Broadcasters to focus on regulatory issues at Las Vegas convention

Kevin Ferguson

Friday, April 20, 2001 | 11:12 a.m.

National broadcasting and telecommunications industry officials will use the Las Vegas stage over the next six days to debate regulatory issues and to showcase the latest in industry technology during the National Association of Broadcasters conference.

The annual trade show, which kicks off this weekend with two days of workshops and tutorials, is expected to bring 115,000 visitors to town. Exhibits will be open Monday through Thursday.

Keynote speakers include Yahoo! President Jeff Mallet, Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Pictures Association of America; Rob Glaser, chief executive of RealNetworks and Eddie Fritts, NAB president and chief executive.

"We bill this as the 'convergence marketplace,' because not just TV and radio, but Internet, satellite and telecommunication (companies) will also have a presence," said NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton.

The trade show will spread across the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Sands Expo Center, the Venetian and the Las Vegas Hilton.

The NAB conference has been held in Las Vegas regularly since the early 1990s, and it continues to attract more international broadcasting executives each year. Wharton said of the 115,000 visitors coming this year, the NAB expects about 25,000 will be from foreign countries.

The NAB, formed in 1923, has 7,000 radio and TV stations as members. It represents broadcasters before Congress and the Federal Communications Commission.

One of the issues facing the industry, which will likely be discussed during the show, is the FCC mandating that broadcasters invest millions of dollars to convert from the old analog TV signal to the new digital signal by 2002.

A digital signal offers a much crisper and cleaner picture and offers more spectrum, or room, for data transmission on the same signal.

But broadcasters, including some in Las Vegas, say there is little point in demanding that broadcasters convert immediately if consumers are not going to buy digital converters or digital TVs.

"It falls back to basic economic principles, the consumer drives the demand," said Emily Neilson, director of programming and new media at KLAS Channel 8. The CBS affiliate began the conversion to digital last year.

"Less than 500 people have digital TVs in Las Vegas and that may not even be accurate, because those figures come from electronic retailers who say they have sold digital TVs," Neilson said.

Wharton said that is likely to be one of the issues raised by ABC News' Sam Donaldson when he hosts a discussion with FCC Chairman Michael Powell on Tuesday at the Las Vegas Hilton.

Another hot industry topic centers around network TV ownership rules. CBS Television and Infinity Broadcasting -- both owned by Viacom Inc. -- resigned from the NAB earlier this month, just hours after the NAB board voted to re-affirm its support for federal limits on station ownership.

The federal cap aims to prevent a single network's network-owned stations from reaching more than 35 percent of U.S. households. CBS had said the cap is no longer justified with the growing number of competing media outlets.

Conversely, locally owned stations oppose a cap increase. Their concern is that a cap increase would put them in a disadvantage in negotiating for shows. The networks produce and distribute many of the shows to their affiliates.

The association lost NBC, owned by General Electric, and Fox as members over the same issue about two years ago.

Satellite television companies adding local programming is another issue that is expected to be discussed during the trade show.

Also, ABC News' "Nightline" anchor Ted Koppel is scheduled to be inducted into the NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame.