The North American Broadcasters Association (NABA) has announced its new executive team. Robert J. Ross, CBS’ SVP of East Coast Operations has been appointed by the NABA Board of Directors as President. Mr. Ross takes over the role from Robert Briskman, Technical Executive for Sirius XM Radio who served as NABA President since 2012.
Mr. Ross comes to the NABA Presidency at a time of ongoing change for the broadcasting industry and with it an array of new challenges and opportunities regarding how broadcasting is distributed to a digital multi-platform world. As a longstanding member of the NABA Board of Directors and Executive, he has developed a great appreciation for the rapid pace of change and innovation at work in the NABA community.
“Bob has had a tremendous impact on our industry and is well known for making things work and getting the trains to run on time. When we call Bob a “Fixer” it is with great respect and considerable awe. Bob understands the industry issues and I look forward to his leadership along with his NABA Executive team over the next two years.” said Michael McEwen, Director General NABA.
Mr. Ross oversees all East Coast operations and engineering for the CBS Television Network and has worked for 37 years in all areas of broadcast engineering. He was elected into the 2009 class of the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame and is the past chair of the Toolkit working group of the Media Security and Reliability Council (MSRC). He is also a Fellow of the Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers (SMPTE), and a member of the Society of Broadcast Engineers.
John Lee, Executive Director, Media Technology Services, CBC/Radio-Canada and Richard Friedel, EVP & GM, Fox Networks Engineering & Operations, Fox Entertainment Group were also named as Vice-Presidents.
The NABA Board of Directors appointed the new executive at their Annual General Meeting Event held on February 12, 2014 at HBO in New York City. (Source: Press Release)