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WP_Query Object ( [query] => Array ( [name] => national-association-broadcasters [post_type] => resources [resource-type] => case-studies ) [query_vars] => Array ( [name] => national-association-broadcasters [post_type] => resources [resource-type] => case-studies [error] => [m] => [p] => 0 [post_parent] => [subpost] => [subpost_id] => [attachment] => [attachment_id] => 0 [pagename] => [page_id] => 0 [second] => [minute] => [hour] => [day] => 0 [monthnum] => 0 [year] => 0 [w] => 0 [category_name] => [tag] => [cat] => [tag_id] => [author] => [author_name] => [feed] => [tb] => [paged] => 0 [meta_key] => [meta_value] => [preview] => [s] => [sentence] => [title] => [fields] => [menu_order] => [embed] => [category__in] => Array ( ) [category__not_in] => Array ( ) [category__and] => Array ( ) [post__in] => Array ( ) [post__not_in] => Array ( ) [post_name__in] => Array ( ) [tag__in] => Array ( ) [tag__not_in] => Array ( ) [tag__and] => Array ( ) [tag_slug__in] => Array ( ) [tag_slug__and] => Array ( ) [post_parent__in] => Array ( ) [post_parent__not_in] => Array ( ) [author__in] => Array ( ) [author__not_in] => Array ( ) [search_columns] => Array ( ) [ignore_sticky_posts] => [suppress_filters] => [cache_results] => 1 [update_post_term_cache] => 1 [update_menu_item_cache] => [lazy_load_term_meta] => 1 [update_post_meta_cache] => 1 [posts_per_page] => 10 [nopaging] => [comments_per_page] => 50 [no_found_rows] => [order] => DESC ) [tax_query] => [meta_query] => WP_Meta_Query Object ( [queries] => Array ( ) [relation] => [meta_table] => [meta_id_column] => [primary_table] => [primary_id_column] => [table_aliases:protected] => Array ( ) [clauses:protected] => Array ( ) [has_or_relation:protected] => ) [date_query] => [queried_object] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 10344 [post_author] => 43 [post_date] => 2023-08-30 21:38:41 [post_date_gmt] => 2023-08-30 21:38:41 [post_content] => The National Association of Broadcasters has a complicated legislative agenda, with issues ranging from the technical aspects of TV and radio to licensing and copyright issues. But its most effective advocacy campaign was far more simple: they set out to save AM radio. The 100-year-old medium, which is home to local news, sports, traffic reports, talk shows, foreign-language programming, and other popular content, draws 82 million listeners a month and remains a key hub for emergency communications. But in an age of mobile devices and on-demand digital content, a group of automakers proposed to eliminate AM radio—and perhaps all traditional car stereos—from new vehicles earlier this year. Removing AM radio from cars would eliminate a major portion of the audience, which could threaten the livelihood of many AM radio stations. In response, the NAB used Phone2Action to launch a campaign urging its members to contact Congress. Through email, text messaging, and social media, including the hashtag #dependonAM, they urged members to tell lawmakers to keep AM radio in cars. “A lot of the issues that we deal with in the advocacy realm are so complicated and technical that you've got to find a way to really distill the message so that a person on the street can understand it,” said Michelle S. Lehman, chief of staff and executive vice president for public affairs at the NAB. “This was a very easy message to distill.”

Doubling Their Advocate List

The NAB represents about 8,000 local TV and radio stations, ranging from mom-and-pop operations to those owned by ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, and other large corporations. When the AM radio campaign began, the association’s members sent more than 100,000 emails to Congress in the first two weeks, and that has grown to almost 337,000 in the few months since then. They also sent lawmakers more than 39,000 tweets. The NAB also dramatically increased its list of advocates over the course of the campaign. The organization had about 130,000 advocates at the start, primarily owners, station managers, and others who run local stations. It now stands at more than 300,000. Perhaps most importantly, Congress heard the call. The AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act was introduced in the House and the Senate with bipartisan support less than a month after the campaign began. In the Senate, Sen. Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, and Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, were original cosponsors. The bills are currently working their way through both chambers. “We've really tried to use our airwaves,” Lehman said. “I think that, combined with the simplicity of the message, is really what produced gangbuster results for us.”

Arming Members for Action

The NAB has an enormous advantage in that their members are broadcasters who reach millions of Americans every day. But the organization did not take that for granted. Instead, it armed those members with an arsenal of materials they could use to support the campaign, including talking points, scripts, text messages, sample emails, social media tiles, and more. “We really tried to give them everything they could possibly need to educate their listeners on the issue,” Lehman said. “I know how lucky we are to be in this position and have stations that are willing to spend their airtime. But the truth is, they know that they're fighting for their survival and that this helps them, and so they're always willing to help us.” The association is careful not to tread on editorial independence, but has also been vigilant about getting top NAB officials in on-air interviews—many on AM stations—to highlight the issue and the action in Congress. “Our congressional champions feel good when they hear these spots running,” Lehman said. “We've had our spokesperson or our CEO thank members of Congress … and who doesn't like to hear that?”

Grassroots for the Long Haul

The association’s success did not come without work. In fact, it is the product of efforts that began a decade ago when the NAB started its grassroots advocacy program using Phone2Action to power the effort. “We have been Quorum clients, and before that Phone2Action clients, since its founding,” Lehman said. “So it has been really exciting to see the technology grow and develop over time. We have used it on countless campaigns.” Perhaps the most important of these was a campaign launched in 2013 called We Are Broadcasters, which was designed to differentiate broadcast television and radio from the many content services that have joined the marketplace in recent years. “How do you explain to somebody what a broadcast station is when they're just used to TV?” Lehman said. “They don't think about whether it is a broadcast station versus cable versus streaming. We needed them to understand that we're the people in your community, we’re the local TV station or radio station that shows up at the football game or that you turn to for local news.” A decade of communications across channels built the solid base of support that was used to launch the AM radio campaign. “That is how we built up our list over time,” Lehman said. “They are people who are evangelists for local TV and radio.” [post_title] => How the National Association of Broadcasters Used Phone2Action to Send 300,000 Messages to Congress to Save AM Radio [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => national-association-broadcasters [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2023-08-30 21:40:08 [post_modified_gmt] => 2023-08-30 21:40:08 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://marketing-staging.quorum.us/?post_type=resources&p=10344 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => resources [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [queried_object_id] => 10344 [request] => SELECT wp_posts.* FROM wp_posts WHERE 1=1 AND wp_posts.post_name = 'national-association-broadcasters' AND wp_posts.post_type = 'resources' ORDER BY wp_posts.post_date DESC [posts] => Array ( [0] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 10344 [post_author] => 43 [post_date] => 2023-08-30 21:38:41 [post_date_gmt] => 2023-08-30 21:38:41 [post_content] => The National Association of Broadcasters has a complicated legislative agenda, with issues ranging from the technical aspects of TV and radio to licensing and copyright issues. But its most effective advocacy campaign was far more simple: they set out to save AM radio. The 100-year-old medium, which is home to local news, sports, traffic reports, talk shows, foreign-language programming, and other popular content, draws 82 million listeners a month and remains a key hub for emergency communications. But in an age of mobile devices and on-demand digital content, a group of automakers proposed to eliminate AM radio—and perhaps all traditional car stereos—from new vehicles earlier this year. Removing AM radio from cars would eliminate a major portion of the audience, which could threaten the livelihood of many AM radio stations. In response, the NAB used Phone2Action to launch a campaign urging its members to contact Congress. Through email, text messaging, and social media, including the hashtag #dependonAM, they urged members to tell lawmakers to keep AM radio in cars. “A lot of the issues that we deal with in the advocacy realm are so complicated and technical that you've got to find a way to really distill the message so that a person on the street can understand it,” said Michelle S. Lehman, chief of staff and executive vice president for public affairs at the NAB. “This was a very easy message to distill.”

Doubling Their Advocate List

The NAB represents about 8,000 local TV and radio stations, ranging from mom-and-pop operations to those owned by ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, and other large corporations. When the AM radio campaign began, the association’s members sent more than 100,000 emails to Congress in the first two weeks, and that has grown to almost 337,000 in the few months since then. They also sent lawmakers more than 39,000 tweets. The NAB also dramatically increased its list of advocates over the course of the campaign. The organization had about 130,000 advocates at the start, primarily owners, station managers, and others who run local stations. It now stands at more than 300,000. Perhaps most importantly, Congress heard the call. The AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act was introduced in the House and the Senate with bipartisan support less than a month after the campaign began. In the Senate, Sen. Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, and Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, were original cosponsors. The bills are currently working their way through both chambers. “We've really tried to use our airwaves,” Lehman said. “I think that, combined with the simplicity of the message, is really what produced gangbuster results for us.”

Arming Members for Action

The NAB has an enormous advantage in that their members are broadcasters who reach millions of Americans every day. But the organization did not take that for granted. Instead, it armed those members with an arsenal of materials they could use to support the campaign, including talking points, scripts, text messages, sample emails, social media tiles, and more. “We really tried to give them everything they could possibly need to educate their listeners on the issue,” Lehman said. “I know how lucky we are to be in this position and have stations that are willing to spend their airtime. But the truth is, they know that they're fighting for their survival and that this helps them, and so they're always willing to help us.” The association is careful not to tread on editorial independence, but has also been vigilant about getting top NAB officials in on-air interviews—many on AM stations—to highlight the issue and the action in Congress. “Our congressional champions feel good when they hear these spots running,” Lehman said. “We've had our spokesperson or our CEO thank members of Congress … and who doesn't like to hear that?”

Grassroots for the Long Haul

The association’s success did not come without work. In fact, it is the product of efforts that began a decade ago when the NAB started its grassroots advocacy program using Phone2Action to power the effort. “We have been Quorum clients, and before that Phone2Action clients, since its founding,” Lehman said. “So it has been really exciting to see the technology grow and develop over time. We have used it on countless campaigns.” Perhaps the most important of these was a campaign launched in 2013 called We Are Broadcasters, which was designed to differentiate broadcast television and radio from the many content services that have joined the marketplace in recent years. “How do you explain to somebody what a broadcast station is when they're just used to TV?” Lehman said. “They don't think about whether it is a broadcast station versus cable versus streaming. We needed them to understand that we're the people in your community, we’re the local TV station or radio station that shows up at the football game or that you turn to for local news.” A decade of communications across channels built the solid base of support that was used to launch the AM radio campaign. “That is how we built up our list over time,” Lehman said. “They are people who are evangelists for local TV and radio.” [post_title] => How the National Association of Broadcasters Used Phone2Action to Send 300,000 Messages to Congress to Save AM Radio [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => national-association-broadcasters [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2023-08-30 21:40:08 [post_modified_gmt] => 2023-08-30 21:40:08 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://marketing-staging.quorum.us/?post_type=resources&p=10344 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => resources [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) ) [post_count] => 1 [current_post] => -1 [before_loop] => 1 [in_the_loop] => [post] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 10344 [post_author] => 43 [post_date] => 2023-08-30 21:38:41 [post_date_gmt] => 2023-08-30 21:38:41 [post_content] => The National Association of Broadcasters has a complicated legislative agenda, with issues ranging from the technical aspects of TV and radio to licensing and copyright issues. But its most effective advocacy campaign was far more simple: they set out to save AM radio. The 100-year-old medium, which is home to local news, sports, traffic reports, talk shows, foreign-language programming, and other popular content, draws 82 million listeners a month and remains a key hub for emergency communications. But in an age of mobile devices and on-demand digital content, a group of automakers proposed to eliminate AM radio—and perhaps all traditional car stereos—from new vehicles earlier this year. Removing AM radio from cars would eliminate a major portion of the audience, which could threaten the livelihood of many AM radio stations. In response, the NAB used Phone2Action to launch a campaign urging its members to contact Congress. Through email, text messaging, and social media, including the hashtag #dependonAM, they urged members to tell lawmakers to keep AM radio in cars. “A lot of the issues that we deal with in the advocacy realm are so complicated and technical that you've got to find a way to really distill the message so that a person on the street can understand it,” said Michelle S. Lehman, chief of staff and executive vice president for public affairs at the NAB. “This was a very easy message to distill.”

Doubling Their Advocate List

The NAB represents about 8,000 local TV and radio stations, ranging from mom-and-pop operations to those owned by ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, and other large corporations. When the AM radio campaign began, the association’s members sent more than 100,000 emails to Congress in the first two weeks, and that has grown to almost 337,000 in the few months since then. They also sent lawmakers more than 39,000 tweets. The NAB also dramatically increased its list of advocates over the course of the campaign. The organization had about 130,000 advocates at the start, primarily owners, station managers, and others who run local stations. It now stands at more than 300,000. Perhaps most importantly, Congress heard the call. The AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act was introduced in the House and the Senate with bipartisan support less than a month after the campaign began. In the Senate, Sen. Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, and Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, were original cosponsors. The bills are currently working their way through both chambers. “We've really tried to use our airwaves,” Lehman said. “I think that, combined with the simplicity of the message, is really what produced gangbuster results for us.”

Arming Members for Action

The NAB has an enormous advantage in that their members are broadcasters who reach millions of Americans every day. But the organization did not take that for granted. Instead, it armed those members with an arsenal of materials they could use to support the campaign, including talking points, scripts, text messages, sample emails, social media tiles, and more. “We really tried to give them everything they could possibly need to educate their listeners on the issue,” Lehman said. “I know how lucky we are to be in this position and have stations that are willing to spend their airtime. But the truth is, they know that they're fighting for their survival and that this helps them, and so they're always willing to help us.” The association is careful not to tread on editorial independence, but has also been vigilant about getting top NAB officials in on-air interviews—many on AM stations—to highlight the issue and the action in Congress. “Our congressional champions feel good when they hear these spots running,” Lehman said. “We've had our spokesperson or our CEO thank members of Congress … and who doesn't like to hear that?”

Grassroots for the Long Haul

The association’s success did not come without work. In fact, it is the product of efforts that began a decade ago when the NAB started its grassroots advocacy program using Phone2Action to power the effort. “We have been Quorum clients, and before that Phone2Action clients, since its founding,” Lehman said. “So it has been really exciting to see the technology grow and develop over time. We have used it on countless campaigns.” Perhaps the most important of these was a campaign launched in 2013 called We Are Broadcasters, which was designed to differentiate broadcast television and radio from the many content services that have joined the marketplace in recent years. “How do you explain to somebody what a broadcast station is when they're just used to TV?” Lehman said. “They don't think about whether it is a broadcast station versus cable versus streaming. We needed them to understand that we're the people in your community, we’re the local TV station or radio station that shows up at the football game or that you turn to for local news.” A decade of communications across channels built the solid base of support that was used to launch the AM radio campaign. “That is how we built up our list over time,” Lehman said. “They are people who are evangelists for local TV and radio.” [post_title] => How the National Association of Broadcasters Used Phone2Action to Send 300,000 Messages to Congress to Save AM Radio [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => closed [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => national-association-broadcasters [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2023-08-30 21:40:08 [post_modified_gmt] => 2023-08-30 21:40:08 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://marketing-staging.quorum.us/?post_type=resources&p=10344 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => resources [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [comment_count] => 0 [current_comment] => -1 [found_posts] => 1 [max_num_pages] => 0 [max_num_comment_pages] => 0 [is_single] => 1 [is_preview] => [is_page] => [is_archive] => [is_date] => [is_year] => [is_month] => [is_day] => [is_time] => [is_author] => [is_category] => [is_tag] => [is_tax] => [is_search] => [is_feed] => [is_comment_feed] => [is_trackback] => [is_home] => [is_privacy_policy] => [is_404] => [is_embed] => [is_paged] => [is_admin] => [is_attachment] => [is_singular] => 1 [is_robots] => [is_favicon] => [is_posts_page] => [is_post_type_archive] => [query_vars_hash:WP_Query:private] => c19b35a3d7dce475a9243ba308b4b03a [query_vars_changed:WP_Query:private] => [thumbnails_cached] => [allow_query_attachment_by_filename:protected] => [stopwords:WP_Query:private] => [compat_fields:WP_Query:private] => Array ( [0] => query_vars_hash [1] => query_vars_changed ) [compat_methods:WP_Query:private] => Array ( [0] => init_query_flags [1] => parse_tax_query ) )
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Case Study

How the National Association of Broadcasters Used Phone2Action to Send 300,000 Messages to Congress to Save AM Radio

How the National Association of Broadcasters Used Phone2Action to Send 300,000 Messages to Congress to Save AM Radio

The National Association of Broadcasters has a complicated legislative agenda, with issues ranging from the technical aspects of TV and radio to licensing and copyright issues. But its most effective advocacy campaign was far more simple: they set out to save AM radio.

The 100-year-old medium, which is home to local news, sports, traffic reports, talk shows, foreign-language programming, and other popular content, draws 82 million listeners a month and remains a key hub for emergency communications. But in an age of mobile devices and on-demand digital content, a group of automakers proposed to eliminate AM radio—and perhaps all traditional car stereos—from new vehicles earlier this year.

Removing AM radio from cars would eliminate a major portion of the audience, which could threaten the livelihood of many AM radio stations. In response, the NAB used Phone2Action to launch a campaign urging its members to contact Congress. Through email, text messaging, and social media, including the hashtag #dependonAM, they urged members to tell lawmakers to keep AM radio in cars.

“A lot of the issues that we deal with in the advocacy realm are so complicated and technical that you’ve got to find a way to really distill the message so that a person on the street can understand it,” said Michelle S. Lehman, chief of staff and executive vice president for public affairs at the NAB. “This was a very easy message to distill.”

Doubling Their Advocate List

The NAB represents about 8,000 local TV and radio stations, ranging from mom-and-pop operations to those owned by ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, and other large corporations. When the AM radio campaign began, the association’s members sent more than 100,000 emails to Congress in the first two weeks, and that has grown to almost 337,000 in the few months since then. They also sent lawmakers more than 39,000 tweets.

The NAB also dramatically increased its list of advocates over the course of the campaign. The organization had about 130,000 advocates at the start, primarily owners, station managers, and others who run local stations. It now stands at more than 300,000.

Perhaps most importantly, Congress heard the call. The AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act was introduced in the House and the Senate with bipartisan support less than a month after the campaign began. In the Senate, Sen. Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, and Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, were original cosponsors. The bills are currently working their way through both chambers.

“We’ve really tried to use our airwaves,” Lehman said. “I think that, combined with the simplicity of the message, is really what produced gangbuster results for us.”

Arming Members for Action

The NAB has an enormous advantage in that their members are broadcasters who reach millions of Americans every day. But the organization did not take that for granted. Instead, it armed those members with an arsenal of materials they could use to support the campaign, including talking points, scripts, text messages, sample emails, social media tiles, and more.

“We really tried to give them everything they could possibly need to educate their listeners on the issue,” Lehman said. “I know how lucky we are to be in this position and have stations that are willing to spend their airtime. But the truth is, they know that they’re fighting for their survival and that this helps them, and so they’re always willing to help us.”

The association is careful not to tread on editorial independence, but has also been vigilant about getting top NAB officials in on-air interviews—many on AM stations—to highlight the issue and the action in Congress.

“Our congressional champions feel good when they hear these spots running,” Lehman said. “We’ve had our spokesperson or our CEO thank members of Congress … and who doesn’t like to hear that?”

Grassroots for the Long Haul

The association’s success did not come without work. In fact, it is the product of efforts that began a decade ago when the NAB started its grassroots advocacy program using Phone2Action to power the effort.

“We have been Quorum clients, and before that Phone2Action clients, since its founding,” Lehman said. “So it has been really exciting to see the technology grow and develop over time. We have used it on countless campaigns.”

Perhaps the most important of these was a campaign launched in 2013 called We Are Broadcasters, which was designed to differentiate broadcast television and radio from the many content services that have joined the marketplace in recent years.

“How do you explain to somebody what a broadcast station is when they’re just used to TV?” Lehman said. “They don’t think about whether it is a broadcast station versus cable versus streaming. We needed them to understand that we’re the people in your community, we’re the local TV station or radio station that shows up at the football game or that you turn to for local news.”

A decade of communications across channels built the solid base of support that was used to launch the AM radio campaign. “That is how we built up our list over time,” Lehman said. “They are people who are evangelists for local TV and radio.”