National Association of Broadcasters

An award given, then taken back

The National Association of Broadcasters keeps two of the industry’s most visible honors — and in 2024 it showed the difference between them. Its Leadership Foundation selected Robert De Niro for the Service to America Leadership Award, described as the foundation’s highest individual honor, then un-invited him before the June 4 ceremony and rescinded the award (Radio & Television Business Report). The reason, per NAB, was De Niro’s “recent high-profile activities” — a Biden campaign news conference held outside Trump’s New York criminal trial — and the organization stressed that it is “proudly bipartisan” (Radio & Television Business Report). Previous recipients included Laura Bush, Nancy Reagan, José Andrés, Patti LaBelle, Lin-Manuel Miranda, John Legend, Sara Evans, and Jon Bon Jovi (Radio & Television Business Report).

That rescinded honor sits in the same building, so to speak, as the NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame — the award the queue question is about. Where the Service to America award goes to public-service work, the Hall of Fame inducts one radio personality or program and one television star or show each year (EBSCO (Research Starters)). In 2016, the television inductee was Chuck Lorre, and the radio inductees were the ESPN morning duo “Mike & Mike” (ShootOnline; National Association of Broadcasters).

The 2016 inductions

On April 18, 2016, Chuck Lorre was inducted into the NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame at the NAB Show Television Luncheon in Las Vegas (ShootOnline). The announcement framed him as the creative force behind the Warner Bros. Television broadcast comedies “The Big Bang Theory,” “Mom,” “Mike & Molly,” and “Two and a Half Men” for CBS (ShootOnline). Lorre was co-creator and executive producer of “The Big Bang Theory,” described then as TV’s number-one entertainment series among total viewers and number-one comedy among adults 18–49, as well as the critically acclaimed “Mom,” starring Anna Faris and Allison Janney, which had been honored at the Television Academy Honors in 2014 (ShootOnline).

The rest of his résumé filled out the induction case: executive producer of “Mike & Molly,” starring Billy Gardell and Melissa McCarthy, which was completing its six-year run that spring; co-creator and executive producer of “Two and a Half Men,” which aired for twelve seasons and ranked among television’s longest-running comedies; and earlier hits including “Cybill,” “Dharma & Greg,” and “Grace Under Fire,” plus a co-executive producer stint on “Roseanne” (ShootOnline). “An artist in the prime of his career, Chuck Lorre is a legendary television writer and producer,” said NAB Executive Vice President of Television Marcellus Alexander, adding that Lorre’s “biting wit and memorable characters have become a part of our culture and defined an era of scripted comedies” (ShootOnline).

The announcement also noted the 2015 establishment of “The Big Bang Theory” Scholarship Endowment at UCLA, which Lorre spearheaded to support undergraduates in financial need studying science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; the endowment had raised more than $4 million and was supporting 20 scholars for the 2015–16 academic year, with five more added each year in perpetuity (ShootOnline). Lorre’s industry honors already included a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a 2012 induction into the Television Academy Hall of Fame (ShootOnline).

The next day, April 19, the radio honor went to Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg, hosts of ESPN Radio’s weekday morning show “Mike & Mike,” at the NAB Show Radio Luncheon in Las Vegas, sponsored by ASCAP (National Association of Broadcasters). The show had been on the air since 2000 and had celebrated its 15th anniversary the previous March with a special broadcast from Walt Disney World in Orlando (National Association of Broadcasters). NAB Executive Vice President of Radio John David said the two, “with their mix of sports savvy and humor, have been informing and entertaining fans for more than 15 years” (National Association of Broadcasters). Previous radio inductees named in the announcement included Kevin and Bean, Steve Harvey, Dave Ramsey, Bob Uecker, Gerry House, Ron Chapman, Vin Scully, Jack Buck, and Harry Caray (National Association of Broadcasters).

Both luncheons were part of the 2016 NAB Show, held April 16–21 in Las Vegas — billed as the world’s largest electronic media show, with 103,000 attendees from 166 countries and more than 1,700 exhibitors (National Association of Broadcasters).

A century of advocacy

The NAB describes itself as the premier advocacy association for America’s broadcasters, advancing radio and television interests in legislative, regulatory, and public affairs (National Association of Broadcasters). EBSCO’s research starter classifies it as a trade organization for American television and radio station owners (EBSCO (Research Starters)).

The origins are over a century old — though even the encyclopedias hedge on the details. EBSCO’s research starter says in its summary that the NAB was founded in 1922, then lists “FOUNDED: 1923” in its full-article fact box and says it was organized in 1923 to combat demands that radio stations pay royalties for on-air use of music (EBSCO (Research Starters)). The royalty fight was the founding impulse: NAB failed to stop stations from having to pay, but remained a powerful industry voice (EBSCO (Research Starters)).

Over the decades the association championed a trusteeship model of broadcasting — stations as public trustees, not merely for-profit businesses — and promoted self-regulation when government regulation threatened (EBSCO (Research Starters)). In the 1970s its television members adopted a family viewing time policy rather than let Congress impose programming rules; its voluntary code was later abolished after a federal district court ruled that the code’s advertising time limits were a restraint of trade (EBSCO (Research Starters)). It has typically opposed proposals to increase media competition by adding stations or expanding cable, and has supported regulations expanding the ownership rights of existing station owners (EBSCO (Research Starters)).

That advocacy has continued into the streaming era. In 2025 the organization urged the FCC to eliminate national television ownership caps, arguing that traditional broadcasters — accounting for just 18.5 percent of TV usage against 46 percent for streaming platforms — faced unfair limits (EBSCO (Research Starters)). It also pressed the FCC to accelerate the transition to NextGen TV (ATSC 3.0) and launched a NextGen TV News Technology Lab with $2.5 million in funding to develop broadcast applications (EBSCO (Research Starters)). In 2026, the lab reported tests of interactive weather, emergency-alert, and multilingual public-service tools, while Cleveland’s launch brought NextGen TV to all 25 of the largest U.S. television markets (EBSCO (Research Starters)).

What this profile does not claim

This profile does not resolve the founding-year discrepancy — it reports that EBSCO’s own entry says both 1922 and 1923 rather than picking one (EBSCO (Research Starters)). It does not recount the founding meeting, the founder’s name, or NAB’s historical renamings, which appear only in sources this profile did not read in full. It does not name a current NAB president or CEO. It does not claim the 2024 Service to America award was presented to anyone else in De Niro’s place. It does not rank the NAB Show against other media conventions beyond the scale figures NAB published about its own 2016 event (National Association of Broadcasters).