NABOB outlines Washington priorities

As it gets set for its 26th Annual Awards Dinner in Washington later this month (3/19/10), the National Association of Black-Owned Broadcasters has put a spotlight on its efforts in the Nation’s Capital, mostly on behalf of minority radio owners and operators.

Among its key ongoing efforts:

NABOB is pressing key administrators at the Census Bureau to spend more of their marketing budget with minority broadcasters on both the radio and television side. And they are not without inside help: Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) have also been pressing the case with the CB.

The organization notes that Census isn’t the only government agency that buys advertising, but it seems to be the only one being watched at the moment. It says the feds spend over $1B annually, and that its constituents want a bigger piece of that pie. Particularly, NABOB is targeting the Department of Defense, and if successful, its efforts could help all radio broadcasters. NABOB points out that DOD spent $583M in 2009, and less than 1% went to radio – period. Since radio is largely left out, so are Black broadcasters, since that is mostly what they own.

NABOB is continuing its ongoing effort to get the government to come up with some kind of program to help its members weather the current financial storm. It has suggested loans tied to the financial recovery effort.

NABOB continues its vigorous opposition to the Performance Rights Act. At the same time, it continues to urge an investigation into Arbitron’s PPM technology and is watching with keen interest the efforts of Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Edolphus Towns (D-NY) on that front.