South Korea’s SK Telecom and Sinclair Broadcast Group, the largest owner of local television stations in the U.S, will jointly develop a new broadcasting platform based on the U.S. next-generation TV standard ATSC 3.0.

The two and Sinclair Broadcast’s subsidiary ONE Media signed an MOU on cooperation in their development project slated for the first half at CES 2018 in Las Vegas, SK Telecom said on Wednesday.

Sinclair Broadcast, a behemoth in the TV industry, owns 173 local TV stations and 514 channels and reaches 40 percent of U.S. homes. The network’s 2016 revenue came to about $2.7 billion.

With the partnership, SK Telecom is able to bring its innovation in mobile IPTV and media technology to the U.S. broadcast industry, the company said. Starting with the U.S. market, SK Telecom will gradually expand its platform to India, the country that pursues the ATSC 3.0-based next-generation broadcasting.

The new TV platform will combine the best of terrestrial broadcasting, IPTV and mobile systems to realize UHD quality of content, customized IP-based service for interactivity, personalized and location-based advertisement, fixed and mobile broadcast, and emergency alert services.

The companies will also demonstrate next-generation broadcasting platform and application services at the NAB Show 2018, the world’s largest exhibition where the entire broadcast community comes together, to be held in Las Vegas in April.

By Seo Dong-cheol and Minu Kim

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