The U.S. broadcast TV could generate as much as $15 billion a year by 2030 from the provision of datacasting services enabled by ATSC 3.0, according to a deck revealed to investors Wednesday by Nexstar Media.
That's more than the $13 billion broadcasters generate annually today from retransmission fees, the Irving, Texas-based Nexstar noted in its presentation.
It should be noted that $15 billion is the high side of the projection, which lists $6.4 billion as a bottom-end forecast.
The so-called "NextGen TV" standard enables television broadcasters with a tool to compete with internet-based providers in areas including connected car, telemedicine and remote education, allowing for the efficient "multicast" of data signals vs. the one-to-one dogma of IP-based distribution.
In addition, NextGen TV will enable broadcasters to expand their TV businesses into areas like advanced advertising and sports betting.
By the end of this year, Nexstar also said that ATSC 3.0 will reach half of the U.S. population, and that the station group already generates "eight figures" of adjusted EBITDA via its multicast channels. ■
