LAS VEGAS – Acknowledging these are tough times for everyone, including broadcasters, National Association of Broadcasters president and CEO David Rehr did his level best to out a positive spin on the broadcast industry in officially opening the 2009 NAB Convention and Conference here in Las Vegas.
Just before presenting TV icon Mary Tyler Moore with a lifetime achievement award, Rehr tried to rally the troops, urging them to concentrate on tomorrow by outlining what the association has done and is doing.
He touched on Radio 2020 – a multi-year plan to revitalize radio and beat back perceptions that radio is a dying, old, medium. Noting that listenership is actually on the rise and that 235 million Americans listen to radio each week, not including listenership online (which Arbitron says numbers about 42 million), the industry is still healthy and a very viable platform for advertisers as well.
From a larger point of view, Radio 2020’s goal is “wherever there is a speaker or a pair of headphones… radio will be there,” said Rehr.
“NAB recently negotiated a deal with Sound Exchange to ensure radio stations can continue to stream online and more stations can begin to stream in the future. The deal also provides more reasonable streaming rates and ensures certainty of costs through 2015,” added Rehr.
He also outlined much progress on the HD Radio (digital radio) front, Stateside. (Sadly, there is virtually nothing to report on so far on the Canadian digital radio front.)
HD Radio receivers are now available in 14 car brands and 82 total models and the NAB is working hard to get FM receivers built into mobile phones and other handheld media devices – which will also deliver the Emergency Alert System to 250 million cell phones in the States.
(Once again, that certainly brings home a major failing in the Canadian system as we still have no EAS system to speak of.)
After touching on the $1 billion or so spent on the transition to digital on the TV side, Rehr continued on his mobile theme, talking up the year-old Open Mobile Video Coalition, “more than 800 stations working to bring digital television to mobile and handheld devices,” he explained.
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“I believe the revenue upside is probably far greater than we can even imagine,” he added.
This year, mobile digital television will launch across 66 stations in 27 markets – covering 38% of American TV households, added Rehr.
The organization’s next target? Receivers in the 40 million or so laptops sold in the States every year.
Will it all work? Who knows. Even Rehr – who is as polished as a lobbyist as they come – predicted stumbles, but better an opening speech crystal-balling a rosier future than one talking about 25% revenue drops some stations groups are reporting.
