NAB President: Broadcasting Is A 'Higher Calling'

New president Gordon Smith wants to make sure people understand the many way broadcasters give back

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/23/2009 6:42:40 PM

New NAB President Gordon Smith told an NAB Radio Show crowd in Philadelphia Wednesday that it would be his job "to make sure policymakers and the rest of America understand the many ways broadcasters give back to their communities."
 
In his first address as presumptive head of the association--he does not take over until Nov. 1, Smith, the former Republican senator from Oregon, said that broadcasting was a "higher calling," seeming to both call broadcasters the angels of their better nature and praise them for the work they already do.
 
"It's knowing you've been entrusted with the public's airwaves, and recognizing that what you report and air impacts the lives of your viewers," he said. "You serve your communities in remarkable ways, improving the quality of life and fostering the principles of localism."
 
While it was a radio show, Smith talked briefly about TV as well. With the advent of digtal television, "there are many doors opening for television broadcasters with the acceleration and development of mobile digital television products and services," he said.
 
"It's amazing to think we will be able to watch live TV anywhere we are. Mobile digital television will transform the way we watch television."
 
He said that a light regulatory hand was needed to help spur innovation in content delivery. "The ability of broadcasters to operate in a marketplace free of unnecessary regulation will only help to accelerate the development of new broadcast technologies."