing NextGen TV-capable equipment atop One World Trade Center, says it is on track to deliver an ATSC 3.0 signal to more than 7 million New York City-area residents by the end of this year.
RFS has been working on the project since 2015 and said it will represent the first high-power ATSC 3.0 signal in the largest U.S. TV market.
The new transmission standard allows for higher definition pictures, interactivity and mobile TV delivery and will be used as the next-gen TV home of a trio of noncommercial stations — WNET New York, WLIW Garden City and the NJ PBS network — in the WNET Group.
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“We want to be a leader in the broadcast space and ATSC 3.0 adoption is a key part of this,” WNET director of broadcast engineering and technology Frank Graybill said. “The system designed by RFS has the flexibility that will allow us to be nimble and adapt to several scenarios with this deployment.”
The first new TV antennas went up on One World Trade Center in 2016, making the move from the Empire State Building. WNET and New York’s other stations had been on the Empire State Building since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks brought down their former homes atop the World Trade Center.
Tower One of the twin World Trade Center towers had housed the transmitters and antennas for eight of New York's biggest TV stations. ￭
