FCC Chairman Ajit Pai was a keynote speaker at this year's NABShow. Pai wants to "modernize" broadcasting by "removing the shackles" that the previous administration put on Big Media giants. This is pretty much related to deregulation and the repeal of Net Neutrality. At the heart of the matter is the new standard for broadcasting that Pai is pushing for called ATSC 3.0 aka “Next Gen TV”. ATSC 3.0 is being designed to allow the seamless use of broadcast combined with broadband to deliver services and components of services. By technical definition it is actually a good thing because it will support higher end systems like HEVC, wider color gamuts, HDR, mobility for television support, public alerts and datacasting over IP networks. These are ideal to support high-speed data communications networks and multi-stream content for CDN providers. The issue is that Big Media can use this new standard to target consumers for ads. In the past, it was hard because broadcasting was simplex transmission, meaning it was only from the media to the consumer. Now with the proliferation of IP networks, it is duplex allowing the media to also get consumer data. This data is of course the very same information that Social Media giants like Facebook had been gathering and selling to third parties for marketing research. With ATSC 3.0, Big Media can be given that chance finally. One thing that they can track with certainty would be the ratings of TV shows. Perhaps a bigger question is how media content over ATSC 3.0 will remain free just like TV is right now.
The thing though is in order to continue free service, there is a tradeoff. Targeted ads will be used from sponsor brands in the same way consumers see it on the Internet. If not for ads there really would be no television. Revenues from commercials provide the networks the funds to operate and air content, so we cannot really get away with zero ads and commercials. Advertising is also an industry in itself that helps to promote commercial products. The production staff, actors, writers and directors all need to get paid and it can come from the budget advertisers pay for the most part.