Broadcasters' New Voice

Former Oregon Senator Gordon Smith will be the new head of the National Assn. of Broadcasters, the industry's chief lobbying group in Washington.

From B&C's John Eggerton: "Smith is described as a moderate Republican who also has good relationships with Democrats. He is a former member of the Senate Commerce and Finance Committees and knows all the broadcast issues. He is also tapped into new media issues as former chair of the Senate's high-tech task force.

"Jack Sander, former NAB joint board chairman, had told B&C following Rehr's resignation that the board would be looking for someone who could hit the ground running. Smith can do that, and has "the Wow! factor," which NAB was also looking for, said one source.

"Rehr had been a beer industry executive before joining the association, and conceded to B&C that he had felt like an outsider at the outset of his tenure.

""I think we are going to look for someone who either understands our business or has the ability to understand our businesses very, very fast," Sander told B&C in May. "We do not have time to have a six-month or eight-month learning curve about our business." "

MusicFIRST, the coalition of artists and record labels that has been fighting the NAB on the performance rights act (payment for performers when their songs are played on the radio), is "welcoming" the choice of Smith, who is a former moderate Republican defeated in his bid for reelection last year. They are using the opportunity to call out his past support of "artists and creators,' although it's hard to see the NAB suddenly reversing course given the strident way they have fought the proposed legislation.

Music FIRST's Jennifer Bendall said in a statement: "MusicFIRST congratulates former Senator Gordon Smith for being named the new head of the National Association of Broadcasters.  During his years in the Senate he was a champion of the rights of artists and creators.  We extend not only our congratulations but our invitation to Senator Smith to work with the music community to create a radio performance right that is fair to artists and musicians, fair to other music platforms and fair to radio."