Today, we're opening up registration for a FREE job fair. We're also reminding you of some pending sales "LUR" dates.
Arizona Broadcasters,
Today, we're opening up registration for a FREE job fair in partnership with Tucson's University of Arizona. We're also reminding you of some upcoming sales "LUR" dates, flagging your recruitment efforts to our state-wide broadcasting job board, and reminding you to register for the Arizona Broadcasting Future and Awards lunch. We're also still taking sign-ups for a long-list of FREE summer trainings. All of that and more below:
GET IN FRONT OF HUNDREDS OF SOON-TO-GRADUATE STUDENTS!
ABA TO SPONSOR MEDIA TABLES AT UA JOB FAIR IN TUCSON
Of all the job fairs the ABA has offered up over the last year, none have brought in more candidates than the University of Arizona campus-wide career day.
The Arizona Broadcasters Association will be sponsoring the media cluster at the University of Arizona's Fall Career Days once again this fall. Fall Career Days is a university-wide event for employers from all industries to interact with UA students from all majors. The career fair will take place on Monday, September 16 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with an estimated 600 participants. Table registration at this career fair usually runs up to $700 but the ABA will cover ALL attendance costs for a select number of our member stations.
Registration includes:
• 2 representatives
• 2 parking passes
• Continental breakfast for 2 registered reps
• Deluxe lunch in Arizona Room for 2 registered reps
• 1 6-foot table with 2 chairs
If you’d like your station to be represented, send an email to Mary Kate Lau, mklau@azbroadcasters.org. Sign-up will be on a first-come, first-serve basis so please act quickly if you are interested in using this ABA member service.
ARE YOU POSTING ON THE ARIZONA BROADCASTERS JOB BOARD?
When the ABA launched its new website last month, we also rolled out a new job board that aggregates listings from radio and TV stations all across the state. It's the only place where candidates can come and search available openings from every discipline in Arizona broadcasting, and from as many stations as choose to participate. A long of stations are already using the site to post openings, but if you aren't yet taking advantage of the free offering, it's easy to upload jobs. No need to sign in. Just copy/paste and move on!
PLAN AHEAD:
LUR APPLIES TO ARIZONA'S PRESIDENTIAL PREFERENCE ELECTION
Among the ABA questions posed to us this month has been whether or not the 2020 presidential preference election has lowest unit rate sales rules like normal primary and general elections.
The answer is YES. The lowest unit charge applies to all primary and general elections, which includes the presidential preference on March 17, 2020. Thus, the political window for that presidential primary will start 45 days before March 17, on February 1, 2020. Here’s a good 2020 political handbook for reference.
As a reminder, here are the 2019 LUR dates to be aware of as well:
July 13 -Aug 27: Primary election, TBD races
Sept 6 - Nov 5: General election, TBD races
ONE LAST CHANCE: FREE ONE-ON-ONE SALES TRAINING IN JULY
Have a new seller on your team? Make sure they get the proper training needed. The ABA offers member stations access to a FREE 7-week on-boarding program with one-on-one feedback designed to build confidence and know-how with media sales. The next training session begins on July 8, and space is extremely limited. If you're interested in signing up, reach out to ABA Operations Manager Mary Kate Lau at mklau@azbroadcasters.org.
PROTECTING ARIZONA BROADCASTERS AT THE STATE LEGISLATURE:
5 BILLS WHERE WE GAINED LEVERAGE IN 2019
The ABA funds Arizona’s only broadcast lobbying at the state legislature to protect stations from new tax implications, freedom of information/public records access, and also from any unexpected state issues that might affect the business of Arizona broadcasting.
This year’s legislative session wrapped in May and was thankfully not a year that required the type of aggressive lobbying that past years have required. On the public access front, broadcasters can celebrate a number of wins from this year’s legislative session thanks to our lobbying efforts. The very lengthy 2019 report of all legislative enactments is linked here fore review, but I’ve pasted below a summary of five bills where broadcasters gained public records leverage this year:
HB2259 (Websites; Personal Information Access)
FAILED to advance after ABA opposition lobbying This bill would have required any commercial or business website that collects personal information and had more than 500 users to establish a personal information portal allowing the user to access the collected information. The ABA opposed this bill because of concern over the hardship it could create for broadcasters who could have been forced to develop this portal without any financial assistance.
HB2191 (Criminal Justice Records; Prohibited Uses)
PASSED and SIGNED after ABA amendment request This bill prohibits businesses from charging people money after they are arrested to remove their criminal booking photos from certain websites. The ABA initially took an oppose position because the language could have also made changes to Arizona’s public records laws and stopped our news media's access to booking photos (and accompanying legal information). Thanks to extensive work from our ABA lobbyist, an amendment was added which explicitly protects Arizona’s public records laws and thus explicitly protects Arizona broadcasters. HB2501 (Electronic Records; State Library)
PASSED and SIGNED after ABA support lobbying This bill requires the state library and archives to establish an electronic records repository of the state archives and any documents and public records. The ABA supported this bill and lobbied for it to ensure Arizona broadcasters could gain access to this extensive information for the public good.
SB1135 (Public Records; Responses)
FAILED to Advance after ABA opposition lobbying This bill would have amended law to put a timeline on responding to media public record requests - within 10 days - with an expiration of the time meaning the request was formally denied. Our ABA lobbyist met with the bill sponsor who agreed not to advance it because of our concern that while well-intentioned, the bill might actually worsen response times for public records requests.
SB1441 (County Officers; Confidentiality; Email)
PASSED and SIGNED after ABA amendment request This bill allows the county assessor and county treasurer to maintain the confidentiality of all e-mail addresses provided by county residents. At the request of the ABA, the bill was amended prior to introduction to include language that will make email addresses available to media via public records request.
JULY 3 DEADLINE LOOMING FOR REQUIRED EAS TEST
The FCC and FEMA have scheduled the next nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) for August 7, 2019 at 11:20 am (Arizona time). This is a REQUIRED TEST for every licensed radio and TV station in the state.
This year’s test will differ from previous nationwide tests in that it won't use IPAWS (the new internet delivery system for EAS messages). Instead, it will be issued through the National Public Warning System, composed of FEMA-designated Primary Entry Point facilities, to test the readiness of the EAS to function in the absence of Internet connectivity. In Arizona, Primary Entry Point messages can be received over-the-air from radio stations KFLT in Tucson, KJZZ in Phoenix or via any satellite Sirius/XM device (on all channels).
REGISTER NOW:
2019 FUTURE AND AWARDS LUNCH FOR ARIZONA BROADCASTERS
There are very few moments in our year when Arizona broadcasters can come together to talk about the state of our business, preview the year ahead and celebrate some of our brightest Arizona stars. September 10 is one of those rare moments, and registration is open for the ABA's newly refocused Arizona Broadcasters Future and Awards Lunch.
This year's lunch will be held on Tuesday, September 10 at Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale, and will bring our state's broadcasters together for three core things:
1) Preview the new technology and consumer broadcasting trends for 2020.
2) Review the state of our industry, talk-out signs of growth, and look at ABA focus areas to help protect business.
3) Award six Arizona broadcasters for their unique contributions to our state's broadcasting business -- in two different award categories (the long-standing Hall of Fame and the newly added Newcomer).
Whether you are based in Phoenix, Tucson, Northern Arizona or Southern Arizona, we hope you'll consider joining us for a very special lunch-time gathering.
FREE SUMMER TRAINING CONTINUES ON LIST OF BROADCAST TOPICS
It's summer in Arizona, and we still have space open for a long list of FREE digital trainings and conversations available to your teams. Register now and we'll send you a calendar invite. Extra voices are always helpful to decision making:
Your feedback is still welcome for a proposed adjustment to the ABA's 2020 dues structure. This proposal would LOWER dues for nearly 60% of our members. The proposal would keep levels the same for another 20% of the membership and would very modestly raise dues for the remaining 20%. This change would require formal member approval later in the year, but we're opening it up to feedback ahead of time. If you would like a personalized 2020 forecast for your station(s), we can also help with that. The comment period closes on Friday, June 28.
1) We want our dues structure to reflect the business realities of 2019 and offer a rate plan that accounts for different-sized broadcasters across Arizona.
2) We want to simplify the process. Our current structure has 28 different rates. This proposal nearly cuts that in half and prioritizes equity in membership support.
3) We want to plan for the future and offer more rates that can fairly account for the potential of new duopolies, as well as ensure that our smallest single-station operators are able to continue their ABA membership long into the future.
WHO ELSE ON YOUR TEAM SHOULD GET ABA EMAILS? SIGN 'EM UP
We're working to grow our megaphone reach and want to make sure we're touching all key players across Arizona as we roll out more services and share updates about critical state-wide broadcasting projects. Who else on your teams should get these ABA emails? Sign up here!
--------- Thanks everyone,
Chris
Chris Kline
President and CEO, Arizona Broadcasters Association
602.252.4833 (office) | 602-790-7537 (cell)
426 N. 44th Street, Suite 310 | Phoenix, AZ 85008 chris@azbroadcasters.org
ABA 2019 RESOURCES AND SERVICES: The ABA focus in 2019 is to help stations build their current businesses stronger alongside investing in projects that can help futureproof Arizona’s broadcast industry. That focus is pushed forward with the below tentpoles: