Mr. Smith Goes Off On Washington

摘要

National association of broadcasters president Gordon Smith, calm, collected and well-tailored, looks like the same, not-a-hair-out-of-place former senator that B&C spoke with last fall. But, figuratively at least, Smith-who has run the NAB since 2009-now has his sleeves rolled up for a brawl. Make that a number of them. On Capitol Hill, the NAB is fighting to keep the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act (STELA) reauthorization bill from being a referendum on retrans, a draft bill on which the association went along with restrictions on coordinated retrans only because it was, frankly, the best deal it could get. In the courts-Supreme to be exact-broadcasters are trying to keep Aereo from delivering a body blow to their businesses models. At the FCC, they've been preparing for a March 31 vote on limiting joint sales agreements (JSAs) and coordinated retrans, an incentive auction that Smith says could wind up in court if the FCC doesn't change direction, and what Smith suggests is an FCC bias against his members.