Broadcasters, Major Sports Leagues Launch North American Spectrum Alliance

As regulators continue to repurpose spectrum that has long been used in sports and other live productions, The North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) has launched the North American Spectrum Alliance.

The Spectrum Alliance is an independent project managed by NABA, which unites broadcasters, content creators, rightsholders, venues and others in media and production to protect spectrum critical for broadcasting, wireless microphones, wireless cameras and other RF production elements.

In addition to broadcasters, the group is backed by the NFL, MLB, the United Football League and the United States Tennis Association.

Other members of the Alliance are the ATSC, CP Communications, Gotham Sound, NEP, RF Wireless, Sound Devices, and current NABA members.

Brad Cheney, vice president of field operations and engineering at Fox Sports, will chair the Alliance.

Spectrum usage has dramatically increased in North America over the past years, yet the region has suffered significant losses in spectrum over the same period, the group reported.

“Sports is not the only industry impacted by the wireless spectrum shortage,” Cheney said. “News operations, theaters and concert venues, as well as theme parks and other entertainment hubs, are struggling with spectrum scarcity. The Alliance will take a stand against further erosion of this resource on behalf of all of us.”

On Social Media, John Dundas, Specialist radio and spectrum mega events commented:

This is happening all around the world. PMSE is being ignored and we are loosing spectrum all the time. This makes my job harder and it means’s that we have to try and keep adjusting and the tech companies keep on innovating to help.

People forget what PMSE is, I have to keep reminding people of spectrum and why it matters.