Week ending Oct. 11, 2026 · About a 4-minute read
SiliconDust asked television station groups to suspend ATSC 3.0 encryption ahead of November's national emergency-alert test, arguing that receiver access controls could prevent some viewers from receiving the test alert.
The week in brief
SiliconDust took its alert-reception request to broadcasters. An Oct. 8 FCC filing documents outreach asking station groups to disable encryption a week before the national test.
Argentine broadcasters are seeking permission for TV 3.0 trials. Artear's Eduardo Bayo says applications have been submitted, with authorization and available frequencies determining the next step.
ZapperBox released zApp 3.1. The Windows and macOS update adds interface improvements and a user manual.
SiliconDust takes its alert-access request to station groups
SiliconDust has followed its Oct. 5 FCC filing with direct requests to broadcasters to switch off digital rights management, or DRM, encryption before the nationwide Emergency Alert System test.
The receiver maker's Oct. 8 supplement records emails sent the previous day to representatives of the station groups listed in its original filing. A representative email to TEGNA asks for encryption to be disabled by Nov. 10 and kept off through the Nov. 17 test, giving receivers and viewers a week to check reception. SiliconDust offers help with those checks.
DRM controls which receivers can decode protected programming. SiliconDust argues that encrypting the program stream also puts the alert's audio and visual message behind those controls, excluding viewers whose receivers lack the required authorization. It asks the FCC to remind broadcasters of their alerting obligations and says it plans to observe selected services during the test and submit its findings.
That gives the dispute a specific operational focus: whether the test alert reaches viewers using affected receivers. The company's proposed remedy is a temporary suspension of encryption around the test.
The FCC's test notice schedules the nationwide test for Nov. 17 at 2:20 p.m. Eastern, with Dec. 3 as the backup. SiliconDust asks broadcasters to preserve the same one-week preparation period if the test moves.
Argentina looks for trial spectrum as Brazil works through implementation
Argentine broadcasters have submitted requests for experimental next-generation television transmissions and are awaiting authorization, Artear operations and technology manager Eduardo Bayo told SET at CAPER Show in Buenos Aires.
Bayo said analog transmitters in Buenos Aires were continuing under an extension beyond the planned Oct. 1 switch-off. Clearing those frequencies could give broadcasters room to test a new system. He wants trials to establish which technical choices suit Argentina's market.
Brazil's DTV+, its next-generation television system built with ATSC 3.0 technologies, supplied a nearby comparison. In a companion SET interview, Ana Eliza Faria e Silva, representing Globo, SET and the Brazilian Digital Television System Forum, said the system had demonstrated end-to-end operation, including receivers.
She identified receiver-manufacturing requirements, further regulation and helping broadcasters of different sizes understand the platform as continuing implementation work.
Together, the interviews put specific tasks behind regional interest in TV 3.0: securing frequencies and permission to experiment in Argentina, and turning Brazil's technical work into wider use.
Other developments this week
ZapperBox updates its desktop software. The company's Oct. 7 release notes list zApp 3.1 for Windows and macOS, with user-interface improvements and a manual. The software running on its receiver boxes remains version 3.8.
Around ATSC 3.0
Standards: ATSC's Oct. 8 B2X announcement explains how its Broadcast-to-Everything work aims to help new kinds of devices find broadcast services. The discovery specification entered candidate status in July; ATSC is inviting implementation feedback during the review period ending June 30, 2027.
Technical reading: Marcelo Moreno's ITU presentation on Brazil's application-oriented television walks through DTV+'s app catalog and the mais br platform for public content and government services. The slides give a concrete view of the software and user interface behind the television service.
Interview: Dielectric President Keith Pelletier discusses the company's antenna work for Globo in Brazil and its approach to detecting radio-frequency equipment problems. The episode offers a supplier's account of the build and maintenance work behind DTV+.
Interview: EdgeBeam CTO Joe Fabiano describes how he balances customer demands with longer-term development. His account connects broadcast-data development with the everyday decisions about people, time and capital needed to bring it to market.
About ATSC Now
ATSC Now is a free weekly briefing on the policy, standards, receivers, deployments and business activity shaping ATSC 3.0.
Written by Mark Barrington and published by Barrington Technology. ATSC Now is an independent publication and is not affiliated with ATSC. All opinions are our own.