Preserving Quality, Trusted Journalism In Communities Is Essential To Our Democracy
Former NAB CEO and U.S. senator Gordon Smith: “The more than 12,000 local radio and television stations in the United States play an essential role in their communities, providing trusted, unbiased local news and other critical information. But billion-dollar tech companies are threatening the future of local journalism that is the very bedrock of our democracy. Without congressional action, your trusted local news may someday be nothing more than misinformation and clickbait.”
Former NAB President-CEO Gordon Smith receives Samaritan Award. GEICO, José Andrés and Patti LaBelle recognized for philanthropic contributions.
The presentation was made at its annual breakfast, which took place Wednesday morning during the NAB Show in Las Vegas. Above (l-r): Tim McCarthy, co-president of Broadcasters Foundation and Scott Herman, chairman of Broadcasters Foundation, pictured with the honorees, Byron Allen, Pierre Bouvard, Christine Travaglini, Dennis Wharton, Ralph Oakley and Gordon Smith.
The association’s former leader will be honored at this year’s NAB Show in Las Vegas on April 25.
NAB CEO Gordon Smith: “Although NAB does not currently oppose the nomination of Gigi Sohn, we have serious concerns about her involvement as one of three directors of the illegal streaming service Locast.”
In his final State of the Industry address before leaving the association, Gordon Smith, President-CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters, laid out nine lessons for the industry that started with the importance of negotiating and included the admonition that the “NAB should never register Republican or Democrat, but as human, local and American. We uphold and defend American values, such as factual journalism and the First Amendment. Neither party satisfies 100% of our issues. We need friends on both sides of the aisle.”
Exclusives
The heads of Graham Media, Emily Barr, and Hearst Television, Jordan Wertlieb, yesterday agreed that local journalism, particularly that practiced by TV stations, was critical to the nation’s well-being. The two made their remarks as they were honored as Giants of Broadcasting and the Electronic Arts by the Library of American Broadcasting Foundation.
The Broadcasters Foundation of America will honor outgoing NAB CEO Gordon Smith for his excellence in broadcasting at the Broadcasters Foundation Breakfast During the NAB Show in Las Vegas.
InterDigital’s Stein receives the Bernard J. Lechner Outstanding Contributor Award, while NAB’s Smith is presented the Mark Richer Industry Leadership Medal.
AT&T Chairman William E. Kennard, CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell and NAB CEO Gordon Smith will be honored at the Media Institute’s Free Speech America virtual gala on Oct. 20.
He will move to an advisory and advocacy role beginning next year. The former senator has led the broadcasters’ group for more than a decade. He’s being succeeded by NAB’s COO Curtis LeGeyt.
TVN Executive Session | NAB Prioritizes Antitrust Exemption, Relaxed Ownership Rules
NAB President Gordon Smith says the organization is shifting into offense with the new Democrat-led FCC, pairing with newspaper publishers for an antitrust exemption in dealing with Big Tech along with pressing for a relaxation of antiquated TV ownership rules. Note: This story is available to TVNewsCheck Premium members only. If you would like to upgrade your free TVNewsCheck membership to Premium now, you can visit your Member Home Page, available when you log in at the very top right corner of the site or in the Stay Connected Box that appears in the right column of virtually every page on the site. If you don’t see Member Home, you will need to click Log In or Subscribe.
Broadcasters Combat Misinformation With Focus On Facts
This week, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology is continuing its series of hearings on how misinformation and disinformation — the lies of the 21st century — have impacted recent events in our nation. As lawmakers explore this issue, they should be mindful of the vital role radio and television broadcasters play in our communities by exposing lies, uncovering the truth and reporting the facts.
Free Press Needs Transparency, Security After Capitol Attack
NAB President Gordon Smith: “The work of the press to keep the American public informed during these dark times has been admirable, valuable and — because of an unacceptable and alarming lack of information provided by law enforcement officials — necessary. It is imperative that law enforcement not only address the American people about the possibility of danger in the days ahead, but also provide security briefings to news media to help keep journalists safe while reporting from the field.”
NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith: “It has been clear for days now that Joe Biden has been on track to win the popular vote in his run for the presidency. It is decisive that today he has surpassed the threshold of 270 electoral college votes. NAB congratulates Joe Biden on becoming president-elect of the United States of America. …it is time to acknowledge the election of Joe Biden and to allow him the chance to bind our nation back together.”
1st Amendment Shines During Toughest Of Times
NAB CEO Gordon Smith: “The work of our most-trusted sources of news — our local radio and TV stations, broadcast network partners and community and national newspapers — during the most important events of the past six months have shown how essential a free press is to keeping people informed. Yet, these historic times have also laid bare the existential threats facing journalism brought on by economic, cultural and political factors.”
In comments to the House, the association’s CEO Gordon Smith says the digital giants’ dominance of advertising marketplace, control of online content put radio and TV broadcasters at competitive disadvantage.
Tuesday night, NAB President-CEO Gordon Smith suffered a stroke and was admitted to the hospital. According to NAB, he “is responding well to treatment, is stable and alert, and is resting comfortably. His prognosis is good, and he is expected to make a full recovery.”
Gordon Smith: Despite the best efforts of NAB and the many broadcast companies, the number of minority-owned broadcast stations remains disappointingly low. The reason can be summed up in three words: access to capital. Fortunately, there is a tried and true solution in Congress to help aspiring minority broadcasters break into the media landscape.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and NAB President-CEO Gordon Smith will participate in a keynote conversation Wednesday, May 13, during the NAB Show Express Welcome event. The industry’s top regulator and the head […]
NAB President Gordon Smith said broadcasters don’t want to see any retransmission consent service disruptions during the coronavirus pandemic. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has called for a retransmission consent quiet period to avoid TV station signals going off MVPDs.
The association’s CEO Gordon Smith says: “DirecTV is doing a serious disservice to both its customers and to Congress by running these misleading messages. We urge you to reconsider … and to work with local broadcasters to ensure that all DirecTV customers receive their network programming from local TV affiliates.”
National Association of Broadcasters President Gordon Smith said the government should start applying a public interest standard to Google and Facebook and other Big Tech titans. That was in an interview for C-SPAN’s Communicators series.
Smith: Big Tech Must Not Stifle Local News
National Association of Broadcasters President Gordon Smith put out the welcome mat Monday for “content creators, producers, distributors and technology companies from all corners of the globe,” suggesting they were all part of a next generation of storytellers — ”everybody has a story to tell,” he said. But he also signaled that Big Tech might not be on the same page.
“Broadcasters are competing for viewers and advertisers against gigantic multinational players,” NAB CEO Gordon Smith says ahead of the association’s annual bash, taking place at the Las Vegas Convention Center April 7-12.
The new deal will keep him at the top of the trade association through March 2023. He’s been president-CEO since 2009.
NAB CEO-President Gordon Smith preached the virtues of Next Gen TV as crucial for broadcasters in his opening speech in Las Vegas on Monday. In a media environment roiled by change, Smith also emphasized broadcasters’ indispensible role in emergencies and their responsibility to defend the First Amendment.
Ahead of the NAB Show, which begins Saturday, the organization’s President-CEO Gordon Smith discusses working with new FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and the next steps following the spectrum auction.
The FCC’s auction of broadcasters’ spectrum to wireless carriers may not have been necessary, and it’s fallen far short of expectations, according to Gordon Smith, head of the National Association of Broadcasters. “There was an earlier auction that got $40 billion and they got half the spectrum that this one held out,” Smith said, referring to an auction that ended in January 2015 and raised $44.9 billion. “For twice the spectrum, they got half the money and broadcasters got a quarter of what they were led to believe was part of this extravaganza. It was no extravaganza.”
Steve Lanzano, Mike O’Neill and Gordon Smith are among those who will celebrate Meredith’s Paul Karpowicz at the Broadcasters Foundation of America’s annual Golden Mike Award black-tie fundraiser on Feb. 27 in New York.
“Today’s media is not monolithic,” NAB CEO Gordon Smith says, and “in a time when … media is becoming incredibly polarized and partisan, local news has become even more valuable to our democratic dialogue.”
NAB President Gordon Smith decries the commission’s push away from broadcasting to broadband, saying there is no “higher and better use of spectrum than serving diverse audiences with free and local TV programming for all citizens.” Service, availability, ubiquity are just some of what set over-the-air broadcasting apart, he says. “It seems everyone wants what we have — our content and our spectrum — but nobody wants to do what we do — live and vital localism.”
NAB CEO Gordon Smith says the FCC’s to-do list for this year should be topped with: successfully handling the spectrum auction and repack; encouraging innovation and diversity; and resisting the pay TV industry’s attempt to “further pad its wallets through unnecessary government intervention in retransmission consent negotiations.”
NAB President Gordon Smith spells out the advantages of adopting the new next-generation TV transmission standard, but says his group must represent the wishes of “a majority our members.” And those members are divided. Talking to the New York State Broadcasters Association, Smith also addresses the spectrum auction and repack as well as efforts by cable and satellite to get retrans reform.
Start Selling Washington On ATSC 3.0 Now
Technical progress on creating the next-gen broadcast TV standard, ATSC 3.0, is moving forward. Unfortunately, that progress doesn’t seem to be matched by movement on the policy and regulatory fronts. Lawmakers and regulators have to be convinced that ATSC 3.0 is in the best interest of the American public so that they will aid broadcasters in implementing it. That’s a tall order, which is why the NAB and other proponents have to get started immediately.
NAB President Gordon Smith on Thursday said it was in the best interests of the FCC to be a part of the industry’s move to adopt the next-generation broadcast TV transmission standard that could turn the TV station business into a mobile business. At the Thursday ATSC gathering are (l-r) Smith, NCTA CEO Michael Powell and Consumer Electronics Association CEO Gary Shipiro. (ATSC photo)
NAB President Gordon Smith opened the group’s annual gathering with a list of priorities that included FCC ownership rules, the threat to the “retransmission consent process” posed by the cable TV industry and the FCC’s management of the upcoming incentive auction. He also declared that local broadcasting is “more important today than [it] has ever been,” particularly when it comes to providing news and information that is relevant to their communities.
Smith’s Agenda: Auction, ATSC 3.0, Retrans
As president of the NAB, Gordon Smith can’t solve all the ails facing TV broadcasters, but he seems determined to do what he can to provide adequate repacking reimbursement for broadcasters who don’t participate in the incentive auction, advance the next-gen broadcast standard and defend broadcasters’ retrans rights on two fronts (in Congress and at the FCC).
