TV Stations in El Paso, Texas, Start NextGen Broadcasts

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KFOX makes transition to ATSC 3.0

El Paso, Texas
El Paso, Texas (Image credit: Getty Images)

TV stations in El Paso, Texas, have begun the transition to broadcasting using NextGen TV technology.

Sinclair-owned KFOX converted to an ATSC 3.0 transmitter and is using the new format to broadcast its own programming as well as the programming of four other participating stations in the market.

The participating stations — News-Press & Gazette-owned KVIA-TV, Sinclair’s KDBC, Nexstar Media Group’s KTSM and NBCUniversal Telemundo’s KTDO — continue to broadcast using the current ATSC 1.0 digital signal and carry KFOX’s ATSC 1.0 signal on a secondary channel.

NextGen TV promises a more vibrant picture, clearer sound, more channels, access to internet-based programming and advanced digital services.

BitPath, which is developing data broadcasting services, led the planning process and coordinated efforts across the five TV stations.

Those services are expected to generate billions in incremental revenue for station groups.

Stations in more than 70 cities have started to broadcast using NextGen TV technology. ATSC 3.0 will reach 75% coverage of the U.S. in 2024, BitPath estimated.

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.