Blake Farenthold: “Thank you very much. It is an honor and a privilege to be here to speak about the value our local broadcasters bring to…”

“Thank you very much. It is an honor and a privilege to be here to speak about the value our local broadcasters bring to our communities. I am a long-time radio guy. At 15 years old, I started hanging around the radio station and ended up getting a job there through high school and college and have worked on and off in radio ever since. I can tell you, our local broadcasters are such a value to our community. We have got a market now with all sorts of new technology for people to get music and entertainment--there is satellite radio; there is the Internet; there is Pandora--but nothing compares to what the local broadcasters can bring. Actually, all this competition, I think, is bringing a resurgence to local broadcasters. You are going away from lots of syndicated programs to more locally created programs that are more in tune to the needs of the community than something coming out from a central location piped over a satellite. You have got great opportunities. Local businesses now have more opportunities to advertise, targeting local audiences. You have got news departments that are beginning a resurgence in local radio and television stations as people realize they need local news in addition to the national news. And in times of an emergency, nobody comes to the aid of a community like the broadcast facilities. Typically, they will suspend programming in the event of a hurricane or some other disaster.…”