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Rap Trends

Architecture

One signal, several outputs

RAP TRENDS is designed as a hybrid broadcast and IP network. A single ATSC 3.0 multiplex carries the linear television service, a 24/7 audio service, an event-scoped pop-up channel and an interactive data layer. Bandwidth is the scarce resource: every service added takes bitrate from the others, so the allocation is published with its arithmetic rather than described in prose.

Position, stated plainly

RAP TRENDS holds no FCC licence and no spectrum. No carriage agreement exists in any market and distribution is not guaranteed. Qualified broadcast counsel and music-licensing professionals must approve the final operating model before launch.

Chain

Ingest to emission

  1. Step 1

    Ingest

    Partner-delivered masters and live contribution feeds arrive with their rights record. No record, no ingest to air.

  2. Step 2

    Encode

    Video and audio encoded to the profiles each output requires, captions carried through without re-encoding.

  3. Step 3

    Multiplex

    Every service is packed into one physical signal. Capacity is fixed; allocation is the constraint.

  4. Step 4

    Split

    The signal carries a video service, an audio service, an event-scoped pop-up and a data layer.

  5. Step 5

    Emit

    Out to over-the-air (through a licensed partner station), FAST platforms, and IP delivery to owned apps and web.

Multiplex

Bandwidth allocation

ATSC 3.0 (ROUTE/DASH), single PLP16.50 / 25.00 Mbps allocated

Headroom 8.50 Mbps. 7.00 Mbps held by dark services and available for reallocation.

Subchannels on the multiplex with service number, kind, lifecycle state, allocated bitrate and share of capacity.
ServiceNo.KindStateAllocatedIn use
RAP TRENDS TVThe primary linear service. HD by default and 4K capable at a higher allocation, simulcast to FAST and IP.1.1videoProvisioned14.00 Mbps14.00 Mbps
RAP TRENDS RADIOA 24/7 audio-first service carried as an audio subchannel on the same signal.1.2audioProvisioned1.50 Mbps1.50 Mbps
RAP TRENDS LIVEEvent-scoped pop-up service. Dark by default; provisioned and lit for a broadcast night, a festival or a tentpole, then ended. While dark its bitrate returns to the pool.1.3videoDark7.00 Mbps0.00 Mbps — returned to pool
Data servicesInteractive and datacasting layer riding the same signal: Index data, EPG, and application delivery.1.4dataProvisioned1.00 Mbps1.00 Mbps

Design allocation only. Emission requires a licensed partner station; no station has agreed to anything.

Spectrum

Licensed affiliate slot

Market #1 — NYC Tri-State (affiliate not yet secured)

The station is unnamed on purpose. Naming a licensed broadcaster would assert a carriage relationship that does not exist. These are the terms that would have to be agreed with a partner station — none of them are agreed.

Bandwidth allocated
Up to 25 Mbps of the station's ATSC 3.0 payload would need to be allocated to the RAP TRENDS multiplex. Nothing is allocated today.
Subchannels permitted
One video service, one audio service, one event-scoped pop-up and a data layer. The station would have to permit each service class in writing.
Term
Open. No term has been proposed, offered or accepted.
Revenue split
Open. A barter inventory split is the intended model; no split has been negotiated.
Control
The station remains the licensee and retains ultimate control of its facility and its programming decisions at all times.
Preemption
The station would retain preemption rights for news, emergency messaging and its own obligations, without penalty.
Compliance
The station's FCC licence and its obligations govern everything on the signal, including EAS, captioning and political file.

Radio licensing, stated accurately

No separate FM broadcast licence is required for the audio service, because the audio is carried on a licensed partner station's television spectrum. That partner holds an FCC television licence and its obligations govern. Music performance rights are owed on the audio service regardless of how it is transmitted — this architecture avoids none of that.

Standing disclosure

RAP TRENDS holds no FCC licence. No carriage agreement exists in any market. Distribution is not guaranteed. Qualified broadcast counsel and music-licensing professionals must approve the final operating model before launch.