NAB President and CEO Discusses State of the Broadcast Industry at NAB Show 2023
By Sadaf Sundas Riaz (International Desk)
as a loud megaphone for the incredible work that our journalists across the country are doing, and reminding not only communities, but policymakers that it may be politically convenient to point and label us fake news, but we are the ones rolling up our sleeves in these communities, shining a light on abuses, getting in the weeds, making sure that our communities have the information that they need.”
Competing with Big Tech:
“We need to innovate to compete in a world in which these big tech behemoths have changed everything. They've changed everything with regard to the local advertising market and our ability to generate advertising dollars to reinvest in our content. They've changed everything as audiences are migrating online, using their platforms to access broadcast television and radio content. And they've got so much market power that they can determine the terms of access that in our view does not allow for fair compensation for our content despite the degree to which we drive tremendous traffic to their sites.
“So, in light of that reality, and everyone in this room is facing that in different ways, and thinking about how do we keep this business viable in a world in which we are competing with these completely unregulated behemoths, the FCC has a large role to play. They have a significant role to play in thinking about our current media ownership regulations, both television and radio. Do these regulations need to be modernized to reflect the reality of today's marketplace, where broadcasters aren't simply competing against other broadcasters for advertising dollars and audience? We're competing with everyone. Yet, the regulations we operate under recognize a fairly antiquated reality, and certainly NAB thinks those rules of the road need to be modernized both locally and nationally.”
Concluding remarks on the future of broadcasting:
“It is innovation that is going to enable us to further our hyperlocal connection to our communities. That is our competitive advantage every day that we are focusing on that innovation, that relevance in both television and radio. That is where we are going to continue to thrive as a strong competitor in this media landscape, but as an indispensable function for our local communities across the country. So, I couldn't be more excited to lead that fight. And I'm just grateful for the conversation today and the opportunity to have so many people out here at this show investing in broadcast future.”