[old_tv_nut]

The situation with stations needing end-to-end help with new technology has not changed over the years. The station chief engineers need broad knowledge of how to connect things and keep them running, and do not have the time to delve deeply into any one piece of technology. In the case of digital TV, for example, help was needed from video encoder makers to choose the bit rates for the multiple program streams. In ATSC 3, where there is a huge array of choices for error coding and robustness, they will need similar help. Of course, with the demise of RCA, help must come from individual manufacturers of the particular hardware that a station uses. The industry has managed this problem by sponsoring "plugfests" as part of the standards-writing process, where multiple manufacturers mix and match their gear into end-to-end systems to debug any interface issues.