Remember when analog TV changed to digital? Well, TV is about to change again

Remember when analog TV changed to digital? Well, TV is about to change again.

It’s going to be called Next-gen TV, and it’s official name is ATSC 3.0, and our company, NPG, is one of the very first in the nation to start broadcasting it at our sister station in Santa Barbara.

To explain a little: today we’re all using ATSC 1.0, so this is a completely new transmission standard for over the air television.

One way to describe it: it’s a hybrid of traditional TV technology and internet based television technology.

It’s adopted in Korea already and is making it way to the United States. Our Santa Barbara NPG station actually launched ATSC 3.0 Friday.

“Santa Barbara will have actually have an impact on the future of broadcasting,” said NOG Co-Owner Eric Bradley.

A first of it’s kind on the west coast, groundbreaking state of the art technology unveiled in Santa Barbara.

“This is a really big deal Santa Barbara and our station is going to be the smallest market in the country that’s going to develop and design and launch this technology ATSC 3.0 the next generation of TV,” said Mark Danielson, General Manager.

Next-gen TV features high definition customizable content that will revolutionize the way we stay connected in times of emergency.

“This community here has seen some natural disasters over the last year or so with the fires in the floods when this technology is fully implement will be able to warn our community citizens on what’s going on better so we should be able to save lives,” said Bradley.

The blending of broadband and broadcast television makes it easy for folks to consume media the way they do on their phones, and there’s different feeds for different people or different neighborhoods.

“It’s going to offer everyone an easier way to consume media in a common way so if you’re used to using Netflix and applications like that on your cell phone today or your computer you’ll be able to do that with your television now,” said Jim Dechant, NPG VP of broadcast technology.

And the technology is so advanced, “The Korean and Japanese and American manufacturers are building the equipment now,” said Dechant.

It won’t become mainstream in our homes for two to five years.

“This is going to be a technology that will help our broadcasting division be a player in the field if we don’t invest in this technology we fall behind the Facebooks and the Googles,” said Bradley.

It’s a multi-million dollar effort taking the first step into the future.

Our station is a family, investing in that future and our communities.

“What NPG of California is we are a family owned company. We’ve been investing in our community our employees and our infrastructure so that we can build for the future,” said Danielson.

Don’t panic. This won’t take effect here for a couple years, but when it does, you will either need a new TV or a set top box, kinda’ like when we transitioned to digital.

Samsung and LG are already shipping the microchips to America.