our guest, gordon smith of the national association of broadcasters. he serves as their president and ceo. also joining us, ted develop of "telecommunications reports." talk about content. i can watch extreme home shows on abc, i can go to cable or elsewhere and watch a multitude of show on home ownership, home changes, whatever. you're faced with competition on that front. make the case that broadcasters still is the ability to compete and should? >> guest: well, notwithstanding the proliferation of all these channels, again i go back to what are people watching, and it is the high quality of broadcast content that keeps them coming back to broadcast channels. they may not even know they're on a broadcast channel, but that's what they're watching. 90 of the top 100 shows are broadcast. and as long as the economics of broadcasting are preserved, the content will be high, and that will attract ears and eyeballs, and that's, of course, the challenge with the proliferation of competition that's out there which so far we're doing fine with it. gls and you

helping to kick off the series is the former senator of the state of oregon, gordon smith. >> good to be back. >> senator smith, could you start by talking to us about how people watch television in the current day as, say, opposed to a few years ago? >> broadcasting is affected by that. we remain highly relevant because what we do is local, and as to those who want to get it the old-fashioned way, it is free, and yet, you have satellite, you have cable, and now you have the internet, through hulu or netflix, which are other ways to access television, so television remains highly relevant to the future. when you look at the top 100 programs that are watched, 90 of them are broadcast, -- content. i think the future is bright, indeed. -- 90 of them are broadcast content. we are a mobile society, and so the challenge is to make sure that we are on pads, computers, phones, as well as traditional viewing, now with a wonderful high-definition television screen. the other challenge we have is that spectrum is a finite resource, and others want that resource, and there is not enough spectrum

. >> host: the future of television, gordon smith of the national association of broadcasting, the president and ceo, also, joining us is ted gosch. tell us about extreme home shows on abc. i can go to jay -- cable and face competition. but. >> guest: notwithstanding the proliferation of all these channels, again, i go back to what are people watching. and it is the high-quality of broadcast content to keep them coming back to broadcast channels. that is what they are watching. ninety of the top hundred shows are broadcast. and as long as the economics of broadcasting are preserved, the content will be high. that will attract ears and eyeballs. that is a challenge with a proliferation of competition that is out there. which, so far, we are doing fine. >> host: he spoke of regulation when it comes to cable? >> guest: sometimes you get all the garbage in the world coming to your house, so you have to be careful about people in certain respects. but if they are on a broadcast content, there are community standards of decency that we have to observe. which parents ought to be mindful of when it

. >> tonight, gordon smith at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span2. >> president obama was in newtown, connecticut, last night to one of the victims of friday's mass shooting. he met privately with families of the victims and other first responders. he spoke about the inspiration in the aftermath of the tragedy and vowed to you as his office to prevent further mass shootings. other speakers include the connecticut governor, dan malloy. this is about an hour and 15 minutes. >> we needed this. we needed to be together. here in this room, in the gymnasium, outside the doors of the school, in living rooms around the world. we needed to be together. to show that we are together and united. we gather in such a moment of heartbreak all of us here in newtown. we gather especially mindful of family and friends and neighbors among us. who have lost loved ones by an act of unfathomable violence and destruction. would gather to grieve together, -- we gather to grieve together, to care for one another, to weep and to remember, and to declare in

. >> the communicators continues its look at the future of television ad monday night with a gordon smith. >> president obama was in newtown, connecticut where he spoke at an interest -- an interfaith vigil to mourn the victims of the mass shooting at sandy hook elementary school. he met with members of the family and members of the police force. he spoke about the inspiration that the community had shown in the aftermath of the cap -- in the aftermath of the tragedy. other speakers at the service included the connecticut governor. this is about an hour and 15 minutes. >> on behalf of the new town interfaith clergy association, i welcome all of you. we needed this. we needed to be together here in this room. in the gymnasium, outside the doors of the school, in living rooms around the world. we needed to be together. to show that we are together and united. we gather in such a moment of heartbreak for all of us here in newtown. we gather especially mindful of family and friends and neighbors among us who have lost loved ones by an act of unfathomable violence and destruction. we gathered

. >> host: senator gordon smith joins us as we begin part of discussions on the future of television. he is the president and ceo of the national association of broadcasters. thank you, sir. >> guest: thank you. >> host: and ted gotsch of "telecommunications report," thank you b the for being on "the communicators." >> thanks for having me. >> just ahead, the first of two forums from a recent conference examining the 201 2 elections with jeremy byrd. then two secretaries of state discuss the impact of voter id laws. after that we're hive from the brookings institution on the future of egypt following it constitutional refer dumb, and later another live forum examining a proposal to raise medicare's eligibility age. >> also today a discussion with some of the leaders who have helped create what's known as e-government. this month marks the tenth anniversary of the act that was helped to allow federal agencies to deliver information for mishtly using the -- efficiently using the internet. you can see live coverage beginning at 9 a.m. eastern over on c-span3. >> now, a look at some of th

. >> host: senator gordon smith joins us as we began discussions on the future of television and he is president and ceo of the national association of broadcasters. thank you, sir. and ted gotsch from telecommunications report thank you for being on "the communicators." >> this week on q&a, pulitzer prize-winning author anne applebaum discusses her newest historical narrative entitled "iron curtain" subfive. c-span: anne applebaum why do you open up with the quote from winston churchill? >> guest: i open up of the quote because churchill is defined an era where talking about probably without meaning to. he coined the expression the iron curtain and it was such a motive and such, and such an evocative description of what had happened between 1944 and 1946 when he gave his speech that the quote comes from and i thought it was important to put that at the beginning of the book. c-span: did you ever find out why he called at the iron iron iron curtain? guess so there's x. a long and complicated story. it's actually a theatrical term. there was an iron curtain at theaters that he could use

gordon smith and 8:00 eastern on c-span2. "washington journal" continues. host: james thurber is our guest with the american university center for congressional and presidential studies of which he is the director and prof.. thank you for coming in today. guest: please to be here. host: you are here to talk about the electoral college. the election wrapped up over a month ago. why are we talking about the left for college and what happens today? guest: this is the next step in the election. the electoral process -- the electoral college is not a place but a process. today is the process where the electors get together in each state, and they go through a complex process. but it is generally managed by the secretary of state or some other officials, and they give their votes for the electors in that state for a particular president. president obama has 332 a tour college votes and romney has 206. so in the states where romney won those electors will vote for him. and in -- the next step is for them to send it to six different places in washington, d.c., but

. >> the head of the nab, gordon smith. >> as president obama begins his second term in office, what is the most important issue he the most important issue he should consider

smith looked on. the 1st quarter, best drive of the last, gordon for a touchdown. the 49th of his career. 7-049ers. throwing it from the end swro -- 7-0 49ers. throwing it from the end zone. 7-2, 49ers, late 4th quarter, 10-2. here is the big mistake. the pitch, overred head, scores, the rams got the 2- point conversion, the game was tied. can not find a receiver and there he goes. a 50 yard pick up to the 14 yard line. that set up a david acres field goal to give the 49ers a 13-10 lead. hru, st. louis gets into field goal range -- but, st. louis gets into field goal range. forcing overtime once again. 4:16 into overtime. on for a 51 yard kick. this to win the game for the 49ers. but, no. it is wide right. of course, the rams get the football. they are in range. from 54 yards out to win the game. 16-13 is the final. so, the 49ers lead is 1-1/2 games. the talk was about the bad pitch. >> just kept it, let the chock run and let our punter get on the field and let the defense play. >> is there any question who the starting quarterback is for next week. >> i the let you know -- i will let you know if t

. >> "the communicators" continues to look at the future of television monday night with gordon smith at eight eastern on c-span2. ..