WASHINGTON, DC -- The National Association of Broadcasters Board of Directors met on October 29-30 in Dallas. Below is a summary of actions.
JOINT BOARD OF DIRECTORS
PROCEDURAL
MATTERS
NAB Joint Board Chairman Jack Sander, Senior Advisor to Belo Corp., called
the meeting to order. After a call of the roll, the minutes of the June
Board meeting were approved.
CHAIRMAN'S
REPORT
Mr. Sander welcomed new three new NAB Board members to the NAB Television
Board of Directors: Deborah McDermott, president, Young Broadcasting;
John Eck, president of NBC TV Network and Media Works; and Doug Kranwinkle,
executive vice president of law, Univision.
Mr. Sander discussed the many issues facing broadcasters, including the performance tax, interference zones, the proposed XM-Sirius merger-to-monopoly and the transition to digital TV.
Mr. Sander also briefed the Board on initiatives and goals discussed at the recent executive retreat in Lexington, Kentucky.
PRESIDENT'S
REPORT
NAB President and CEO David K. Rehr briefed the board on the proactive
advocacy efforts on the part of NAB staff in Washington. Mr. Rehr also
discussed several efforts geared to boost NAB membership value, including
the NAB handbook, marketing brochures and toolkits for membership.
Mr. Rehr also updated the Board on the recent successful NAB Radio Show in Charlotte and the unprecedented marketing radio repositioning project known as 'Radio 2020.'
Mr. Rehr also updated the Board on testimony given at recent Congressional hearings by NAB staff and Board members on a number of different issues.
ISSUES
UPDATE
NAB Executive Vice President of Government Relations Laurie Knight briefed
the Board on advocacy efforts related to the performance tax and reporter
shield legislation.
NAB Executive Vice President of Legal & Regulatory Affairs Marsha MacBride briefed the Board on advocacy efforts related to the proposed XM-Sirius merger, media ownership rules and program content issues.
NAB Executive Vice President of Administration & Agencies Doug Wiley briefed the Board on advocacy efforts related to direct-to-consumer advertising.
ELECTION UPDATE
Mr. Rehr outlined a number of competitive Congressional races and listed
the lawmakers who are not seeking re-election.
NABPAC
UPDATE
NAB Radio Board Vice Chairman Steve Newberry, president and CEO of Commonwealth
Broadcasting Corporation, updated the Board on the NAB Political Action
Committee and urged members to contribute.
FREE POLITICAL AIRTIME
NAB Executive Vice President of Media Relations Dennis Wharton encouraged
members to keep NAB apprised of their stations' efforts related to election
coverage, debate offers, and other forms of voluntary political free airtime
offers. Mr. Wharton noted the continued efforts by several activist groups
to require mandatory election coverage and urged stations to promote and
document their coverage.
NABEF
NABEF President Marcellus Alexander updated the Board on the recent efforts
of NABEF and noted upcoming NABEF programs and initiatives.
TELEVISION BOARD OF DIRECTORS
CALL
TO ORDER
Television Board Chairman Alan Frank, president,
Post-Newsweek Stations, Inc. called the Television Board to order. After
a call of the roll, minutes of the June Board meeting were approved.
TELEVISION/MEMBERSHIP
ACTIVITIES
NAB Executive Vice President of Television Marcellus Alexander updated
the Board on NAB TV membership, which now stands at 1,153 stations.
Elizabeth Murphy Burns, president of Morgan Murphy Media, briefed the Board on the success of the recent Small Market Group Roundtable and Television Exchange in Austin, TX. Attendance at the event was 240, the highest ever, she reported.
Mr. Alexander noted that plans are being made for the annual Futures Summit, March 16-18 in Pebble Beach, CA.
POLICY
DISCUSSION
Laurie Knight updated the Board on NAB advocacy efforts related to interference-causing
unlicensed personal-portable devices proposed to operate in spectrum reserved
for DTV broadcasting. Ms. Knight noted a successful news conference held
at NAB headquarters in September and highlighted both earned and paid
media efforts, in addition to NAB's government relations and legal efforts
on Capitol Hill and at the FCC.
Ms. Knight also briefed the Board on NAB advocacy efforts related to retransmission consent.
Alan Frank updated the Board on the status of the FCC's review of media ownership rules.
Mr. Frank also asked for the Board's support of North Dakota broadcasting stations in their efforts to ensure that DIRECTV follows through on its pledge to deliver local-into-local programming in all 210 TV markets.
OPEN MOBILE VIDEO COALITION
NAB Senior Vice President of Science and Technology Lynn Claudy provided
a brief history on technical efforts by the television industry to develop
mobile DTV reception capability.. NAB Network Representative Brandon Burgess,
president and CEO of ION Media Networks updated the Board on the current
and future efforts of the Open Mobile Video Coalition.
DTV
TRANSITION UPDATE
David Rehr updated the Board on NAB's educational efforts related to the
transition to digital television. Mr. Rehr introduced Smith Geiger's Seth
Geiger, who briefed the Board on research related to DTV educational efforts.
Peter Martin, president of United Front Media, briefed the Board on the creative aspects related to the DTV marketing campaign.
SMALL MARKET TELEVISION PROPOSAL
NAB Television Board Member Paul McTear, president and CEO of Raycom Media,
discussed efforts by the Coalition of Smaller Market Television to win
duopoly relief from the FCC in smaller markets.
RADIO BOARD OF DIRECTORS
CALL
TO ORDER
NAB Radio Board Chairman Russ Withers, owner of Withers Broadcasting Companies,
called the meeting to order. After roll call the minutes of the June Board
meeting were accepted.
PERFORMANCE TAX
Performance Tax Task Force Co-Chairman Bruce Goldsen, president and general
manager, Jackson Radio Works, briefed the Board on the task force's actions
related to a performance tax and introduced Laurie Knight, who updated
the Board on NAB's advocacy efforts related to the issue.
STREAMING NEGOTIATIONS
NAB Executive Vice President of Finance and Operations Mike Williams provided
the Board with an update on NAB's actions related to the Copyright Royalty
Board's recent decision increasing fees for streaming music online.
XM-SIRIUS
Marsha MacBride updated the Board on NAB advocacy efforts related to the
proposed government-sanctioned monopoly of XM and Sirius.
LOW
POWER FM
Laurie Knight briefed the Board on low power FM legislation pending in
Congress that would eliminate third adjacent channel interference protections.
Lynn Claudy outlined the technological and scientific aspects related to removing those interference protections. Mr. Claudy demonstrated what the interference would sound like if low power FM stations were allowed to operate on third adjacent channels to full power FM stations.
AM ON FM TRANSLATORS
NAB Radio Board Member John Barger, president and owner of San Antonio
RadioWorks and NAB Senior Vice President and General Counsel Jane Mago
briefed the Board on the status of FCC action to allow AM stations to
utilize FM translators.
RADIO REPOSITIONING PROJECT REPORT
O'Keefe Strategies President Kelly O'Keefe updated the Board on the recent
radio repositioning project known as 'Radio 2020.'
COLRAM
Russ Withers briefed the Board on activities of the COLRAM Committee meeting
held in Dallas this week.
RADIO
MEMBERSHIP AND UPCOMING EVENTS
NAB Executive Vice President of Radio John David updated the Board on
Radio membership. Mr. David also reported on the success of the recent
NAB Radio Show in Charlotte, and noted that next year's event will be
held Sept. 17-19 in Austin, TX.
HD
RADIO TECHNOLOGY ADVANCEMENT TASK FORCE REPORT
Board Member Caroline Beasley, EVP and CFO, Beasley Broadcasting, gave
an update on various NAB initiatives in support of the continued rollout
of HD Radio.
HD RADIO UPDATE
iBiquity President and CEO Bob Struble updated the Board on the status
of HD Radio implementation. Mr. Struble noted that Ford Motors recently
announced a partnership to include HD Radio as an option in all future
models.
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