Dolby Atmos finally comes to broadcast TV: no internet, no charge and no next-gen tuner, but still with immersive audio

Dolby Atmos audio will be streamed free over-the-air for the first time
A Mexican station will be the first to offer the technology
Will use ATSC 1.0 instead of 3.0/NextGen TV

Something exciting is happening in Mexico for home movie fans. Dolby Laboratories and broadcaster TV Azteca have joined forces to bring Dolby Atmos to broadcast television. No streaming, and they’re doing it through the widely available ATSC 1.0 standard.

This is significant because while the current US and Mexican standard for streaming 4K TV is NextGen TV, also known as ATSC 3.0, support for version 3.0 is still quite spotty.

ATSC 1.0 maxes out at 1080p HD for visual resolution, but it’s been around since 1996, so it has much broader support than the newer version, and ATSC 3.0 devices are backwards compatible. That means Dolby Atmos over ATSC 1.0 should be available to many people in the future, assuming it takes off.

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For now, this project is only happening in Mexico, but it raises some interesting possibilities elsewhere, and suggests there’s still plenty of life in the free streaming model, even in the age of streaming subscriptions.

Did you buy a powerful immersive system? It will be nice to get Atmos from more sources. (Image credit: future)

What does Dolby Atmos do over ATSC?

According to Pankaj Kedia, vice president of business partnerships for the Americas at Dolby Laboratories, Atmos will be especially tempting for sporting events. “Imagine watching a game from your living room and hearing where each applause in the stands comes from, the sound of the ball and the commentator’s voice moving around you. That’s what Dolby Atmos makes possible today in Mexico.”

Obviously, that’s nothing new for sports if you want a more premium streaming or cable service, but many people haven’t had access to these. Although I’m not 100% sure I want the comment to “move” for me…

TV Azteca technical director Pedro Manuel Carmona Ortiz says the collaboration is a “technological milestone… We are collaborating with Dolby to demonstrate that audio innovation can transform open television.”

This innovation could also be used by stations in other territories. ATSC 1.0 is widely used in the US, Canada and Mexico, and its planned replacement by ATSC 3.0 has been delayed several times.

Current proposals in the US suggest suspending ATSC 1.0 from 2028 to 2030, but rely on broadcasters doing so voluntarily. Earlier this year, America’s Public Television Stations (APTS) and PBS wrote to the FCC asking the regulator not to set a firm date for ending ATSC 1.0 transmission; Other broadcasters are urging the FCC to do exactly that to drive adoption of ATSC 3.0.

On top of that, ATSC 3.0 remains hit and miss even on the best TVs. LG actually stopped including ATSC 3.0, while Samsung also stopped including them (having included them only on limited models in the past).

Improving a streaming standard that’s been around for 30 years may seem strange when most of the hype over free TV has focused on streaming rather than broadcast TV thanks to fast-growing free TV services from companies like Roku, Google TV and, in the UK, Freely.

But Internet speeds and service have never reached the reliability of wireless transmissions in many areas, so receiving an immersive audio upgrade regardless of your connection options is a win-win.