Sinclair Broadcast Group has launched the first audio service connected to the new ATSC 3.0 TV standard.

“Stirr XT” is available in Seattle allowing the current few with one of the new televisions to access fifteen audio channels currently provided by Stingray Music. The next step will be to combine internet audio services and over-the air content. Sinclair owns Hot AC “Star 101.5” KPLZ, News 1000 KOMO/97.7 KOMO-FM, and Conservative Talk 570 KVI in the Seattle market.

While this may seem as minimal now, this may lead to another another platform or a major competitor for AM/FM in the years to come. The Pearl TV consortium leading development of ATSC 3 in the US is pushing to have services in cars by 2024 and will be available on mobile devices.

Television viewers in the nation’s 14th largest TV market can now get a taste of the future as ONE Media 3.0, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SBGI), announced that it has combined both television and radio services for delivery in Seattle using the revolutionary NEXTGEN TV standard.

Consumers can now begin receiving both television and radio programming in the new format. Using radio content from its over-the-top Internet service, STIRR, the audio channels will be available for free immediately to anyone with a NEXTGEN television set connected to the Web. Included among the radio channels will be Stingray Hits List, Stingray Hot Country, Stingray Latin Hits and a dozen others. The new service coincides with the launch of seven television stations using the new digital standard.

Powered by ATSC 3.0, NEXTGEN TV is the most significant broadcast technology upgrade yet deployed. It permits not only extraordinary video quality but also mobile delivery and the ability to merge wireless broadcast content with content directly from the Internet. The Broadcast App developed by ONE Media 3.0 is the centerpiece for delivery of these new services.

Piloted by ONE Media 3.0 in Nashville, NEXTGEN radio services, branded as “STIRR XT,” are now available in Seattle. The new technology brings a new “age of radio” into the listening environment of NEXTGEN viewers by utilizing NEXTGEN-enabled TVs and mobile devices to expand the reach of audio services. Combining these Internet audio services with over-the-air radio is next on the horizon for the Seattle market.

Michael Bouchard, ONE Media’s VP of Technology Strategy, stated, “This breakthrough technology lays the groundwork for our future plans of enhancing the reception of terrestrial over-the-air radio services throughout the country, as NEXTGEN TV is deployed by broadcasters everywhere.” The STIRR radio channels (along with some STIRR video channels) will be available immediately to anyone with a NEXTGEN TV connected to the Internet. “Utilizing the full potential of NEXTGEN TV to expand the reach of these services for our audience is the natural progression for fully utilizing our new capabilities.”