A new report commissioned by the National Association of Broadcasters calculates the value in GDP of local broadcasters at $49.32B annually – and beyond that, the cascade effect create by broadcast workers brings more than $1T to the US each year.
The study attributes $30.19B in annual GDP and 186.85K jobs to local television and $19.13B in annual GDP and 118.38K jobs to radio. Beyond that, it notes a “cascade effect” based on the economic activity generated by the employees of local broadcasters which benefit Americans in all walks of life.
In all, broadcasting’s beneficial economic effects help provide employment for 2.52M people and generate $1,170,000,000,000 ($1.17T) in annual GDP.
NAB President/CEO Gordon Smith commented, “As this study indicates, local broadcasting is a remarkable engine for commerce and economic growth, creating high-paying jobs and helping business drive sales through advertising of goods and services. Decision-makers now debating spectrum policies need to be cognizant of the millions of people and thousands of businesses reliant on the unparalleled impact of local TV and radio for economic survival.”
Smith added, “TV and radio broadcasting not only provides communities with local news, sports, weather and emergency information, but remains a valuable source of employment that fuels local economies. With the country struggling to recover from the downturn, broadcast innovation that includes mobile DTV and multicasting should be given an opportunity to succeed and put more Americans back to work.”
According to NAB, BIA/Kelsey provided support to the authors of the report.
