Retiring NAB CEO Gordon Smith and his successor Curtis LeGeyt shared the spotlight and insight into what lies ahead for the association. The pair, telling QUU CEO Steve Newberry and those at Forecast 2022 that success will require continued cooperation of Radio and Television Broadcasters.
Recalling when he started his leadership of more than a decade; Smith said radio and television board members wouldn’t even sit next to each other. But that has changed for the good.
“Always remember that the fundamental thing that everyone here has in common is over the air, free local broadcasting. NAB’s purpose is to advocate for that. Even if you have other interests; always remember what keeps you together is more important than what divides you. The more the NAB can be permitted to have its board come together to focus on what the broadcaster needs, that will enable us not to be neutered on a lot of issues. If we can advocate for broadcasting We Will Win!”
LeGeyt is of the same mind.
“This is an industry that needs to stay unified. For all the ways that the media landscape has become disrupted and fragmented, I think broadcasters of all sizes; need to remain coalesced around focus on community. We need to be the antidote to all the disinformation on Social Media and the antidote to the politicization of Cable News. We are going to continue to have a strong, unified voice, no matter what innovations take place.”
“It’s insuring that inspite of some differences; we can keep the industry unified and our team is one that is known to be inclusive of all broadcast voices. Getting out of Washington D.C. and hearing about and caring about your businesses. Because, it’s very very easy, as a trade association, to continue winning yesterdays fights. With all the urgency I’m hearing and feeling from broadcasters, we need to insure we are fighting tomorrows fights.”
And what fights are on the horizon? Smith has two in mind.
“One of the reasons to stay united is that the congress as a matter of public policy, and the courts and the FCC need to rebalance the relationship in the Digital world between broadcasting and ‘FAANG’–Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google. That’s going to be a really important fight, and its probably the biggest fight of the next decade. It may take that long to get there, but you will get there if you stay together. That will insure not just that you survive but you thrive.”
“Secondly, for those of you in radio, you’ve heard me say for a longtime; the Performance Tax is the ‘Sword of Damocles’ hanging over radio. There will come the day that radio really needs something from congress and the price of getting that may be a Performance Tax. I wouldn’t wait to be victimized by someone else, I would look for opportunities to shape that kind of world.”
“You see your opponents in the performance community, they are much more fractured than we are in radio. There are a lot of vested interests on their side of the table that are really a mess. But what they agree on now is that they want to keep beating on the demand for a performance tax without ever giving anything up on the digital side; with hope that someday we will give them something on the terrestrial fee with nothing on the digital side.”
“That is a catastrophe, don’t let it get to that. Look for the opportunity with Curtis to find a way to a better place. Eventually that may become necessary as you get to 20%, 30% or even 50% of listenership on a paid platform like a digital stream. That’s a bad future and there’s gotta be a better way to shape that future. You can, if you stay together and think creatively.”
“Remember I used to always use the admonition…’You stop it if we can; we shape it if we must.’ This is something that eventually we may have to shape. So be open to it and know that you have an association that can help you win that future instead of having someone elses future imposed on you.”
For LeGeyt’s part, he is ready for a thoughtful approach to advocacy and working closely with members.
“The one item I can absolutely commit to is an accessible NAB. An organization that you feel represents you in Washington D.C., because we understand your businesses. We are more granular. Any NAB member should be able to pick up the phone and be heard within our trade association.”
“I hope when we are having this conversation 10 years from now I’m hearing that ‘NAB saw some opportunities that were coming around the corner, they capitalized on them from a policy perspective and a regulatory perspective and provided businesses with more resources to succeed.’ So as a result, local broadcasters are thriving and the NAB was a big part of that.”
