NAB Show cancels in-person event

NAB announced this morning that it is cancelling the 2021 NAB Show, which was scheduled to be held in Las Vegas, October 9–13. The announcement comes after a number of its largest exhibitors, including Sony, Canon, Panasonic, and Ross all announced that they were pulling out of the show, citing concerns over COVID-19. The association said it plans to offer select virtual sessions through its Amplify portal.

The association made its announcement on its website this morning:

“For more than a year, we have worked tirelessly to bring our industry together safely in Las Vegas at NAB Show. Unfortunately, the pandemic and surge of the Delta variant has presented unexpected and insurmountable challenges for our global community.

As we have always kept the best interest and safety of the industry as our priority, it has become apparent in the face of these challenges that we can no longer effectively host NAB Show or our co-located events, the Radio Show and Sales and Management Television Exchange, in person. NAB Show is the premiere destination for the media and entertainment industry and we will not move forward with a show that delivers anything less than the excellence our community has come to expect and deserves from us.

While we are disappointed that we will not be together again in person next month, we look forward to converging at the 2022 NAB Show, April 23–27, 2022, to reignite our passion for our business and focus on a bright future ahead.”

Plans made before the show were cancelled

As the entire industry undergoes a seismic shift, Evertz plans to showcase a number of new products that focus on the need for broadcasters to stand out from the crowd by creating more – and higher-quality – programming that satisfies growing consumer demand. The company’s new solutions are designed to help broadcasters and content creators work faster and more efficiently by facilitating true end-to-end distributed workflows outside traditional workplace environments. Evertz is also displaying cutting-edge solutions that give broadcasters the tools to drive audience-retention by offering interactive engagement and customized content, such as different camera angles and personalized highlights.

Xytech is planning to launch MediaPulse 10. The three areas of the update are mobility, the cloud, and features to support the changing nature of the business. The MediaPulse Managed Cloud is faster and more secure, and the new mobile features support a customer base with new remote needs in a very different and evolving environment. The new budgeting module addresses the need to control costs on projects of all sizes, including large annual facility projections. Xytech is also tapping into the ScheduALL client base and has developed new features across the transmission and scheduling modules to make MediaPulse more impactful for users.

Marshall Electronics will showcase its miniature CV568 and compact CV368 Global Shutter Cameras with genlock. These two new camera models are shipping now and are meant for broadcast, sportscast, newscast, racing, eSports, remote production, or any application that requires high-speed or low-light capture.

Marketron will feature products for players in the broadcast and media industry to strengthen their market leadership by delivering more scalable, predictable, and reliable revenue.

Dielectric is coming to the 2021 NAB Show with NextGen TV and a new product line that is ready to ship. Dielectric has expanded its all-in-one Powerlite Series to provide customers with complete systems that help broadcasters maximize their NextGen TV investments. As ATSC 3.0 SFNs will comprise multiple low-power transmitter sites, Dielectric’s Proposal Generator software will help broadcasters configure systems that meet very specific network designs. Broadcasters can select the proper power level, directional pattern, height above ground level, and other pertinent design criteria for each location.

The organizers are offering show floor tours, especially curated to focus on specific trends and technologies on display at the show. Tours include Future Tech Experience – the latest technology trends and new products; film TV and ondemand programming workflow – trends in video production; live news, podcasts, and event-streaming workflows – trends in live production; getting started with live streaming and broadcasting – featuring technologies and workflows for live content; and digital/broadcast content distribution – trends in reaching more viewers.

NAB is also launching a new NAB Show Diversity Symposium at the 2021 NAB Show. The two-part program will cover strategies for developing and fostering corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) in the media industry. The symposium will take place Sunday, October 10, and is open to all NAB Show attendees.

“The value of this new program cannot be overstated,” said Michelle Duke, NAB’s Chief Diversity Officer. “The last year has made it clear that businesses need to take a more active role in creating and developing more inclusive and diverse workplaces, and we are excited for the role NAB has to lead a culture of change.”

The symposium will kick off with a Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) Roundtable, focused on how to develop diversity programs for media organizations. CDOs from The E.W. Scripps Company, iHeartMedia, and TEGNA will join the conversation led by Duke.

Other sessions focused on developing a corporate DE&I strategy include:

Building effective ERGs (employee resources groups) and DE&I committees; and

Supplier diversity – developing a strategy that benefits your organization and your community.

The symposium will then pivot to cover fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace and within the media industry at large. Two sessions will explore the impact of diverse leadership on the bottom line, and how intersectional identities can change reporting, news coverage, and production.

Diverse leaders from across the industry will participate in the session titled More Than a Seat at the Table – The Impact of Inclusive Leadership and Sponsorship. iHeartMedia’s Senior Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion, Yesenia Bello, KITV4 Island Television’s President and General Manager, Jason Hagiwara, and COX Media Group’s Director of Sales, Angelina Rosario, will discuss leadership as individuals in groups that are underrepresented in media and the positive impact of creating an active culture of inclusion at their organizations.

Renowned actor and comedian Jim Gaffigan will open NAB Show with a live comedy performance at the NAB Show Sunday Kick Off on October 10 at 4:15 p.m. PST. The Sunday Kick Off celebration will mark the opening day of the Show Floor and welcome attendees back to NAB Show, live and in-person, for the first time since 2019.