NABEF Announces Engineering Internship Recipients

WASHINGTON, DC – NAB announced today it has awarded eight research grants to academic scholars as part of its annual "Grants for Research in Broadcasting" program. Each year, this highly competitive program attracts research proposals from broadcast scholars throughout the country. Through the program, first initiated in 1967, NAB has awarded more than 300 research grants amounting to nearly $1 million in support of academic studies.

"We received many outstanding proposals again this year, with many studies focused on topic areas that are directly related to the ongoing evolution of the broadcast industry," said NAB Vice President of Research and Planning David Gunzerath. "We fully expect that broadcasters will benefit greatly from this research on subjects that are so crucial to their current and future businesses."

This year's recipients and their research topics are:

• "Convergence 2.0: Evolution in Cross-Platform Journalism," Susan Keith, Rutgers University.
• "Cross-Promotion and Local Television News Branding," Gregory D. Newton and Tang Tang, Ohio University.
• "Don't Blink or You Might Miss It," David Allan, St. Joseph's University.
• "Earwitness Testimony: Applying Listener Perspectives to Developing a Working Concept of Localism in Broadcast Radio," Gayane Torosyan, SUNY-Oneonta.
• "The Effect of Blogging on Local Sports Broadcasting," Brad Schultz, University of Mississippi, and Mary Lou Sheffer, University of Texas at Arlington.
• "Television Station Experience and Satisfaction with Research Services: 2007," Cheryl Harris, University of South Carolina.
• "Understanding the Challenges of Minority Media Ownership," John O. Omachonu and Thomas Berg, Middle Tennessee State University.
• "Viewers as Content Providers: The Impact on Broadcasters," Mark Tremayne, University of Texas at Austin.

The annual NAB Grants program is designed to stimulate interest in broadcast research, with special focus on economic, social, or policy issues of importance to the commercial broadcast industry. The goal is to make high quality academic research on broadcast issues available to industry practitioners and academic scholars. Proposals are evaluated by an independent panel of academic and industry research professionals and by representatives of NAB's Committees on Local Radio Audience Measurement (COLRAM) and Local Television Audience Measurement (COLTAM).

The final reports for these projects are expected by May 2008. Last year's recipients will present preliminary results of their research at the 2007 Broadcast Education Association Convention in Las Vegas. More information about these studies can be found by contacting NAB Research and Planning at 202-429-5383. Details about the research grants program are available on the NAB Web site.

About NAB
The National Association of Broadcasters is a trade association that advocates on behalf of more than 8,300 free, local radio and television stations and also broadcast networks before Congress, the Federal Communications Commission and the Courts. Information about NAB can be found at www.nab.org.