NAB's Gordon Smith Is Confident He Can Turn Things Around in Washington

Broadcasters are having a tough time in Washington. A number of efforts are aimed straight at the business from the Federal Communications Commission's recent decision to tighten ownership rules and claw bag big chunks of the broadcast spectrum for wireless, to a very vocal pay TV lobby pushing hard on Congress to reform retransmission consent.

With so much going against them, it's easy to conclude that the broadcasting lobby, once the most powerful lobby on the Hill, may be on the outs. Certainly the medium has lost the glamour crown to the Internet. But calling the broadcasting industry a dinosaur may be a premature conclusion. Wrapping up the industry's national convention in Las Vegas, Gordon Smith, president and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters, remains confident he can turn things around.

"While I may be frustrated, I'm not discouraged because I know how this ends," Smith said. Smith, a former Senator, spent the week talking with broadcasters, FCC commissioners and staffers, even holding a closed-door meeting with FCC chairman Tom Wheeler, who right now is enemy no. 1 among broadcasters. Despite broadcaster sentiment, Smith, ever the diplomat, is taking the high road. He's betting Chairman Wheeler, a former cable and wireless lobbyist, might see broadcasting differently after his time at the NAB's annual convention.