Green Bay Next Gen TV Launch Delayed 3 Months

Oct. 27 was slated to be the launch date for Next Gen TV (ATSC 3.0) in Green Bay, which would have made it the first market in the Upper Midwest to get the new standard.

Instead, an Oct. 25 FCC filing from Sinclair Broadcast Group’s WCWF (RF channel 15) has pushed the date back to Jan. 25, 2022. WCWF is due to serve as the ATSC 3.0 host for the market.

The amended application does not state why the date was changed.

Sinclair has recently been working to recover from a hacking incident that affected operations at stations across the country. A news release stated that “certain servers and workstations in its environment were encrypted with ransomware, and that certain office and operational networks were disrupted,” but the company has not confirmed further details on how it has been impacted. It is not known if the Green Bay delay is related to the hacking incident.

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Earlier report:

WCWF will carry the Next Gen signals for the market’s major affiliates. Meanwhile, the other stations will host WCWF’s current ATSC 1.0 channels on their transmitters. WCWF’s main CW channel (14.1) will originate on sister station WLUK (RF 12). 14.2 Comet will be on Nexstar’s WFRV (RF 22), 14.3 Charge! will be on Gray’s WBAY (RF 23), and both 14.4 Stadium and 14.5 DABL will be on Scripps’ WACY (RF 36).

A separate request for special temporary authority from WCWF clarified that WCWF will not actually carry its own subchannels once it transitions to ATSC 3.0 due to “capacity and other constraints attendant with the multi-station and multi-market coordination.”

The same process has been used in other markets where Next Gen TV has launched.

Next Gen TV is a newer standard of digital broadcasting that offers more potential for broadcasters but also requires home viewers to purchase a converter or new TV to receive.

Much like the analog-to-digital transition, signals will be simulcast in ATSC 3.0 and the original DTV standard, ATSC 1.0, to ensure that viewers don’t lose service. However, unlike the last transition, the FCC has not granted companion channels for stations making the switch, so it’s up to broadcasters to work together to host the new and old channels.

This article has been updated to reflect that WCWF will not carry its subchannels in ATSC 3.0. It was originally posted on Oct. 5 and updated on Oct. 26 with the amended launch date.