Richard E. Wiley Named Among “Giants of Broadcasting” for 2013

Calling him “a leading force” in U.S. communications who “played a pivotal role” in the development of HDTV, the Library of American Broadcasting has named Wiley Rein Chairman Richard E. Wiley one of its Giants of Broadcasting for 2013. The awards celebrate “distinguished leadership or performance in television and radio.”

Officials noted Mr. Wiley’s service as chairman, commissioner and general counsel of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) during the 1970s, when he worked “to foster increased competition and lessened regulation” in communications. He chaired the FCC’s Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service for nine years, a period that led to his being dubbed the “father of high-definition television.”

Mr. Wiley heads his firm’s Communications Practice—the nation’s largest—representing organizations including Verizon, AT&T, JP Morgan, Credit Suisse, the Newspaper Association of America, CBS, Motorola, Belo, Gannett, Gray Television, Sirius XM Radio, Emmis and LG Electronics. The “most influential media and telecommunications lawyer in the U.S.,” according to the International Herald Tribune, he is a frequent writer and lecturer on telecommunications and information law.

Mr. Wiley joins 10 other distinguished honorees: Anne Sweeney, Alex Trebek, Barry Diller, Morley Safer, Dick Cavett, Jeff Smulyan, Robert L. Johnson, David E. Kelley, Richard Leibner and Carole Cooper. They will be honored October 16 in a ceremony at New York City’s Gotham Hall.

The Library of American Broadcasting, located at the University of Maryland in College Park, is the national information resource for the radio and television industries and the academic communities that rely on it for expertise. Following this year’s inductions, its Giants of Broadcasting will number 170.  To see the organization’s full announcement, click here.