trade associations

He will develop and advance NAB’s policy goals, leading industry advocacy on NextGen TV and addressing a variety of spectrum matters and other regulatory issues.

ACA Connects has named three new members of its leadership team, including staffers from both sides of the political aisle and one longtime top communications executive from the National Association of Broadcasters. L-r: Zamir Ahmed, VP of external affairs; Olivia Shields, VP of public affairs and communications; and Max Staloff, VP of regulatory affairs.

After a dozen years as president-CEO, Erica Farber is stepping down from the Radio Advertising Bureau. She will be succeeded by Mike Hulvey, a member of the RAB’s executive committee, who joins from CEO of Neuhoff Media. He joins RAB as CEO  on  April 1, 2024.

Paramount Global has become the first programmer to join Go Addressable, a group formed by distributors to push addressable advertising that has now been incorporated as a nonprofit trade organization. The other members of Go Addressable, which launched as an industry initiative, are Altice USA’s a4 Advertising, Charter Communications’ Spectrum Reach, Comcast Advertising, DirecTV Advertising and Dish Media.

The video streaming industry has some new champions in Washington. Former House Energy & Commerce Committee chair Fred Upton, a Republican, and former FCC Chair Mignon Clyburn, a Democrat, will be senior advisers to the newly minted Streaming Innovation Alliance, which will advocate for over-the-top video providers in Washington. Among the new group’s backers are Max, Netflix, Peacock, Paramount Plus, BET Plus, Pluto TV and The Walt Disney Co. The Motion Picture Association played a major role in putting together the alliance.

Ted Hearn, VP of communications for ACA Connects and former Washington bureau chief for Multichannel News, has apparently left the association. His X (Twitter) handle has changed to one no longer associated with ACAC and he is no longer listed among the staff there. No word on where Hearn is headed — ACAC execs were not available for comment at deadline — but he was one of the most experienced and respected communications beat reporters when he joined ACA Connects, then the American Cable Association, in March 2009.

Station groups form a new advocacy organization dedicated to protecting America’s most trusted source of news in the streaming era. It is urges lawmakers and regulators to modernize existing regulations and protect the economic viability of local TV news.

The gala event will take place on Feb. 28 at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington.

The association’s SVP of communications is exiting on Feb. 21 after more than 20 years. She’s becoming the executive director of the Congressional Club Museum and Foundation in Washington.

The former New York Times digital journalist takes over at the nonprofit beginning March 31.

In an uncharacteristic breaking of the U.S. advertising trade association ranks, the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s) issued a joint statement blasting remarks made last week by Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) CEO David Cohen characterizing Washington lawmakers as “extremists” hellbent on destroying the ad industry.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau on Sunday announced the appointment of Alysia Borsa to chair of the trade organization’s board of directors. Borsa also serves as chief business officer and president of lifestyle at Dotdash Meredith. Borsa, who has served on the board since February 2020, most recently as IAB board co-chair, replaces Krishan Bhatia, president and chief business officer at NBCUniversal Media. Bhatia will remain on the executive committee of the board.

Plans include an interactive website, a story sharing campaign and special events.

Independent video and broadband providers will celebrate ACAC’s 30th anniversary on Feb. 28-March 2. The theme fis “Shaping the Future” – which acknowledges that 2023 is a watershed year for broadband deployment and related policy across the U.S.

Robinson, who has been with the Alliance for 15 years, will take the reins of the 900-plus member organization Oct. 20. The alliance comprises Wi-Fi technology- and distribution-related entities including Charter Communications, Comcast, CableLabs, Google, Verizon Communications, Apple, Microsoft, Samsung and a number of others.

The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers has elected new board officers, including the first Black SMPTE board president, Warner Bros. Discovery’s Jenkins. All of the new officers will begin serving in January 2023.