The National Association of Broadcasters said it is gaining members.
The trade group recently added a total of 90 radio and television stations to its membership roster; the largest by station count is Virginia Beach-based Max Media, which owns or operates 44 radio and television stations in 10 states and Puerto Rico.
Last week the association announced that CBS and Fox had re-joined the organization.
Eight other radio and television station groups have recently joined NAB including Communications Corporation of America, Lafayette, La.; Boswell Broadcasting, Kosciusko, Miss.; Brothers Broadcasting, Rensselaer, Ind.; Eagle’s Nest Inc., Roanoke, Ala.; KSBJ Educational, Humble, Tex.; Living Faith Broadcasting, Abingdon, Va.; Neuhoff Communications, Jupiter, Fla.; and White Knight Broadcasting, Lafayette, La.
While NAB could not provide exact membership figures, spokesman Dennis Wharton told Radio World:
“As you might expect, we lost a modest number of members during the recent advertising recession (the worst recession in the last 50 years). But with the CBS and FOX announcement — along with the Max Media and others mentioned in the news release — we’ve made significant strides in getting the numbers closer to where we were several years ago. With the rebound in advertising and a (keep our fingers crossed, and ignoring today’s stock market plunge) better economy, we believe more groups will be joining NAB.”
Gordon Smith and the NAB Executive Committee deserve a lot of credit for the recent additions to NAB membership, along with the NAB Membership Department, according to Wharton.
Item updated 7:45 p.m. EDT May 20, 2010, to include response from NAB.
