Rob Neal, executive director of the International Black Broadcasters Association, is expressing approval of the geotargeting proposal before the FCC. He wrote to the commission to “add the support of the IBBA to the chorus of voices from the minority broadcasting community” that back the proposal.
That chorus lost a voice this week when the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters unexpectedly reversed its position without comment, as we’ve reported. But Neal wrote that IBBA joined the National Newspaper Publishers Association, the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and other minority advocates in supporting the proposal from GeoBroadcast Solutions.
“Based in Hattiesburg, Miss., the IBBA’s principle objective is to promote ownership, employment, education and equality for minority broadcasters in America and abroad,” he wrote.
“It is more important than ever that regulators provide broadcasters with the flexibility to innovate with new technologies that hold the potential to make them more competitive. We agree that geo-targeting technology holds this potential, by enabling broadcasters to sell targeted advertising to small, minority-owned businesses that may not need or want market-wide advertising. This would benefit both the broadcasters, who could sell more ads, and these mom-and-pop businesses that could acquire affordable, targeted advertising directly in their communities. This would ultimately have the effect of enabling minority broadcasters to super-serve communities that are currently underserved.”
Neal noted that Commissioner Geoffrey Starks has expressed his backing. “As the record in this proceeding shows, this proposal has broad support among the minority broadcasting community, and we are pleased to add IBBA to this chorus of support.”
[Related: “NAB Details Its Cannibalization Worry”]
