The National Association of Broadcasters is enlisting the assistance of its members and supporters to get the message out to Americans that the medium has a bright future and they will be the beneficiaries. The campaign is scheduled to run through most of January 2011.
Radio stations are invited to participate in the campaign to support their over-the-air media relatives.
The message is: “What’s the future of broadcast TV? It’s HD, 3D, mobile TV — technology, not regulation from Washington, D.C.”
A website — TheFutureOfTV.org – will be launched in conjunction with the campaign, which is scheduled to run from 1/4/11 through 1/24/11. NAB says that the television spots, available in English and Spanish, will be distributed by satellite 12/16/10, and the radio spots are available now at the NAB website for download. The television spots will be available in both standard definition and HD; all of the material is 30 seconds long.
RBR-TVBR observation: The FCC is trying to tempt television broadcasters into returning spectrum and bunching together in order to perhaps receive a one-time windfall from the auction of freed-up spectrum. At a time when broadcasters are just getting a feel for what is possible in the digital world, when they increasingly can offer a subscription-free alternative to ever-more-costly MVPD bills, we think it would be very short-sighted to turn in spectrum now. NAB is smart to take this case to the public.
