The ATSC 3.0 Evoca TV service in Boise has been “exercising flash channels a fair amount in our system” since debuting in September (see 2011010001), CEO Todd Achilles told the virtual Streaming Media 2021 Connect conference Thursday. “We set up a flash 4K channel for a sporting event, and we’re actually standing up a flash channel today for the Mars rover landing.” It landed around 4 p.m. EST. The channel capability is in the 3.0 suite to “spin up an extra channel” over-the-air “on demand and dynamically, and spin it down again,” said ATSC President Madeleine Noland: “A flash channel is a channel that pops up for a particular purpose and comes back down again.” Such protocols are in ATSC’s A/351 recommended practice document for 3.0 signaling, delivery and synchronization techniques, said Noland through a spokesperson. An app per the A/344 standards on 3.0 interactive content is used, she said. Achilles thinks 3.0 is superior to 5G for content delivery into the home. “There’s lots of conversations” about how 5G will become “the new technology to deliver video into the home,” he said. “When you look at the numbers on that, it’s still a really expensive way to deliver bits to a stationary end user.”

Chipmaker QuickLogic in Q4 “finally" completed certification testing of its “voice-activated hearable reference design” with Amazon’s Alexa Voice Service team, said CEO Brian Faith on a fiscal Q4 earnings call Wednesday. “This has been a long and difficult process taking much longer than we ever thought. The delay was brought on by challenges working with the communications chip that was not ours.” QuickLogic also needed to overcome COVID-19 work restrictions “that prevented our engineering team from working on site to solve the issues,” said Faith. “In spite of these challenges, we persevered.” QuickLogic also completed work on a second “voice-related project” late in Q4, ended Jan. 3. The second project involves remote controls, “but we didn't give a lot of airtime” to it on Wednesday's call, he said. “I do see that going to production” in 2021, he said. “When combined, we are now confident that these voice-enabled solutions, which are scheduled to come to market later this year, will materialize into revenue for us in the second half of fiscal 2021.” Now that QuickLogic is “finally able to say that we're Amazon-certified,” it’s going to move along “some of these hearable opportunities that we've already been cultivating for some time,” he said.

The ATSC 3.0-based Evoca TV content service in Boise has been “exercising flash channels a fair amount in our system” since debuting the offering in September (see 2010200045), CEO Todd Achilles told the virtual Streaming Media 2021 Connect conference. “We set up a flash 4K channel for a sporting event, and we’re actually standing up a flash channel today for the Mars rover landing,” he said Thursday. The rover landed successfully on the Mars surface just before 4 p.m. EST.

Stakeholders are seeking simple enrollment in the FCC's $3.2 billion emergency broadband benefit program, they said in replies due Tuesday in docket 20-445. Adopt a broad definition of “household," Public Knowledge asked. The National Council of Urban Indian Health raised concerns about eligibility requirements, asking the commission to let tribal citizens not residing on tribal lands participate “to the same extent that American Indians and Alaska Natives residing on tribal lands are able.” Encourage broadest adoption so the hardest-hit communities can participate, said the LGBT Technology Partnership & Institute. That includes allowing noneligible telecom carriers to take part, it and others said. The group sided with AT&T in asking the commission to provide a 90-day notice that the funds are projected to be exhausted. Starry said non-ETCs should be automatically approved if they can “objectively show that they currently offer a discounted service to low-income consumers or individuals adversely affected” by the COVID-19 pandemic. ETCs should get the opportunity to participate “even outside their designated ETC service area,” said CTIA. Others disagreed. The California Public Utility Commission said non-ETCs should “submit election notices and compliance plans that will be reviewed and approved." Others asked that the program include support for equipment like Wi-Fi routers and hot spots. The Competitive Carriers Association asked to include smartphones as a “connected device” and focus on “whether a device meets minimum requirements to support the kinds of functions needed for online learning and other similar applications.” Tracfone, which is being bought by Verizon, said the definition of “tablet” should include “4G/LTE-capable devices with a touchscreen that support video conferencing.” The Illinois Office of Broadband supported leveraging resources of state authorities to promote awareness and suggested providing financial support. The FCC should confirm that it, not states and localities, has enforcement authority because that would otherwise “disincentivize provider participation,” said Altice.

Stakeholders are seeking simple enrollment in the FCC's $3.2 billion emergency broadband benefit program, they said in replies due Tuesday in docket 20-445. Adopt a broad definition of “household," Public Knowledge asked. The National Council of Urban Indian Health raised concerns about eligibility requirements, asking the commission to let tribal citizens not residing on tribal lands participate “to the same extent that American Indians and Alaska Natives residing on tribal lands are able.” Encourage broadest adoption so the hardest-hit communities can participate, said the LGBT Technology Partnership & Institute. That includes allowing noneligible telecom carriers to take part, it and others said. The group sided with AT&T in asking the commission to provide a 90-day notice that the funds are projected to be exhausted. Starry said non-ETCs should be automatically approved if they can “objectively show that they currently offer a discounted service to low-income consumers or individuals adversely affected” by the COVID-19 pandemic. ETCs should get the opportunity to participate “even outside their designated ETC service area,” said CTIA. Others disagreed. The California Public Utility Commission said non-ETCs should “submit election notices and compliance plans that will be reviewed and approved." Others asked that the program include support for equipment like Wi-Fi routers and hot spots. The Competitive Carriers Association asked to include smartphones as a “connected device” and focus on “whether a device meets minimum requirements to support the kinds of functions needed for online learning and other similar applications.” Tracfone, which is being bought by Verizon, said the definition of “tablet” should include “4G/LTE-capable devices with a touchscreen that support video conferencing.” The Illinois Office of Broadband supported leveraging resources of state authorities to promote awareness and suggested providing financial support. The FCC should confirm that it, not states and localities, has enforcement authority because that would otherwise “disincentivize provider participation,” said Altice.

Stakeholders are seeking simple enrollment in the FCC's $3.2 billion emergency broadband benefit program, they said in replies due Tuesday in docket 20-445. Adopt a broad definition of “household," Public Knowledge asked. The National Council of Urban Indian Health raised concerns about eligibility requirements, asking the commission to let tribal citizens not residing on tribal lands participate “to the same extent that American Indians and Alaska Natives residing on tribal lands are able.” Encourage broadest adoption so the hardest-hit communities can participate, said the LGBT Technology Partnership & Institute. That includes allowing noneligible telecom carriers to take part, it and others said. The group sided with AT&T in asking the commission to provide a 90-day notice that the funds are projected to be exhausted. Starry said non-ETCs should be automatically approved if they can “objectively show that they currently offer a discounted service to low-income consumers or individuals adversely affected” by the COVID-19 pandemic. ETCs should get the opportunity to participate “even outside their designated ETC service area,” said CTIA. Others disagreed. The California Public Utility Commission said non-ETCs should “submit election notices and compliance plans that will be reviewed and approved." Others asked that the program include support for equipment like Wi-Fi routers and hot spots. The Competitive Carriers Association asked to include smartphones as a “connected device” and focus on “whether a device meets minimum requirements to support the kinds of functions needed for online learning and other similar applications.” Tracfone, which is being bought by Verizon, said the definition of “tablet” should include “4G/LTE-capable devices with a touchscreen that support video conferencing.” The Illinois Office of Broadband supported leveraging resources of state authorities to promote awareness and suggested providing financial support. The FCC should confirm that it, not states and localities, has enforcement authority because that would otherwise “disincentivize provider participation,” said Altice.

The FCC Precision Agriculture Task Force meets virtually March 12 at noon EST, said a public notice Tuesday. The task force will consider a report from its Accelerating Broadband Deployment on Unserved Agricultural Lands Working Group.

The FCC Precision Agriculture Task Force meets virtually March 12 at noon EST, said a public notice Tuesday. The task force will consider a report from its Accelerating Broadband Deployment on Unserved Agricultural Lands Working Group.

Beasley Broadcast Q4 net revenue fell about 5% to $68.5 million from Q4 2019. That “primarily reflects a year-over-year decrease in commercial advertising revenue due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, partially offset by growth in digital, esports and political revenue,” the radio station owner reported Wednesday. “Esports allowed us to make lemonade out of lemons last year,” CEO Caroline Beasley told investors. Operating income was $19.6 million vs. $11.2 million, the result of lower operating and corporate expenses, lower impairment losses and a land sale, the release said. The Q4 “results reflect the ongoing recovery of our business,” said the CEO in a release. The company has continued to generate month-over-month revenue growth if political ads are excluded from the calculation, she said. Caroline Beasley expects revenue from events to “hopefully” begin returning at the end of 2021 and continue into 2022. She said the company is focused on digital and attracting new advertisers in the coming year.

Beasley Broadcast Q4 net revenue fell about 5% to $68.5 million from Q4 2019. That “primarily reflects a year-over-year decrease in commercial advertising revenue due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, partially offset by growth in digital, esports and political revenue,” the radio station owner reported Wednesday. “Esports allowed us to make lemonade out of lemons last year,” CEO Caroline Beasley told investors. Operating income was $19.6 million vs. $11.2 million, the result of lower operating and corporate expenses, lower impairment losses and a land sale, the release said. The Q4 “results reflect the ongoing recovery of our business,” said the CEO in a release. The company has continued to generate month-over-month revenue growth if political ads are excluded from the calculation, she said. Caroline Beasley expects revenue from events to “hopefully” begin returning at the end of 2021 and continue into 2022. She said the company is focused on digital and attracting new advertisers in the coming year.