Broadcaster spots from the Pearl TV consortium promoting the ATSC 3.0 advanced broadcast TV transmission standard have drawn consumer interest, according to a Magid survey including over better sound, which has become a major differentiator.
The study found that a majority of respondents (60%) said they were “likely“ to purchase a TV set with NextGen TV technology within the next year after seeing the Pearl TV spots promoting NextGen TV.
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The ATSC 3.0 standard is not backward-compatible, so viewers will need a new set to get all the new features — interactivity and targeted content, as well as better sound and pictures — though they can still get the broadcast signal on their current sets with an adapter.
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People assume that a better picture goes along with the new broadcast transmission standard, Magid executive VP, media strategy group Bill Hague said during an NAB virtual discussion of NextGen TV, so better sound has actually become more of a differentiator.
Still, when Magid polled consumers about what would drive their next TV purchasing decision, significantly better picture quality topped the list at 77%, followed by cost (68%) and then immersive, theater quality sound at 67% — essentially a statistical dead heat for second place.
Magid's data was based on online interviews conducted in February 2021 with 2,000 adults 18-54 identified as decision-makers and influencers in purchasing decisions who own a TV, including a sample of 400 Hispanics.
Sony VP of business development Nick Colsey said during the discussion that the CE maker was ”seeding“ the market with NextGen-capable TVs as stations roll out the technology. Sony was also looking for stations to do some call-outs of the ATSC 3.0-compatible logo on the packaging , which shows the sets are ready to handle NextGen, as well as the website nextgentv.com, which shows the markets that have already lit up ATSC 3.0 and where consumers can sign up for e-mail alerts to let them know when their market adds NextGen TV.
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Tim Carroll, senior director of technology, sound group, for Dolby Laboratories, said among the consumer selling points of improved sound is not only immersive sound, but the ability to, say, turn up the dialogue (Voice Plus dialogue enhancement) if there are problems hearing voices, or dealing with “the other old problem — loud commercials.“
