As broadcasters descend on Las Vegas for their annual NAB trade show, ADTH is launching an impressively affordable ATSC 3.0 tuner for Android TV and Fire TV devices. Priced at $70, the tuner may be a worthwhile purchase for those who live in a city with cutting-edge NextGen TV channels.
ATSC 3.0 promises to revolutionize over-the-air television. It’s the modern equivalent to the analog-to-digital broadcasting transition that we experienced two decades ago. Digital television gave us HD broadcasts, but ATSC 3.0 “NextGen TV” will unlock 4K video, HDR, Dolby Atmos audio, live channel rewinding, and interactive “smart” functionality like games or in-channel menus.
Unfortunately, ATSC 3.0 uptake is excruciatingly slow. Broadcasters have already done their part—approximately 75% of U.S. households are in range of a NextGen TV broadcast—but television manufacturers have failed to equip their TVs with NextGen TV tuners (only 10% of TVs sold in 2024 contained ATSC 3.0-compatible hardware, per the NAB). If we were to shut off ATSC 1.0 broadcasting and go all-in on ATSC 3.0 today, most OTA TV viewers would need to buy a standalone NextGen TV tuner or set-top box like the one sold by ADTH.
Free over-the-air television isn’t just a luxury. It’s something that people rely on for news, emergency weather reports, and other critical information. A sudden ATSC 1.0 shutdown would leave a lot of people in the dark and put lives at risk. So, the FCC wants broadcasters to simulcast ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0 until the NextGen TV standard gains a solid footing in the consumer market. This arrangement, while necessary, wastes a ton of valuable spectrum that should be used to prop up NextGen TV functionality like HDR video or Dolby Atmos audio. In effect, viewers who can access NextGen TV currently experience very little benefit from the new standard, and public enthusiasm for NextGen TV is practically nonexistent.
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The analog-to-digital transition of the 2000s was, by comparison, a cakewalk. Digital broadcasting was a hot-button political issue for over a decade—people were aware of it, there was demand for it, and most manufacturers tried to address the demand before ATSC 1.0 was fully implemented. Manufacturers who failed to sell TVs or VCRs with integrated digital tuners faced the ire of the FCC, which enacted fines and other punishments in order to force ATSC 1.0 adoption. Plus, the federal government gave away digital tuner set-top boxes for free.
Broadcasters are begging the federal government to repeat some of the dramatic actions that it took during the ATSC 1.0 transition. The NAB recently asked the FCC to create ATSC 3.0 requirements for new TVs “as soon as practical,” and it suggested a firm “early 2028” deadline for the NextGen TV transition. Interestingly, the group is also lobbying for increased OTA TV accessibility in smart TV software, citing the lack of a prominent channel-scanning button as the reason for OTA TV’s decreased popularity.
If you’re in a city that currently offers cool NextGen TV functionality, such as New York or Los Angelos, an inexpensive ATSC 3.0 tuner like the one sold by ADTH might be worth buying. Otherwise, you should wait a few years before buying an ATSC 3.0 adapter or set-top box. Prices will be more favorable in the future, and you may end up with an ATSC 3.0-compatible TV before NextGen TV supplants ATSC 1.0.
ADTH NextGen TV Adapter for Android TV and Fire TV
Add NextGen TV functionality to an Android TV or Fire TV device with the ADTH ATSC 3.0 USB adapter. Note that this adapter does not include a TV antenna, though any old antenna will work with it.
