Posted by Bud on September 18, 2009 at 18:47:21:
So much for the theory that they dumped Republican-friendly David Rehr to find a Democrat who could better work with the new Administration. The NAB has taken a Republican with no real radio or TV experience or background to run the Association for Broadcasters. From Radio Ink today:
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Gordon Smith Named NAB President/CEO
September 18, 2009: Gordon Smith, who served as a U.S. senator for Oregon from 1996-2008, has been named president and CEO for the NAB. Smith will be introduced to broadcasters at the NAB Radio Show and will officially join the organization on November 1, after meeting with the full NAB board next month.
Smith said, "I am honored to have been selected as NAB's new president and consider this an opportunity of a lifetime. As radio and television stations embrace new technologies and new business opportunities, I look forward to articulating to public policymakers the unique and positive role played by local and network broadcasters in the fabric of American society."
Smith, a Republican, served in the Senate on the Commerce Committee, which oversees the FCC, and also on the Energy and Natural Resources and Foreign Relations Committees. He also chaired a Senate High Tech Task Force, began his political career as an Oregon state senator and before that headed the family-owned Smith Frozen Foods. He was most recently with the law firm of Covington & Burling.
"We conducted an exhaustive search to identify the very best individual to lead a great trade association," said NAB Joint Board Chairman and Commonwealth Broadcasting President/CEO Steve Newberry. "We're convinced we have found that person in Gordon Smith. His background as a lawyer, a statesman, and as an entrepreneur -- coupled with his extensive knowledge of broadcast issues from having served many years on the Commerce Committee -- make Gordon eminently qualified to represent the interests of free and local broadcasters in Washington."