NAB Chief Keynote Warns About Telco Rivals, Touts Renewed D.C. Clout

National Association of Broadcasters president and CEO Gordon Smith told the industry crowd at the NAB Show in Las Vegas today to beware of broadcasters’ wireless rivals while touting the lobbying group’s legislative victories over the past year. Smith, giving the State of the Industry address this morning, warned that telecommunications companies who have been grabbing spectrum for mobile TV services will be seeking more. “They want us out of this game,” he said in his prepared remarks. “We can’t let down our guard.” In another major part of Smith’s keynote, he cited NAB’s efforts to help knock down the Performance Rights Act and shape spectrum laws that benefited broadcasters, calling the wins “game-changers” that “elevated the stature of NAB in Washington.” Said Smith: “We averted a spectrum grab from misguided friends who would have you believe that broadcasting is yesterday’s technology.” (more…)