David Smith: Congress Must Save TV's Future

David Smith, CEO-president of Sinclair Broadcast Group, sees congressional and/or court action required to rebalance the regulatory environment so that broadcasters can effectively compete with broadband, telephone and cable companies.

In the meantime, Smith said, uncertainty surrounding the regulatory environment is making it tough on broadcasters. Noting that the National Association of Broadcasters recently sent a cease-and-desist order to the Federal Communications Commission over its plan to scrutinize shared service agreements on a case-by-case basis, Smith wondered what's next.

"What, if anything, is the NAB going to do in the legal context?" he asked. "You've got Commissioner Pai standing up making some pretty bold statements -- [in effect] will someone please sue the FCC because they're violating the law. It may be reasonable to assume it will end up in some venue with a judge making the determination. If it's found to be illegal, then what do we do?”

Sinclair is following the FCC’s new marching orders on JSAs, selling three stations so that it can close on its $985 million acquisition of Allbritton. Smith said he views adoption of a new broadcast standard -- ATSC 3.0 -- as an essential tool to maintain competitiveness.

"We need to be everywhere 24 hours a day, 365 on every device," Smith declared, acknowledging details remain to be worked out. "Anything less than that is not good for the industry."