NAB Pres. Fritts Launches Process to Find a Successor

Fritts, 63, said he began the succession process now after witnessing the long succession processes at other associations, such as NCTA, MPAA and CTIA. Fritts’ contract runs until April 2006. He will continue as a consultant until 2008. “We are looking for someone who is skilled in the ways of Washington and who has a good reputation for unifying the industry,” Fritts told us.

Several names have repeatedly been mentioned as potential successors, including CBS TV Exec. Vp Marty Franks, American Transport Assn. Pres. Jim May and Susquehanna Media Pres. David Kennedy. Franks, a CBS lobbyist and a Democrat, appears to be the leading candidate, some broadcast sources said. May has an advantage in view of the open effort by Republican leadership to pressure trade associations to pick Republicans as their top lobbyists. May also is a former NAB exec. vp. May won’t seek the position, but might be interested if approached by the search committee, we're told. Kennedy, NAB’s immediate past joint board chmn., and NAB Board Chmn. Philip Lombardo are co-chairing the search committee, which will begin the process of retaining an executive search firm. Kennedy could still seek the post if he removed himself from the search, as Fritts did to make a successful run for president in 1982, a source said.

But Fritts said his replacement doesn’t have to be someone from the broadcast industry. Besides knowledge of Washington, Fritts said his successor needs the skills to generate income to run NAB’s various events, including its widely attended annual convention. The job will be lucrative. Fritts’ annual income was a little over $1 million last year and he received an additional $191,738 in deferred compensation and other allowances, according to the NAB’s tax return. But the position can be a pretty “tireless job,” one broadcaster said. “There are no final victories and no final defeats,” Fritts said.

As Fritts took the helm as NAB pres., it was said, in the words of former Sen. Hollings (D-S.C.), that the association “couldn’t lobby its way out of a paper bag.” “I took that challenge personally,” Fritts said. During his tenure, NAB successfully lobbied to eliminate the fairness doctrine, which required broadcasters to air all sides of a controversial issue. It also won passage of the local-to-local legislation as part of the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act. However, on Fritts’ watch the NAB lost the membership of the major TV networks and last week broadcasters lost a long-running FCC fight over multicast must-carry.

The pace of technology may have made the NAB presidency an impossible job for anyone, said Media Access Project (MAP) Pres. Andrew Schwartzman. While praising Fritts’ constant willingness to try to settle differences, the NAB has fought innovation rather than embracing it, he said. It treated DTV as an opportunity to “hold the country hostage” and keep billions of dollars of spectrum from being opened to competition, MAP said. “I have a very healthy respect for [Fritts'] talents and abilities,” especially given the “very fractious board” that makes his job “nearly impossible,” said NCTA Pres. Robert Sachs: “I have observed more than once in recent years where his board was flipflopping and making his job all the more difficult.”

CEA’s Shapiro praised Fritts as “a tremendous mercenary” for the battles waged by broadcasters. “Most every major battle they've chosen to wage, they've won,” Shapiro said: “Our problem is with the battles they've chosen to wage.” He said the CE industry is particularly disappointed NAB didn’t take up the struggle for First Amendment protections. He also faulted broadcasters for failing to capture and promote consumers’ interest in over-the-air antennas -- a policy he said that has cost broadcasters significant market share vs. other forms of content delivery. NAB, under Fritts’ reign, was “very much a political entity, not a marketing entity,” Shapiro said. As a result, he said, its policy was “getting Washington to regulate other industries to assure broadcasters maintained control over their franchise.” Nevertheless, he praised the personal relationship he enjoyed with Fritts, saying of his frequent adversary: “I could always trust Eddie. He was always true to his word.”