Gordon Smith, president and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters, will transition to an advisory and advocacy role at the end of 2021.
The organization’s Chief Operating Officer Curtis LeGeyt has been named the next president and CEO of NAB effective Jan. 1, 2022.
Smith joined NAB as president and CEO in November 2009. Previously, he served as a two-term U.S. senator from Oregon and later as senior advisor in the Washington offices of Covington & Burling, LLP. He will continue to serve NAB in a special advisory role through December 31, 2024, which includes lobbying on behalf of the broadcasters.
LeGeyt has been with NAB for nearly a decade. Prior to assuming his current role as chief operating officer, LeGeyt served for five years as NAB’s executive vice president of government relations. Before joining NAB, LeGeyt was senior counsel to then-Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy of Vermont.
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“I am honored and humbled to be named the next leader of this great organization,” said LeGeyt in a statement. “To represent the broadcast industry and the local stations that bind our communities together in a moment of such tremendous change across the media landscape is a privilege. Our stations’ role in communities across this country has never been more important, and I look forward to working every day to ensure their ability to grow and thrive.”
After canceling its signature NAB Show in 2020 during the pandemic, the NAB is currently planning to resume the event in October. This year, the NAB and SCTE are planning a joint forum that the organizations said will link Cable-Tec Expo in Atlanta with the NAB Show in Las Vegas.
The dual-site event will be held October 12, 2021 during the NAB Show’s BEIT Conference, which runs October 9-13, and SCTE·ISBE Cable-Tec Expo, which runs October 11-14.