NAB

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.”

The National Association of Broadcasters has asked the FCC to give stations in markets 61-100 more time before they are made subject to the FCC’s video description rules, which were mandated in the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010. The organization cited the pandemic’s effects on some stations in mid-markets.

Broadcasters are pushing back on cable arguments that leased-access rules represent an infringement on cable’s First Amendment rights, and for good reason. If broadcasters want to preserve their cable carriage mandate, which they definitely do in a world where most broadcast viewing is over cable and satellite retransmissions — the cord-cutting trend notwithstanding — they want to nip the First Amendment challenge to that other carriage mandate in the bud.

Broadcasters are telling the FCC that the pandemic makes it that much more important to streamline reviews of foreign ownership in broadcast properties, in part because pandemic-hammered stations may need to convert foreign debt into equity to avoid defaulting on the loans.

The head of the NAB Leadership Foundation is tapped to head the association’s internal efforts to further equity and inclusion at all levels of the organization and elevate NAB’s external role as a resource to NAB member companies in their efforts to increase and promote industry diversity.

The FCC has signaled it does not plan to change its plans to raise broadcast regulatory fees, a move that has the National Association of Broadcasters pushing back hard. The commission voted May 13 to propose collecting $339 million in regulatory fees for 2020, including the fee increase for broadcasters. But NAB said the FCC has not explained why it has denied broadcasters relief given the pandemic.

The FCC’s approach to Fiscal Year 2020 regulatory fees for broadcasters is “patently unfair and likely unlawful,” ignoring the impact COVID-19 is having on the industry, according to comments filed by the NAB. The comments are in response to an FCC proposal that would require the commission to collect $339 million in regulatory fees for the fiscal year. While that amount is the same as last year, the NAB says that the FCC proposal would see many broadcasters have to pay increased regulatory fees for the second consecutive year.

Emily Barr, president-CEO, Graham Media Group, was re-elected as NAB Television Board chair, while David Santrella, Salem Media Group president of broadcast media, was re-elected Radio Board chair, among other results

The online event will take place in fall 2020 and include TVNewsCheck’s TV2025 and Post|Production World Online, among other prominent conference programs. NAB says: “Our goal for the digital experience is to provide a valuable forum for the industry to restart, refocus and reengage.”

The National Association of Broadcasters this week recommended to the FCC that it adopt new ownership rules that would encourage broadcasters to offer “Broadcast Internet” services via ATSC 3.0 (aka NextGen TV).

Broadcasters are telling the FCC it should confine its white spaces item to the narrow changes agreed to by the National Association of Broadcasters and Microsoft and not range into other, murkier areas where Loch Ness monsters and Sasquatches lurk to muck up the compromise. That came in reply comments to the regulator’s proposal to make those changes. Other commenters wanted it to make some more adjustments.

Dennis Wharton is exiting his post as chief spokesman and communications strategist for the National Association of Broadcasters at the end of June after 24 years, the longest such tenure in the group’s history. In a previous life, Wharton covered Washington as the D.C. bureau chief for Variety.

The National Association of Broadcasters said that about 40,000 people have accessed its “inaugural” NAB Show Express online marketplace/event, which was the association’s effort to replicate, virtually, some of its canceled NAB Show. According to NAB, more than 1.6 million minutes of video has been consumed since the event launched May 13. NAB suggested it would be offering hybrid versions of physical and virtual events going forward.

Broadcasters have advised the FCC not to finalize its cost catalog for reimbursable C-Band moving expenses until broadcasters have vetted satellite operator transition plans and to be prepared for COVID-19-related boosts in those expenses.

The association’s EVP of communications will leave July 1 after 24 years. NAB will merge the association’s communications and marketing departments into a new Public Affairs Department that will be led by NAB’s Michelle Lehman who has tapped Ann Marie Cumming, currently SVP of communications, to serve as the organization’s primary spokesperson.

Local TV, newspaper and radio companies have joined an NAB-led initiative to push for an increase in the current ad budget part of the next fiscal stimulus package under consideration by Congress. They hope to see federal advertising expanded to between $5 billion and $10 billion for the rest of the year.

The National Association of Broadcasters has pulled the plug on its physical Celebration of Service to America awards gala in Washington June 9. Instead, there will be a virtual event sometime in the summer, but one that will add the “unparalleled efforts of broadcasters during the COVID-19 pandemic” to those being celebrated.

Broadcasters are telling the FCC that the current pandemic provides even more argument for loosening broadcast ownership regs. They are telling the FCC it needs to declare the video and audio markets more competitive than they have ever been, arguing that both FCC ownership limits — which the FCC under Chairman Ajit Pai has tried to loosen — and Department of Justice merger reviews — are “premised on the view that local TV and radio stations exist in markets hermetically sealed against the vast array of choices available to audiences and advertisers.”

While some were cheering the FCC’s decision to allow unlicensed devices — for things like streaming, video calling, IoT — to use all 1200 MHz of the 6 GHz band, there were some discouraging words as well. “NAB is disappointed the FCC is allowing uncoordinated unlicensed use across the entire 6 GHz band,” said EVP of Communications Dennis Wharton. “Unlike in other recent proceedings, the commission did not bring stakeholders together to seek compromise.”

The latest COVID-19 legislative package will apparently not include a couple of things that would have helped media outlets facing plunging ad dollars and a public’s increased reliance on critical news and information. A compromise bill was struck Tuesday (April 21) on a $480 billion successor bill to help small businesses. Broadcasters and newspapers, with the help of some legislators, had pushed for the next COVID-19 aid bill to include billions of dollars in federal advertising expenditures-for PSAs or census response campaigns — to be directed specifically to local media outlets.

The NAB is clearly unhappy with the prospect that the FCC will open up the entire 6 GHz band for sharing with unlicensed wireless. Patrick McFadden, the group’s associate general counsel, left nothing but scorched earth beneath the Open Technology Institute, Facebook, tech companies in general, conservative groups and others in a blog post over the hot-button issue of opening up that spectrum, a proposal the FCC is voting on this week.

The digital platform is free and will offer 24-hour access to premium content curated and customizable for the global media and entertainment community.

The National Association of Broadcasters today announced the results of the 2020 NAB Radio and Television Board elections. The two-year terms of the elected board members will begin in June.

Broadcasters are giving new meaning to the phrase “dynamic spectrum access” in arguing that an FCC proposal to free up WiFi spectrum in the 6 GHz band could take away electronic newsgathering spectrum just when a pandemic-sequestered nation needs it most. That came in phone calls last week between National Association of Broadcasting executives and FCC officials.

The News Media Alliance, National Association of Broadcasters, National Newspaper Association and America’s Newspapers ask the government to provide critical support to local news media in its next stimulus bill designed to provide relief to businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The coalition of broadcasters and technology companies seeks to advance innovation in broadcast industry.

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 Univision executive assumes the network board seat previously occupied by Jessica Herrera-Flanigan, who recently left Univision for a position in the Washington office of Twitter.

The radio-TV toolkit will also offer best practices for broadcast stations to combat coronavirus misinformation.

As of Tuesday (March 3), the NAB Show in Las Vegas April 18-22 is still on, according to a webpage the National Association of Broadcasters set up to keep interested parties up to date on its status relative to the coronavirus, with NAB saying its response to the virus threat would be based on facts, not fear.

The toolkit provides broadcasters with resources to identify misinformation online, suggestions about fact-checking statements made by political candidates, tips for helping get out the vote and ideas for social media engagement with citizens. It also offers scripts for PSAs about voting in primary and general elections, as well as information about sponsoring debates and candidate forums.

NAB, legal counsel for Pearl TV and the general counsel of Meredith met last week with staff of the FCC Media Bureau to discuss the transition to NextGen TV and recommend a change in what broadcasters submit to the agency as part of their ATSC 3.0 license applications to allay concerns over possible contractual indemnification issues.

The National Association of Broadcasters says its opponents have given the FCC no reason to deny NAB’s request that it clarify its disclosure requirements for third-party political ads and follow NAB’s “rationally tailored approach.”

Now open to more stations in small and mid-size markets (DMAs 50+), NAB has renamed the former Small Market Television Exchange to the NAB Sales and Management Television Exchange (SMTE). It will be held this year in Louisville, Ky., on Sept. 24-25.