Steve Newberry is President of more than just regional radio group Commonwealth Broadcasting — he is also the newly-installed Chairman of the NAB Radio Board. Here’s his take on the current situation:
First off, I want to thank RBR for giving me this opportunity. Never before in my 30 plus years in Radio have there been more critically important issues facing our business. I am truly honored to serve with such a talented and passionate group of leaders on the NAB Radio Board. From the top group station owners in large markets to Board members representing some of the finest small market stations in America , ours is a diverse team committed to addressing not only our myriad challenges, but also the opportunities we must seize to ensure Radio’s vibrant future.
Inside the Beltway, our challenges have never been greater. On Capitol Hill, the recording industry is asking lawmakers to charge local radio stations for simply playing music. And at the FCC, regulators are considering new “localism rules” that would place increased regulatory burdens on radio, potentially hampering a station’s ability to serve listeners. Each proposal carries grave risks for our future, and we must be steadfast in our efforts to ensure that lawmakers and regulators understand the negative impact of these proposals.
On the performance tax front, our arguments are bolstered by a recent announcement that more than 219 House members – a majority of the 435-member House of Representatives – are now on record in opposition to the notion of charging radio stations for airplay. Thanks to the fine efforts of NAB staff and our grassroots lobbying efforts, we have framed this issue as a $2-7 billion tax on broadcasters that would benefit primarily the foreign-owned record labels. Our efforts have come despite the outrageous efforts of the Recording Industry Association of America, which continues to marginalize the promotional value of local radio airplay while using the very artists that the record labels have abused for decades as a shield for their own unmitigated greed. We can’t let free radio be used as a federal bailout fund for the financial woes of the recording industry.
Of equal concern in Washington is the FCC proposal to place new rules on stations under the misguided notion that Radio has somehow abandoned our commitment to localism. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth, and one need look no further than Radio’s wall-to-wall coverage of the recent floods in Iowa and other Midwestern states to fully appreciate our role as a lifeline service. Public service is the lifeblood of local broadcasting – it’s in our DNA – and I for one cannot understand how policymakers have allowed a handful of professional activists to overshadow the tremendous work being done day-in and day-out by broadcasters in towns and cities across America .
Nonetheless, the localism proceeding is something we have to take seriously, and we have to continue to make the case that the last thing broadcasters need is a new mandate from Washington dictating how we serve our local communities.
It is not lost on me that while folks in Washington are questioning our commitment to localism, they are also considering making satellite radio a monopoly. Go figure – XM and Sirius have systematically broken nearly every rule put forth by the FCC since they began operating in 1997, and yet there’s speculation that their bad behavior might get rewarded with a monopoly. You just can’t make this up!
Amidst the challenges facing our industry are a number of opportunities. In April, NAB announced a newly completed project to accelerate HD Radio implementation through the use of a new exporter technology, significantly reducing a station’s cost to upgrade to HD Radio. NAB also commissioned a study that showed the benefits of getting FM receiver chips built into cell phones. With hundreds of millions of cell phone subscribers in America , the benefits to radio are no doubt enormous. But the new feature would also prove beneficial to cell phone service providers and consumers as well. By embracing new technology we can ensure that radio’s best days are yet to come.
I’ll make one comment that I hope does not get misunderstood. If you are a radio broadcaster and you don’t know your U.S. Senator or Congressional representative, you must do better. We’ve done a decent job cultivating our Capitol Hill relationships in the past, but we need to do better.
It’s no secret that broadcasting is heavily regulated, and that our adversaries want to make that regulation a lot worse. For better or worse, the folks in Washington can make or break our business. Your elected members of Congress will have a big say in whether our stations have to be manned 24 hours a day, or whether the record labels get their hands on as much as $7 billion in wealth from the radio business. So it is up to every radio station operator in America to get to know your lawmakers, to invite them into your stations, and to explain to them the unique national treasure that is free, local radio. I’m optimistic that we’ll be just fine if we just start cementing these relationships and telling our story.
In summation, I’m confident that the NAB Radio Board and the talented NAB staff are up to challenges facing this great industry. We welcome input and advice from all broadcasters.
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