MAM
Support our efforts to compete, or get out of the way: NAB to FCC
NEW DELHI: National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) president and CEO Gordon Smith has expressed bewilderment at the manner in which the United States Federation Communications Commission (FCC) chooses to interfere with broadcasters, including its recent ruling that cracks down on joint sales agreements, while giving preference to cable and wireless.
Addressing the opening session of NAB Show in Las Vegas, Smith said no other medium, including broadband, better serves the public in time of crisis, than broadcast.
“We are here to be the public’s eyes and ears, to lead them out of darkness during times of crisis, to share profound moments, and to connect to our family, friends and neighbours. We are here to be the voices against oppression and we are here to be megaphones for freedom and democracy,” Smith said.
Local broadcast, he continued, contributes nearly $1.3 trillion to the gross domestic product.
Smith proposed a “National Broadcast Plan” — a response to the government’s National Broadband Plan — that would include, among other things, a review of regulations that he said hold back innovation and competition.
“Why is there no focus to foster innovation and investment in broadcasting to ensure our business continues to be a world leader alongside our broadband industries?” he asked.
Smith also remarked about the broadband players that are clamouring for swathes of the broadcast spectrum. “The wireless industry covets our spectrum, because they chew through their massive allocation of spectrum, attempting to deliver the video we deliver far more efficiently,” said Smith. “And they continue to milk, bilk and bill by the bit.”
Smith, a former US Senator, quoted a Wall Street Journal article that said broadcasting kept more than eight million people safe during Hurricane Sandy. “Broadband cannot do that,” he said.
Smith’s oratory struck a chord with veteran broadcasters assembled at the LVH. “It was a great rallying cry for the television industry,” said Raycom Media president and CEO Paul McTear, “It was good to see him challenge the FCC to allow broadcasters the right to compete in the future, in light of recent rulings that were more exclusionary. I thought he did a good job.”
Citadel Communications CEO and a former NAB joint board chairman Phil Lombardo said, “He showed that he knows our business and knows our business intimately.”
Univision anchor Jorge Ramos was presented with the Distinguished Service award by the NAB.
He challenged reporters to “speak truth to power” at all costs, especially on issues vital to Univision viewers such as immigration. He toasted the enormous growth of the Hispanic population in the United States. “It’s a great time to be a Latino journalist,” he said. “We have found our voice — in English and in Spanish.”
Univision chairman and Saban Capital Group CEO Haim Saban spoke of his days in a Beatles cover band “I was a really lousy player so they kicked me out and made me the manager”, his success in turning “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” into a smash, and the unique relationship between Univision and its viewers. “Univision really is the home away from home for our community,” said Saban.
He also criticised the FCC when he said the letters FCC stand for “Friendly Cable Commission.”
He stressed the importance of a new transmission standard to help broadcasting thrive on all platforms. Saban’s mandate to the technology people working on the initiative: “Make it freakin’ happen.”
AD Agencies
Abhay Duggal joins JioStar as director of Hindi GEC ad sales
The streaming giant brings in a seasoned revenue hand as the battle for Hindi television advertising heats up
MUMBAI: Abhay Duggal has a new desk, and JioStar has a new weapon. The media and entertainment veteran has joined JioStar as director of entertainment ad sales for Hindi general entertainment channels, adding 17 years of hard-won revenue experience to one of India’s most powerful broadcasting operations.
Duggal is no stranger to big portfolios or bruising markets. Before joining JioStar, he spent a brief stint at Republic World as deputy general manager and north regional head for ad sales. Before that, he put in three years at Enterr10 Television, where he ran the north region for Dangal TV and Dangal 2, two of India’s leading free-to-air Hindi channels. The north alone accounted for more than 50 per cent of total channel revenue on his watch, a number that tends to get attention in any sales meeting.
His longest stint was at Zee Entertainment Enterprises, where he spent over six years rising to associate director of sales. There he commanded the Hindi movies cluster across seven channels, owned more than half of north India’s revenue across flagship properties including Zee TV and &TV, and closed marquee sponsorships across the Indian Premier League, Zee Rishtey Awards and Dance India Dance. He also handled monetisation for the English movies and entertainment cluster and the global news channel WION, a portfolio that would stretch most sales teams twice his size.
Earlier in his career Duggal closed what was then a Rs 3 crore single deal at Reliance Broadcast Network, one of the largest in Indian radio at the time, before that he helped launch and monetise JAINHITS, India’s first HITS-based cable and satellite platform.
His edge, by his own account, lies in marrying data and instinct: translating audience trends, inventory signals and client demands into long-term partnerships built on cost-per-rating-point discipline rather than short-term deal chasing. In a media landscape being reshaped by streaming, fragmented attention and AI-driven advertising, that kind of rigour is increasingly rare and increasingly valuable.
JioStar, which blends the scale of Reliance’s Jio platform with the content firepower of Star, is doubling down on its advertising business at precisely the moment the Hindi GEC market is getting more competitive. Bringing in someone who has spent nearly two decades doing exactly this, across some of India’s most watched channels, is a pointed statement of intent. Duggal has spent his career turning audiences into revenue. JioStar is clearly betting he can do it again, and bigger.
