A U.S. Senator’s term of office is six years. It’s therefore fitting that a former senator who now serves as President/CEO of the NAB will be staying on for another six years, thanks to a contract extension announced this morning by NAB Joint Board Chair and Beasley Media Group CEO Caroline Beasley.
Gordon H. Smith has agreed to stay on at the chief lobbying organization for the broadcast media industry, through March 31, 2023.
Smith joined the NAB in November 2009, 11 months after leaving the U.S. Senate, where he represented Oregon for two consecutive terms. For the 10 months between exiting the Senate and joining the NAB as its leader, he worked at the law firm of Covington & Burling LLP.
Before serving in the U.S. Senate, Smith was elected to the Oregon State Senate, rising to the position of president of the Salem, Ore.-based body after only three years.
Smith said, “I am grateful for the trust placed in me by the NAB Board with this new contract. Broadcasting plays an indispensable role in the world of communications, and I’m committed to an innovation agenda that allows local TV and radio to thrive on emerging media platforms. I’m honored to lead a talented NAB team fighting for viewers and listeners who rely on hometown TV and radio for the best in entertainment, quality local news and lifeline programming in a crisis.”
Caroline Beasley added, “Gordon Smith has shown a steady hand guiding America’s local radio and television stations through the public policy challenges of Washington. He has enormous credibility on Capitol Hill and at the FCC, and is a determined advocate for local broadcasting. We are thrilled that we will benefit from Gordon’s leadership into 2023.”
During his tenure in the U.S. Senate, Smith’s committee assignments included the Senate Commerce Committee, the panel that oversees broadcast-related legislation. Specifically, Smith’s role as Chairman of a Senate High Tech Task Force helped foster his interest in new media and new technology issues.
An active member of the LDS Church, Smith was called as an area seventy, an ecclesiastical leadership position, in spring 2012.
Smith’s family-owned Smith Frozen Foods in Weston, Ore., is a $50 million per-year enterprise and one of the largest frozen foods companies in America.
— Adam R Jacobson, from Tamarac, Fla.
