Client: Lake Cedar Group – HDTV

Service: Strategic Defense

Summary

Success in the legislative arena is measured not only by the strategic passage of legislation, but also by the effectiveness of a firm’s strategic defense. Though less quantifiable, success often comes in the form of defeating harmful proposals, amending them to your favor, exempting the client out of a proposal, preempting efforts, encouraging a change of heart, and mobilizing your grassroots.

Capitol Solutions was engaged by the Lake Cedar Group – a contingent of the major television broadcast affiliates in the Denver metro area including KCNC-4 (ABC), KUSA-9 (NBC), KMGH-7 (ABC), UPN20, and Rocky Mountain PBS – to successfully defeat a legislative effort to stop the implementation to HDTV in the Denver television market. Despite intense grassroots efforts supporting the legislation, our team’s strategy and dedication to providing the right information to the right people at the right time achieved defeat of the legislation.

Objective

Defend the Lake Cedar Group’s interests and defeat legislation intended to stop construction of an HDTV tower.

History/Challenge

The Federal Communications Commission mandated that the nation’s television broadcasters transfer 100% of its television broadcast in HDTV by 2006. In order to comply, the TV affiliates banded together (Lake Cedar Group) to build one broadcast tower on Lookout Mountain. Homeowners banded together to oppose the construction of the tower on the basis of negative health affects caused by the radiation produced by the HDTV antenna.

Furthering their opposition, the homeowners enlisted the support of their local state representative to introduce legislation to prevent the progression of construction of the HDTV tower due to health affects.

Solution

Capitol Solutions has significant experience in strategies and tactics for defending a client’s interests. Capitol Solutions developed a comprehensive strategy to present credible science to counter opponent’s claims of negative health affects. Capitol Solutions developed the most effective message to convey Lake Cedar Group’s position to legislators. Position papers were crafted in keeping with the developed message and direct lobbying was conducted. Capitol Solutions coordinated strong testimony to make the strongest case possible by bringing in the client’s experts to put forth Lake Cedar Group’s position and to counter opponent testimony.

Capitol Solutions worked with each member of the committee and full body to present Lake Cedar’s position and “counted the votes” at each stage of the legislative process and, at the end of the day, had the necessary votes to defeat the legislation.