Major Low-Power TV Station Owner Wants to Shift to Datacasts

The largest owner of low-power TV stations in the country is asking federal regulators to allow datacasting on the 5G broadcast standard, and potentially sunset the sector’s obligation to provide at least one free signal viewable on traditional TV sets. HC2, which owns 14 percent of the 1,801 LPTV stations in the United States, asked the Federal Communications Commission for the change in a March 28 petition. The 5G broadcast standard, the company said, would allow LPTV stations to broadcast signals to 5G-enabled devices on spectrum currently used for TV programming in the United States.