NAB Board OKs Requiring Additional Member Payments

NAB's board voted unanimously Tuesday to require additional payments from members to address “extreme loss of revenue” due mostly to the cancellation of the 2020 NAB show, said a letter. “This had a significant impact on the organization’s bottom line, accounting for the loss of 70% of operating revenue,” said the Virginia Association of Broadcasters in a letter to NAB members Wednesday from Leonard Wheeler, of Wheeler Broadcasting. Wheeler didn’t respond to a request for comment Thursday, but an NAB spokesperson confirmed that the vote took place. “The NAB Board of Directors made the difficult, but unanimous decision to assess members an amount equal to each member’s annual dues payment,” the letter said. “This was necessary to preserve the core advocacy functions of the organization.” To account for the pandemic-related financial difficulties faced by broadcasters, the assessment is payable over three years in installments, with the first payment due Dec. 31, 2021. The letter said NAB has taken cost-cutting measures, including “reducing executive salaries, instituting a hiring freeze and making budget cuts to non-mission critical initiatives.”