NAB Rips GeoBroadcast Solutions CEO In Conference Call, Ex Parte Letter To FCC

Sharply Worded Letter

The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BROADCASTERS has gotten personal in its objections to the FCC's proposed geotargeted programming via FM booster plan using GEOBROADCAST SOLUTIONS' "ZoneCasting" platform, raising character issues regarding GBS CEO CHRIS DEVINE in a blistering ex parte letter based on a conference call with FCC Commissioner GEOFFREY STARKS.

In the letter by NAB Chief Legal Officer/EVP RICK KAPLAN, the NAB raises what it calls "credible and public accusations concerning Mr. DEVINE’s questionable business dealings," citing a 2009 lawsuit by ROBERT ALLEN, III alleging that DEVINE defrauded him of about $70 million (the suit was settled out of court); suits regarding DEVINE RACING, a marathon promotion company; and character issues raised in the assignment of a UTAH radio license. The NAB added, "The list of Mr. DEVINE’s past dealings is far longer than could be detailed in a one-hour ex parte meeting," pointing to an award to ARBITRON after DEVINE allegedly failed to pay almost $800,000 for services rendered. And the organization alleges that the "vast majority" of letters submitted to the FCC supporting the GBS proposal are form letters from small broadcasters filed under the signature of GBS attorney AARON SHAINIS.

"Despite GBS’s smoke and mirrors," the letter contends, "nothing has changed since GBS filed its original petition in 2012. The company has not successfully convinced the radio industry that the likely downsides attendant to ZoneCasting are worth the limited potential benefits. Importantly, ZoneCasting still has the very same technical problems that existed 10 years ago. The only thing that has changed is the packaging of its proposal: for the first time ZoneCasting is pitched as assisting minority-owned broadcasters (it will not) and now, as of 2022, as helping small broadcasters (it cannot)."

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