An Electronic Publication of the National Association of Broadcasters

Proposed Ad Tax Stalled in D.C. Council

Last week, broadcasters achieved another victory in the ongoing fight against an advertising tax in the nation's capital. The D.C. Council pulled back from the proposed 3% ad tax that would hurt local radio and television stations, newspapers and other small businesses at a time when they are already struggling to survive amidst the coronavirus pandemic. Read NAB's response here. The strong response from NAB, radio and TV stations, state broadcaster associations and advertising groups made this possible - sending nearly 30,000 emails to D.C. Councilmembers in opposition to an ad tax. Broadcasters demonstrated to the Council that they should not attempt to find new revenue sources at the expense of small business owners and local media. NAB will keep fighting to ensure that when the Council votes tomorrow, the ad tax will be completely rejected.

Click on the button below to thank the D.C. Councilmembers who stood with local broadcasters on this issue.

Thank you for taking immediate action on this issue. NAB will continue to fight on your behalf and keep you informed about any pressing policy issues that may affect your business. If you have any questions, email NAB at advocacy@nab.org.

Fifth Annual PILOT Innovation Challenge Now Open

PILOT is looking to fund teams to develop a prototype that addresses this year's Challenge prompt and demonstrate it at NAB Show 2021 in Las Vegas, Nev.

The prompt is to develop a working prototype to improve real-time decentralized collaboration while managing live and recorded audio/video from multiple sources for media production in a limited bandwidth environment. Broadcasters should be able to implement the prototype as a supporting element within their current environment.

Submissions are open now through August 28, 2020 at 5 p.m. ET. To learn more about submitting an application, visit nabpilot.org/challenge.

Election Toolkit Equips Broadcasters to Cover Elections and Help Increase Voter Registration

NAB's 2020 Election Toolkit provides radio and television broadcasters with ideas and resources to help increase voter registration, education and turnout, as well as guidance on how to identify misinformation and fact check statements from political candidates. It offers tips for helping get out the vote, information on sponsoring debates and ideas for social media engagement and includes sample PSA scripts. We encourage stations to send stories of your election and debate coverage to Suzie Raven, senior manager, NAB Public Affairs, at sraven@nab.org, so we can promote what your station is doing to help build a stronger democracy. Also, in the coming weeks, NAB will make voter registration PSAs available to stations to support this effort.

Census Bureau Accepting Ad Buy Proposals from Local Stations

NAB has been aggressively seeking federal advertising opportunities for local radio and television stations facing enormous economic challenges due to the pandemic. To that end, NAB has been in contact with the Census Bureau on utilizing local broadcast advertising to increase response rates to the census in areas where they fall below the national average. We're pleased that the Census Bureau announced a $75 million RFP process for spots that will target mostly rural areas beginning in August and September.

Defending Journalists' Rights: Resources Available to Stations Covering Protests

NAB continues to be concerned about recent violence against journalists who are legally covering the civil unrest throughout the nation. Click here for a list of resources and information to help stations navigate these dangerous situations.

Furthermore, NAB and the NAB Leadership Foundation have worked closely with broadcast journalists, station managers, news industry leaders and journalism educators to create a toolkit with guidelines for reporting on sensitive matters of race and religion. Access the Awareness in Reporting toolkit to learn more.

We're Adding Additional Content to NAB Show Express

NAB Show Express wrapped up in May, but it isn't over! Content is still available on-demand with more being added in the coming months. We'll continue to feature sessions covering the trends and topics relevant to your career to keep you up-to-speed and your skills sharp. Exhibitors have setup dynamic profiles for you to explore their products and take your questions. Continue to check out the website to see the added content.

Radio Show Presents "Radio Week" October 5-9, 2020

Get ready to be part of an exciting week-long celebration of radio at the 2020 Radio Show, coming to you online each afternoon (ET) October 5-9. We'll celebrate radio, media and all things audio as we bring you the best of the best in content, networking opportunities, technology presentations and more! Save the date and stay tuned for updates and details about registration at RadioShowWeb.com.

Attention All Television Stations: Post Your Carriage Election Contact Information Online by July 31, 2020

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently modernized its carriage election notice rules. By the end of this month, TV broadcasters need to take action to comply with some of these new rules.

All Commercial TV Stations Must File Cable Royalty Claims by July 31, 2020

Commercial television stations whose signals were carried as distant signals by at least one cable system in 2019 must file a claim with the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) no later than July 31, 2020. If a station fails to file within this time frame, it cannot collect any royalties for 2019. As of 2017, this is now a two-step process: (1) If you did not do so last year, you must register through the new eCRB system and then (2) file your claim by July 31, 2020. Details on how to register and file a claim are provided in an NAB counsel memo, available here.

FCC Extends Waiver of Sponsor ID Rules to Allow Stations to Air PSAs During Donated Prepaid Ad Time

On June 26, the FCC's Media Bureau released an order extending its April 3 temporary waiver of the sponsorship identification requirements to reduce regulatory burdens on broadcasters airing PSAs during airtime originally purchased by commercial advertisers. The waiver will now be in effect through August 31, 2020.

Helping Stations Navigate the Pandemic

As states begin to reopen, broadcasters and other businesses are still grappling with the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While we've been on the front lines keeping our communities connected and informed, our trade association has been working around the clock to provide vital resources and support the needs of all broadcasters. Our NAB team is fighting for congressional and regulatory relief and providing tools to help your station continue to serve your local communities.

Click here to see how NAB is actively working to support your station and the resources available to you.

Your NAB membership means you have a team of professionals fighting for you every day in Washington, D.C. For assistance accessing these tools, don't hesitate to contact your NAB Membership Concierge at (202) 775-2555 or membership@nab.org.

COVID-19 Webcast: Guiding Your Community

NAB and research firm SmithGeiger provide timely and detailed information on how broadcasters can best operate during the coronavirus pandemic.

Reminder: COVID-19 Spots that Focus on Mental Wellness Available

NAB has produced public service announcements (PSAs) for stations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. They are available here for TV stations and here for radio stations. The PSAs focus on a mental wellness message of hope and encouragement for Americans, and direct listeners and viewers to WeAreBroadcasters.com/Hope.

NAB Podcast Episodes Focused on Congressional Conversations and the Next Gen TV Rollout

NASBA president Mark Gordon and ATSC board chairman Lynn Claudy join us for compelling conversations. Learn how and why broadcasters should communicate with their federal representatives over summer and get a status report on the current ATSC 3.0, or Next Gen TV, rollout across the country.

On-Demand: Beltway Briefing - COVID-19 Broadcaster Relief

Learn more about NAB's efforts to advocate for additional COVID-19 broadcaster relief, so you can speak to your legislators when they are in their home districts. Gain strategies for effectively communicating the importance of local broadcasting even when you cannot meet with policymakers face-to-face. This webcast is now available to watch on-demand for NAB members.

Summer Webinar Series: How to Build Out a Next Gen TV Station

Join us for our new summer webinar series designed to help station engineers and technology managers gain a better understanding of the ATSC 3.0 standard that powers Next Gen TV.

This webinar series is exclusively available to NAB members and includes seven segments entitled:

• Standing up a Host Station (Now Available)
• ATSC 3.0 Layered Structure (Now Available)
• Encoding and Packaging (Now Available)
• Encapsulation, Signaling and Gateway (Now Available)
• HELD and NRT, Application and Framework (Available July 30)
• Content Security and Service Protection (Available August 13)
• Host Station Configuration and Service Profiles (Available August 26)

Free for NAB members!

On-demand: RadioDNS Setup Tutorial

Learn how to set up and support hybrid radio (over-the-air plus internet) using RadioDNS. Designed specifically for software developers, this webinar will provide a step-by-step guide on how to generate a service information (SI) file from an existing database of station information, so that your radio station can utilize all the capabilities that BMW and Audi hybrid radios have to offer.

Cyber Awareness for Broadcasters

This course equips broadcasters with a strong level of awareness as well as tools to help keep their organization safe. Learn the foundational practices that make up good cyber hygiene and habits every employee should incorporate into their workdays. FREE for a limited time!