Message from the Chairman

(April 14, 2017) – Well, we made it through first quarter! The word from many member stations is that the quarter was a little tough early on but managed to rally by March. No politics here, just a feeling of tentativeness in the air from advertisers for whatever reason. I must admit feeling that same thing in the air this year on our NAB State Leadership visit to our nation’s capital.

For NHAB’s first quarter, I think we’ve done well. The Spradling Group is settling in nicely as our new management firm and we continue to work on finding new NCSA/PEP partners. You may have noticed that the membership hasn’t seen any National Guard NCSA orders in a couple of years now. That’s a long story that is currently having an impact on every state broadcast association in America. Here in the Granite State, the lack of NCSA funding has caused us to scrutinize every expense and intensify the search for local NCSA opportunities. What that means for member stations in the near-term is that all of you will be seeing more short-term NCSA requests associated with various local entities. This is a bit more cumbersome than the once-a-year National Guard NCSA order that was pretty much “set it and forget it.” It is NHAB’s continued hope that member stations will carry this NCSA material not only because it is a critical source of funding for NHAB, but in the case of many of these smaller orders, the partnering non-profit entity is local to New Hampshire and may even be hyper-local to your market or service area.

At our recent quarterly board meeting we took stock of what NHAB provides for member stations, and is currently working on.

Ongoing services include:

NHAB Legal-Craighead & Martin continue to assist member stations with issues related to alcohol advertising, lottery issues and New Hampshire law in general. For FCC questions members can also access Scott Flick at Pillsbury-Winthrop-Shaw-Pittman in DC. Find more info on the legal help here: https://www.nhab.org/legal-hotline

Virtual Job Fairs-These are relatively new, very affordable and provide FCC EEO credit to stations. Why wouldn’t a station/group participate?

Alternative Broadcast Inspection Program-Knowing that your facility is up to FCC standards provides peace of mind and a sense of pride in your facilities.

NHAB Scholarships/Families In Broadcasting Scholarships/Continuing Education Reimbursement Program-Actual scholarship/education reimbursement for your audience and employees.

EAS Advocacy-The partnership between NHAB and the New Hampshire Department of Safety keeps broadcasters ready to serve at a moment’s notice.

Current Issues:

Direct TV Case-It’s quite likely that you’re not even aware of this case currently before the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Direct TV maintains a content transport facility in New Hampton, NH. During a tax revaluation, Direct TV was heavily assessed for things like satellite dishes, copper cabling, UPS batteries and a whole host of other equipment that is similar to what NHAB member broadcasters use every day. Last year, the NHAB board made the decision to join Direct TV as a friend of the court to overturn the tax ruling in an effort to protect New Hampshire broadcasters from possible staggering tax increases. Frankly, if Direct TV is successful you may never even know about it. Should their case fail, a precedent will be set that could allow for every municipality in the state to take a second look at all of your equipment and target your facility for a hefty tax-increase. This process is slow, tedious and expensive… Nevertheless, NHAB is working to protect broadcasters’ best interests. Read about it here: http://appealslawyer.net/do/briefs/Broadcasters_Amicus_Brief.pdf

H.B. 209-This is a proposal to make Daylight Savings Time a year-round mandate in New Hampshire. As silly as it sounds, Granite Staters could find themselves in a different time zone than Vermont or New York City. Imagine the ensuing chaos of computing dayparts, syndicated programming, and satellite ingests, TV schedules and more. Once again, if defeated you may never even notice that it happened. If enacted, the impact on you would be significant. NHAB opposes this legislation and is watching this closely on your behalf. More info here: https://legiscan.com/NH/text/HB209/id/1441814/New_Hampshire-2017-HB209-Introduced.html

Granite Mikes-Our yearly event is scheduled for October 12, 2017. Details about the event as well as a shiny new awards website will be released soon.

Want to reach me? I’m [email protected]. Thank you for taking the time to read about NHAB’s efforts and your continued support of the New Hampshire Association of Broadcasters.

Mark Ericson, Chairman