[BC] NAB SMART

[Mark Humphrey]

On 12/5/06, stanleybadams <stanleybadams at yahoo.com> wrote:
> . To bad the new head of the NAB is not just
> giving his opinions, I think its time for a grass roots president who is out
> to serve the little boys and girls and by that, they will also serve the
> bigger ones.

Did you read the interview with David Rehr in Inside Radio?

http://www.insideradio.com/pdheadlines.asp?phid=240153&PT=Today%27s+Top+Stories

He laments the fact that today's young people don't feel the same
excitement about careers in radio as those of us who got into the
business 30 or 40 years ago. "We need to have people [in their teens
and early-20s] have those same special radio experiences 55-year-olds
had when they were that age that drove them [into the business]," he
comments.

My take on this:  The motivating factor for many of us who entered the
business in the '70s (when the "7-7-7 rule" was still in effect) was
the incentive to work our way up to station ownership.  FM was rapidly
expanding, and the FCC was still giving away construction permits.  We
could sense the potential for growth, and the business was still FUN.

But today, opportunities for an individual or small group to find
decent properties at reasonable prices are very limited, especially in
major markets.   The "money people" have taken over and it's all about
numbers.  20-year-olds don't see much difference between Radio Inc.
and Wal-Mart.

Some more excerpts from the Inside Radio article, worthy of comment:

Another priority is to be as aggressive as possible in getting the FCC
to move forward on some issues. Dr. Rehr: "We don't have digital AM
finalized [because] they still think HD is experimental. It's not. We
need to finalize the rules. People shouldn't have to wait years and
years to run their business."

"We also have to accelerate HD digital radio advancement. We've made
that the technological forward issue for the business and absolutely
have to make it successful."

Over 1000 stations are broadcasting in HD but it is imperative that
more receivers find their way into the marketplace to draw attention
to high definition. "That will help us re-tell a great story with a
new look," Dr. Rehr maintains. "We're covering 75% of the U.S.
population but want to have the Interstate corridors covered."

Mark