Northwest Broadcasting Joins ATSC 3.0 Consortium

Northwest Broadcasting is the first affiliates group to join the consortium Nexstar and Sinclair created in March to advance opportunities associated with the next-gen broadcast standard.

Northwest has 12 stations in six markets in California, Idaho, Mississippi, New York, Oregon and Washington.

Earlier in June, Univision joined the consortium, which is focused on promoting innovation and developing products and services tied to ATSC 3.0 across the industry. Fostering monetization opportunities, such as leveraging spectrum, virtual MVPD platforms, multicast networks and wireless data applications, is also on the group’s agenda.

Related: Station Groups See SVOD Promise in an ATSC 3.0 World

“The consortium will provide broadcasters the ability to control their future rather than having it dictated by others,” said Northwest CEO Brian Brady. “We are excited to be at the table with the industry’s leading broadcasters as we collaboratively reimagine that future."

Together, Sinclair, Nexstar, Univision and Northwest reach 90% of the country, the group said. Nexstar and Sinclair have opened up participation in the consortium to other groups since its inception.