In my local Hartford, Connecticut television market, the digital rights management (DRM) encryption has been removed from two channels that were previously locked. I have been able to tune into WFSB, the CBS affiliate, and WVIT, the NBC affiliate, using standard hardware without the usual encryption barriers.
I talk more about this in my latest ATSC 3.0 video!
While the removal of these restrictions is a development worth monitoring, the current broadcast quality on these channels has been inconsistent. While today they are working fine, earlier in the week observations made via an HDHomeRun tuner demonstrated frequent picture pausing and noticeable compression artifacts. These technical issues suggest that the stations may be conducting internal tests rather than implementing a permanent change to their broadcast standards.
A technical change was also observed with the WFSB signal. The station downgraded its output from 1080p to 720p. Despite this change in resolution, the variable bit rate remains steady at approximately 5 megabits per second, which is standard for ATSC 3.0 broadcasts.
Broadcasting data suggests this is currently an isolated event. Connecticut appears to be the only market where these once encrypted stations have opted to remove DRM. WFSB is owned by Gray Television, and WVIT is owned by Comcast; neither corporation has turned off DRM in other parts of the country.
For those attempting to replicate these results in other markets, it is helpful to cross-reference findings with the rabbitears.info database first. Over the years I’ve heard from many viewers excited to share that a station removed DRM, only to find that it was never encrypted in the first place!
I will continue to monitor these frequencies to see if the encryption is eventually restored, which sadly will be the likely outcome. Observations from other markets will be essential in determining if this localized activity precedes any broader changes in how over-the-air television encryption is managed.