Marty Franks, CBS' Top Lobbyist, to Retire

Helped turn retrans into lucrative revenue stream for TV nets

Marty Franks, CBS' top honcho in Washington for 25 years and one of broadcasting's most influential lobbyists, is retiring Sept. 30.

Helping CBS turn retransmission consent negotiations into a lucrative, nine-figure revenue stream tops Franks’ many credits. He also helped to repeal the Financial Interest and Syndication Rules that cleared the way for TV networks to own the programs they air and then syndicate them abroad, earning CBS more than $3 billion for CSI alone.

"The CBS we know today would not have been possible without Marty's contributions over the past 25 years," Les Moonves, CEO of CBS, wrote in a memo to CBS employees.

One of the great advocates of broadcasting in Washington, National Association of Broadcasters CEO Gordon Smith hailed Franks as "an unsung superstar.

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