TORONTO – Fox Networks’ Clyde Smith will receive the 2019 NABA International Achievement Award at next month’s annual general meeting of the North American Broadcasters Association (NABA).
The award is bestowed to a single individual for an outstanding contribution to the international art and/or science of radio or television that has made a significant impact on, or improvement in the state of one or both of these arts.
Smith, who recently retired from the engineering and operations team at Fox Networks, is a Life Fellow of the SMPTE and an Honorary Member of the IABM. His list of honours and achievements include an Emmy, Broadcasting and Cable’s Technology Leadership award, the SMPTE Progress Medal, and the David Sarnoff Medal – all reflecting his leadership and innovation in many different senior engineering roles at Fox, Turner (TBS) and Lockheed Space Operations on transport and communication systems for the Space Shuttle, after the Challenger accident.
NABA said Monday that the award celebrates Smith’s leadership in all of those areas and recognizes his later years at Fox, where he worked with NABA colleagues to develop common metadata and specifications for file formats.
“Clyde’s engineering innovation and technology leadership was always focussed on who was doing it best and what we can do to make it work for all of us,” said NABA president Richard Friedel, who is also EVP of technology strategy, 21st Century Fox. “Clyde is a global thinker and followed the Marshall McLuhan principle of “think globally and act locally.”
“It has been my privilege to work closely with the talented and dedicated staff and members of NABA as well as the DPP, EBU, SMPTE and BBC to develop fundamental improvements in Interoperability”, added Smith. “I am deeply thankful for their participation, contributions and for this prestigious recognition of our achievements together.”
