1. NAB TV Board Affirms Commitment to Ensuring Access to Local Television

Earlier this week, the NAB Television Board of Directors adopted a policy statement reaffirming the association’s commitment to protecting viewers’ access to live, local broadcast stations and the vital local journalism and trusted information they freely provide.

• NAB Joint Board Chair Perry Sook: “This trade association’s mission is to protect consumer access to the trusted news and content broadcast stations provide to local communities in this age of misinformation and disinformation. Local journalism is the bedrock of our democracy and our advocacy agenda will be guided by this singular purpose.”
• Dig deeper: Read the full policy statement here.

2. NAB Board Welcomes New Member and Holds Leadership Elections

The results of the 2024 NAB Executive Committee elections have been announced.

• Collin Jones, executive vice president, Corporate Strategy and Development of Cumulus Media and president, Westwood One, was reelected radio board chair by the NAB radio board.
• Pat LaPlatney, president and co-chief executive officer of Gray Television Inc., was reelected as NAB television board chair.
• In addition to the elections, Pilar Ramos, executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary of TelevisaUnivision, Inc. was appointed to the open television board seat created by a vacancy in a seat previously held by the company.
• See the full results here.

3. Stations’ Public Service Spotlighted at Gala

The NAB Leadership Foundation honored the recipients of the 2024 Celebration of Service to America Awards at their annual gala in Washington, D.C., earlier this week.

• The awards, presented by Bonneville International and Hearst Television, honor the excellence in community service and philanthropy by local radio and television stations.
• 🏆 Hosted by Joie Chen, special correspondent for Hearst Television’s “Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien,” eight stations and ownership groups were recognized for their outstanding work, and Mutual of Omaha was honored with the Corporate Leadership Award.

4. New Cybersecurity Incident Reporting Requirements

In March 2022, the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022 (CIRCIA) was enacted into law. CIRCIA requires covered entities to file reports with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) about certain incidents, ransom payments made in response to a ransomware attack and other information regarding new and previously submitted reports.

• What's happening: CISA has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to solicit public comments on rules it has proposed for implementing the requirements in CIRCIA.
• Next steps: Broadcasters are strongly encouraged to review the CISA NPRM, consult with the attorney and consider filing comments on the potential impacts of the new reporting obligations on your operations.
• Dig deeper: Some of the major issues raised in the CISA NPRM include: (1) what kind of incidents must be reported; (2) what information must be reported and (3) the relevant deadlines for reporting certain covered cyber incidents. The NPRM is extremely long so the Congressional Research Service has produced a brief summary, which can be found here. Comments are due by July 3, 2024.

5. 2024 Broadcasting Hall of Fame Award Winners Share Exclusive Insights

New on the NAB Podcast: Radio legend Donnie Simpson and John and Callahan Walsh, co-hosts of FOX's groundbreaking true crime series, "America's Most Wanted," discuss what winning the 2024 NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame Award means to them, their impact on the broadcasting community and what made them award worthy.

• Take a listen here.

6. NAB’s Nicole Gustafson Joins Leadership Music Class of 2025

Leadership Music has announced that it is welcoming Nicole Gustafson, senior vice president of Government Relations at NAB, to its class of 2025. Gustafson joins current class member NAB Executive Vice President of Industry Affairs April Carty-Sipp and former class member NAB President and CEO Curtis LeGeyt as participants of this prestigious program.

• 🎵 Based in Nashville, this national program gives music industry leaders the opportunity to learn about all segments of the music business and explore current issues affecting the industry.

7. FCC DIRS Exercise Next Week

In preparation for the 2024 hurricane season, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will conduct an exercise of the Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) from June 10-12, 2024.

• What's happening: The planned exercise will help ensure that broadcasters and other communications providers can access and file in the DIRS system and update DIRS contact information.
• On December 4, 2023, the legacy DIRS system was decommissioned in favor of a new platform, which is accessible here. Instructions for updating or creating a DIRS account that can access the new DIRS system can be found here.
• What to expect: The exercise will begin with the FCC’s Public Safety Bureau sending a mock activation letter to all registered DIRS participants on June 10. The letter will state that this is only an exercise. The letter will provide a list of pre-selected counties in the mock disaster area.
• Providers will be asked to report data on any communications assets it has in the affected area. If a provider does not have any communications assets in the affected counties, it can still participate in the exercise by reporting mock data for the pre-selected counties.
• The FCC asks that exercise participants provide their initial data sets by 10 a.m. EST on June 11 with an updated report filed by June 12 at 10 a.m. EST. The Bureau will send a deactivation letter by 3 p.m. EST on June 12.

How to participate: Stations that would like to participate in this voluntary exercise should email michael.caiafa@fcc.gov and john.healy@fcc.gov by June 3 with the following information in Excel format:

1. Name of the provider
2. Names of all participants from the provider
3. Email and phone numbers of all participants from the provider
4. Specific geographic areas (counties, state) that the provider would like to have included in the disaster area for this exercise (optional)

No response is necessary if you do not wish to participate in this exercise. More information can be found here.

8. Hispanic Media GOTV Toolkit Now Available

The Hispanic Media GOTV Coalition is a first of its kind effort focused on voter registration and turnout in the Hispanic community.

• What is it? With broadcast-ready spots in Spanish and English, scripts, research and data, a speaker’s bureau and more, this toolkit provides resources and ideas for coalition members to educate and energize Hispanic voters.
• Get involved: You can access the toolkit here, or learn more about becoming a member of the coalition here.

9. Develop Talent for Your Station

"You Belong Here" is a multifaceted campaign to help broadcasters find, hire and grow talent in their stations.

• Get started: Visit YouBelongHere.media/toolkit to download a 30-second customizable spot, a long-form video for classrooms or career fairs, social media and other digital assets and messaging.
• Use these to direct job seekers to YouBelongHere.media to learn how they can use their skills and find their passion in broadcast media and access thousands of jobs available in broadcast media.