Biographical Information

S. Merrill Weiss is a consultant in electronic media technology, technology management, and management.  He has had extensive experience in broadcasting and related fields, and also in management and consulting.  He draws upon much experience designing, building, and managing new technical facilities for various electronic media companies.

Mr. Weiss’s consulting practice has served clients ranging from Wall Street investment bankers to broadcast networks, a cable MSO, industrial research laboratories, equipment manufacturers, the United States government, a major Hollywood studio, television stations and group owners.  He has served several wireless cable / broadband wireless operators and the Petitioners in the various MMDS/ITFS filings that converted the business from an analog broadcast service to a digital broadcast then to a two-way digital data service.  His clients are in the United States, Canada, Japan, Europe, and the Middle East.

Merrill Weiss is also an internationally recognized industry leader and expert in the development of new television technologies, including digital video compression.  He conducted the experiments that led to the very first digital television standard (CCIR Recommendation 601) in 1981, the standard upon which most subsequent standards draw.  He has been involved in the development of virtually every digital television standard since.  He was nominated for a technical Emmy Award for his work on serial digital interfaces for television systems.

Mr. Weiss is currently involved in the development of enhanced and interactive television and other technologies that depend upon the convergence of television, computing, and data communications.  He served as the Engineering Director for Television of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), chairing its TV Steering Committee and, in that role, was responsible for the worldwide development of standards for television along with a wide range of other technologies.

Mr. Weiss was a major contributor to the work of the FCC Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service.  He did the bulk of the work on implementation matters and participated extensively in both the technical and economic analyses of the various system proposals, including the digital systems that were the progenitors of MPEG-2.  He currently participates in the Advanced Television Systems Committee’s (ATSC) efforts to guide the implementation of Digital Television (DTV).

Merrill Weiss is also a noted author and lecturer.  His second book, Issues in Advanced Television Technology, was an instant sellout at the National Association of Broadcasters convention.  He has presented or published well over one hundred technical papers on diverse television and related technologies.  Mr. Weiss has been recognized by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers by elevation to the rank of Fellow, and was the 1995 recipient of its David Sarnoff Gold Medal Award.  He has been certified by the Society of Broadcast Engineers at the highest level, that of Professional Broadcast Engineer.  He is a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.