Dennis Wharton is exiting his post as chief spokesman and communications strategist for the National Association of Broadcasters at the end of June after 24 years, the longest such tenure in the group’s history. Wharton and NAB, under president and CEO Gordon Smith, have not been shy about fighting for the preservation of a must-carry/retransmission consent system that cable operators have been just as vigorous in attacking as anachronistic, but Wharton said those fights stay in the policy ring. In a previous life, Wharton covered Washington as the D.C. bureau chief for Variety. He spoke with Multichannel News senior content producer, Washington, John Eggerton.

You are leaving after 24 years; 25 would seem a more likely number. Why are you leaving now and what will you be doing? This has been planned for over a year. I signed a one-year contract last year — I’d always had three-year contracts before. But I only wanted
a one-year deal because I’m getting worn out by the day-to-day grind, and I need to spend more time with my parents in Ohio. They’re in not-so-great health and living independently.

When this damn virus is over, [wife] Lisa and I also plan to travel — we’ve had 14 foreign exchange students through the years — and we want to see some of the world.

Gordon asked me to stay on as a consultant to make sure there’s a smooth transition to Ann Marie Cumming as the new NAB spokesperson. So I’ll still be part of NAB, but not full-time.

What have you been doing to cope with the new shelter-in-place normal? You mean between NAB Zoom meetings? For fun, a lot of euchre with my kids, who are back home because of the virus. It’s a card game played mostly in the Midwest. Virtual trivia nights are fun, too.

ACA Connects president and CEO Matt Polka said of your departure: ‘NAB is saying farewell to a leader with too many friends to count. Washington is losing one of the good guys.’ Anything you want to say to the loyal opposition? That was really classy of Matt. I sent him an email and said: ‘Hey guy. You blew my cover. We’re not supposed to like each other!’

I’m glad Matt and I can fight like heck on retrans and still be friends. Something really bad has happened in D.C. since I got here in the early ’80s. Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill had knock-down drag-out fights back in the day. But they could share Irish whiskey after hours, and they actually got good stuff done.

What have been the most and least rewarding parts of your job? Most rewarding is probably just surviving this long. That’s been really gratifying. I tried to bring my A-game every day. I’m not going to lie, there have been some really tough days. But to survive for almost a quarter of a century — from [NAB presidents] Eddie Fritts to David Rehr to Gordon Smith — it’s been a wild ride.

This will sound sappy, but I also take pride in defending broadcasters as a force for good. …. If we were invented today, I bet policymakers would do handstands down Pennsylvania Avenue.

Least rewarding was missing some of the family stuff through the years. … Also least rewarding was some of the NAB Board politics over the years. Gordon Smith has done a great job managing that.

Anything you would like to say to the broadcasters whose standard you have carried for almost a quarter century? I just want to thank everyone who helped me along the way. Especially Eddie for persuading me to join NAB, when I really had no interest in leaving journalism. And Gordon for being the most decent boss you could imagine. And for all the people I worked with, especially in my communications department.

I’d also like to thank the reporters who covered NAB — people like you, John — who were really fair to me. Journalism is a really hard job, and it really bothers me to see attacks on the press from both the left and the right. It needs to stop. 

BONUS FIVE

What is on your DVR? Lots of Ohio State wins against the Wolverines in football. Those never get old. Also PBS Masterpiece’s World on Fire.

Bucket list destination? Lisa and I were planning a two-week trip to Norway with a former foreign exchange student’s family in July, right after my retirement. That’s on hold.

Books on your nightstand? Rick Atkinson’s The British Are Coming. Just re-read Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Favorite musical group? The Beatles

Most memorable recent meal? Pamplemousse in Las Vegas. I hosted more than 20 reporter dinners there at NAB Show. I recommend the pistachio-crusted rack of lamb.

The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) has joined the parade poking the Federal Communications Commission for what many see as Google-friendliness on various fronts.

The Tom Wheeler-led FCC is hardly the first commission to generate speculation about the influence of the powerful search engine. One media wag, for example, once christened Julius Genachowski “Googlechowski,” suggesting he was a kindred regulatory spirit when it came to imposing network-neutrality regulations on Internet-service providers while not regulating edge providers. Genachowski told then-National Cable & Telecommunications Association president Kyle McSlarrow that the focus was not Google, but “the next Google.”

But with chairman Wheeler insisting edge providers are beyond the FCC’s regulatory reach, and proposing a set-top box regime that could give Google access to multichannel video providers’ set-top data, the chatter about this Google’s rise as a lobbying power inside the Beltway has become something of a drumbeat.

Beating that drum last week in a blog post, with accompanying cartoon, was the TPA, which illustrated a blog by its president, David Williams, with a cartoon (pictured) depicting a particularly telling renovation at FCC headquarters.

Asked about Wheeler’s alleged Google-centricity, a spokesperson for the chairman responded: “Chairman Wheeler’s proposals aim to give consumers access to increased innovation, improved access to critical communications networks and more competition. These policies — from preventing fast lanes on the Internet to opening up wireless airwaves for new mobile technologies — are intended to empower consumers rather than favor any particular company.”

— John Eggerton

NCTA Talks to NAB, Hopes Confabs Can Minimize Conflicts

The National Cable & Telecommunications Association and the National Association of Broadcasters often find themselves on opposites sides of policy arguments.

Next April, their main conventions also are in (partial) conflict. The next NAB Show is April 22-27 in Las Vegas, and NCTA’s next INTX: The Internet & Television Expo is April 26-28 in Washington, D.C.

The NAB Show is far bigger than INTX, with a reported 103,012 attending and 1,874 exhibiting this past April. The NCTA doesn’t report INTX figures but predicted at least 8,000 would attend the May gathering in Boston. A non-NCTA source told The Wire about 6,500 attendees and 170 companies ended up being there. But when INTX is in NCTA’s hometown of D.C., the attendance numbers rise as government figures can attend easily.

NCTA officials recently thanked speakers who helped out at NCTA and said they were working to minimize conflicts resulting from the schedule clash. (INTX booked its D.C. date in 2010.) How so? Mainly by working with the broadcasters’ group on when to book key public-policy speakers, NCTA senior director of communications Joy Sims said.

NAB executive VP of communications Dennis Wharton confirmed the effort at convention comity, saying, “We are working closely with our friends at NCTA to make sure FCC commissioners and other public policy folks can attend both the NAB Show 2017 and INTX.”

If only Congress could be so cooperative.

— Kent Gibbons

‘Versailles’ in NYC: Ovation Sends French Fare to Ad Agencies

To promote the Oct. 1 premiere of costume drama Versailles, Ovation TV is sending a French street-food truck to New York City ad agencies this week. On Monday it’s at MediaCom USA, Mindshare, Maxus and Meta, 498 Seventh Ave.; Tuesday, it’s at OMD at 195 Broadway; Wednesday, Carat at 150 E. 42 St.; Thursday, Mediavest and Starcom at 1675 Broadway; and Friday, UM, Initiative and BPN at 100 W. 33 St., per the network.

Bon appétit!

RELATED:Mediacom: 20 Years of Growth | Rocco Commisso: From Calabria to a Cable Chairmanship | Standing Up for Small Cable’s Interests | Viewpoint: Timing Was Right for Rocco

MICHAEL POWELL, PRESIDENT AND CEO, NATIONAL CABLE & TELECOMMUNICATIONS ASSOCIATION

“Mediacom and Rocco are true leaders in our industry. Born out of risk-taking and entrepreneurism, Mediacom has grown into one of our fi nest multiple-system operators, providing to Americans in mid- and smaller-size markets an unsurpassed level of excellence in broadband, video, voice and business services. Rocco has been a passionate and stalwart advocate for cable, demanding that customers should come first, and that public policy should provide the incentives and the means for cable operators to innovate and serve their customers with high value offerings. On a personal note, there is no beer friend to have than Rocco, with his warm and gregarious demeanor and his undying support.”

TOM RUTLEDGE, CEO, CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS

“I have known Rocco for many years. He is a good friend and someone whose personal story would make for must see programming on many networks … not just CNBC. He is also the best thing besides money to come from the banking industry. Rocco has more belief in himself and the cable industry than anybody and his sheer will and guts created Mediacom, a great American success story.”

DAVID ZASLAV, PRESIDENT AND CEO, DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS

“Rocco is a true entrepreneur and has really lived the ‘American Dream’ after arriving in America as a kid. He worked hard to earn everything he has built at Mediacom. He has been a strong partner to me for the past two decades and one of the champions who has made this industry what it is today. He is a tough and respected operator with terrific financial acumen, a fighter who believes in his company, a company that 20 years later, he still runs with the passion he had the day he founded it.”

PHILIPPE DAUMAN, EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN AND CEO, VIACOM

“Rocco is one of the true entrepreneurs in the modern distribution landscape — tenacious, engaged and passionate about his system and the smaller markets it serves. He’s also a quintessential New Yorker, with a well-earned reputation for being a straight talker. Viacom and Mediacom have had great success working together to grow our businesses over the years, and I have a lot of respect for Rocco and his accomplishments.”

JERRY KENT, FORMER CEO, SUDDENLINK COMMUNCIATIONS

“Rocco is not only a friend, he is a hero to the industry. There has been no champion for midsized and smaller operators more relentless or passionate than him. I count myself fortunate to have served as a cable entrepreneur alongside him.”

PAT ESSER, PRESIDENT, COX COMMUNICATIONS

“Mediacom is a great example of the American Dream coming to life and the broadband cable industry it helped build will continue to create opportunities for future entrepreneurs and innovators. Congratulations to Rocco and his team.”

JOSH SAPAN, CEO, AMC NETWORKS

“Rocco embodies the best of what is entrepreneurial and original, qualities that have contributed to the fabric and success of cable TV. His iconoclastic nature and his path less well traveled embody the spirit that makes Mediacom a great company and makes cable a great industry.”

DENNIS WHARTON, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT MEDIA RELATIONS, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BROADCASTERS

“Congrats to Rocco Commisso on two decades at the Mediacom helm. In exchange for modest carriage fees, broadcasters are proud to provide Mediacom customers with marquee primetime entertainment, the most popular televised sporting events, local news and emergency weather warnings that save lives. We wish Mediacom continued success.”