NAB CEO Smith Leaving at Year-End; Successor Will Be COO LeGeyt

NAB President-CEO Gordon Smith will step down at the end of 2021 and be replaced by current NAB Chief Operating Officer Curtis LeGeyt, the group announced Wednesday. Broadcasters and broadcast attorneys told us LeGeyt is seen as having extensive contacts among Capitol Hill Democrats.

LeGeyt was chief counsel to then-Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., before joining NAB nearly a decade ago as executive vice president-government relations. “NAB is in the enviable position of having cultivated top talent,” said Hearst CEO Jordan Wertlieb, chairman of NAB’s Joint Board of Directors, in a video message with the announcement. LeGeyt has the full confidence of NAB leadership “into the future,” said Wertlieb. “Curtis certainly has the connections on both sides of the aisle,” said New York State Broadcast Association President David Donovan. Smith will stay on in an advisory role, which will include lobbying, through 2024, NAB said.

“It has been my great honor to give the lion’s roar for broadcasters -- those who run into the storm,” said Smith in a video message. Smith was NAB president for 12 years, after two terms as a Republican senator from Oregon. He said he’s stepping down to devote more time to his family and being a grandfather. LeGeyt has played “a key role” in the organization, and the transition “will be seamless,” said Smith. Smith's contract wasn't up until 2023, but he had a health scare in August (see 2008050068). NAB asked members for additional dues last year to make up for financial losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic (see 2010290064).

“To represent the broadcast industry and the local stations that bind our communities together in a moment of such tremendous change across the media landscape is a privilege,” said LeGeyt. “Our stations’ role in communities across this country has never been more important.” NAB credited LeGeyt for leading the group’s advocacy on Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act Reauthorization, the additional post-incentive auction reimbursement in Ray Baum's Act and the Music Modernization Act.

Giving LeGeyt the post reflects the trade group’s emphasis on lobbying, said broadcasters and broadcast attorneys. Smith helped the organization focus on lobbying, and LeGeyt will continue that, said retired radio attorney John Garziglia in an interview. “NAB has long been a lobbying powerhouse; Sen. Smith raised the bar and Curtis is committed to carrying the torch going forward in leading the association to success on all fronts,” said an NAB spokesperson. "With Gordon Smith as a mentor, I look forward to advancing NAB’s winning record in Washington on behalf of broadcasters at this critical and transformative time for the industry,” LeGeyt emailed.

Broadcasters conceded that LeGeyt isn’t a notable former government official or "name" like NCTA President and former FCC Chairman Michael Powell, Wireless Infrastructure Association President Jonathan Adelstein or Smith himself. Press Communications CEO Robert McAllan said he had never heard of LeGeyt. But, said Bryan Broadcasting General Manager Ben Downs, the radio co-chair of NAB's political action committee, “You don’t have to be a celebrity” to head a trade group. Relationship building is what’s most important, Downs said.

Industry officials familiar with the situation said the thinking behind giving LeGeyt the job was to cause as little shake-up as possible and preserve the trade group's direction. Bringing in someone new and well known likely would have meant an upheaval, an industry official said. Smith and NAB General Counsel Rick Kaplan fully supported LeGeyt's selection, an official said.

Being CEO of a trade association involves many concerns beyond lobbying, including managing finances, holding trade shows and forming ties with members who are themselves CEOs, said ACA Connects Senior Vice President Ross Lieberman, a frequent NAB opponent. NAB board members likely picked LeGeyt because they believe he will be up to all those facets of the job, Lieberman said. Though "free TV broadcasters and traditional pay-TV providers have had their policy differences on occasion, Sen. Smith’s leadership has permitted us, at times, to be able to set aside those differences and produce win-win outcomes that benefit the American public,” said ACA Connects President Matthew Polka in a statement.

BMI President Mike O'Neil said he has been on the same and opposite sides of LeGeyt on issues and consistently found him to be a "fierce advocate" for his constituents and a “person of his word.” LeGeyt's time on the Hill means he's able to “understand and influence outcomes,” O'Neil said.

Broadcast officials said Smith helped that industry through times of great change. “At one time, NAB represented nothing but a bunch of small broadcasters, and he’s had to deal with ever larger groups as the industry consolidated,” said McAllan. Smith “could tell our story in a way that didn’t offend opponents,” said Downs: He's “a friend to people on both sides of the aisle.”

“Gordon and I have usually (but not always) been on opposite sides, but I have great respect for him,” said Benton Institute for Broadband & Society Senior Counselor Andrew Schwartzman. “He has always been gracious, candid and good to his word.” McAllan said he had some disagreements with LeGeyt, “but he’s done a great job under some trying circumstances.”

Smith told us via email that he chose to take the NAB job after his 2008 reelection defeat because being on the Senate Commerce Committee showed him that broadcasting was connected to public service. “I had come to appreciate broadcasting’s unique role in giving service to the American people. Broadcasters provide every American citizen with vital civic information, emergency warnings, enjoyable entertainment and so, so much more,” he said. “I wanted to be part of that kind of service, so I said ‘yes!’”