Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

NAB Cancellation Fallout: AES 2021 Goes Virtual, InfoComm Still a Go, IBC Clears Regulatory Hurdle

16/09/2021

NAB Cancellation Fallout: AES 2021 Goes Virtual, InfoComm Still a Go, IBC Clears Regulatory Hurdle Vendors lament but understand the NAB decision By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor

Thursday, September 16, 2021 - 11:32 am

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

After several major exhibitors opted to pull out over the past week, the National Association of Broadcasters officially canceled the 2021 NAB Show in Las Vegas yesterday. Marking the second consecutive year the in-person show was canceled because of safety concerns over the pandemic, the show will transition to a virtual format: NAB Amplify.

As a result of the cancellation, the AES Show, which was to be co-located in Las Vegas, also announced that it will forgo an in-person show in favor of a virtual event: AES Fall Online Show 2021. Meanwhile, according to AVIXA CEO Dave Labuskes, InfoComm will go on as planned in Orlando Oct. 23-29.

Exhibitor Exodus Dooms In-Person NAB 2021 The 2021 in-person NAB Show will be virtual instead of in-person.

News broke Wednesday morning that the NAB Show will once again be canceled. NAB EVP/Managing Director, Global Connections and Events, Chris Brown released a statement saying, 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.

With NAB 2021 nixed, the industry will look to the 2022 NAB Show, which is set for April 23-27, 2022, as well as the virtual NAB Amplify event, which will feature virtual options for accessing selected 2021 NAB Show content.

The announcement followed several big exhibitors' decision to pull out of the show: Canon, Panasonic, Ross Video, Sony, Adobe, Avid, Blackmagic Design, and Brainstorm. NAB had been promoting more than 600 exhibitors at this year's show compared with the latest in-person show, in 2019, which listed 1,600.

AES Follows Suit, Cancels Las Vegas Event AES will hold a virtual version of its 2021 show, which was set to take place in Vegas.

Hours after the annual NAB expo in Las Vegas announced its cancellation, the Audio Engineering Society's closely associated AES Show issued the same declaration.

The AES convention was co-located with the NAB Show, and following the NAB announcement, the AES will regrettably cancel the in-person AES Show Las Vegas 2021, planned for October 10- 13, the organization said in a statement. We apologize for the change in plans, but we hope you understand that it was not feasible to continue as planned. The AES Fall Online program will proceed, with events taking place online Oct. 16-31, including a broadly focused technical program Oct. 20-23.

The cancellation of the AES expo was not unexpected, but it did disappoint professional-broadcast-audio exhibitors who had looked forward to showing new products and interacting with customers.

We're sad that we're going to be unable to get together with everyone at AES but glad that we'll be contributing to the community's safety and eliminating the potential for more spread of the virus, says Phil Wagner, SVP, SSL, a broadcast-audio-console manufacturer that is under the Audiotonix umbrella, which also includes Calrec. We'll miss the trade-show environment and the opportunity to interact with customers but look forward to doing so when it's once again safe.

AES further stated that information will be forthcoming for those who have registered for the in-person convention, including converting that registration to cover the online program.

InfoComm Is Still a Go in Orlando AVIXA CEO Dave Labuskes says InfoComm will go on as planned next month.

On the same day as NAB's announcement, AVIXA CEO Dave Labuskes said that InfoComm, which is set to be held at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando Oct. 23-29, will go on as planned.

If there's anything we've learned in the last two years, it's that nobody has the ability to say anything with certainty anymore, he said. What I will tell you is that, short of the local government of Orlando or Orange County or Florida or the federal government of the U.S. telling us that we are violating the law in having an event, we will be having InfoComm.

There is no greater physical manifestation of the marketplace than a trade show, Labuskes continued. Nor is there a greater physical manifestation of community than that trade show. Throughout all of those conversations [at a recent AVIXA board planning meeting, for example], community becomes a part of it. I know that 2021 is not the year for everybody to be either in the show or at the show, and I respect their decision in that regard and anxiously look forward to seeing them in 2022, both personally and professionally.

Listen to the full, one-hour interview HERE.

Focus Turns to IBC Caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte at a press conference on Sept. 14 (Photo: RVD/Minister-President at Twitter)

With the NAB Show canceled, all eyes are now on the IBC Show set to be held at the RAI in Amsterdam Dec. 3-6. Good news came in the form of The Netherlands' announcement that it will no longer enforce rules meant to keep people 1.5 meters apart. The country will instead begin much wider use of coronavirus access passes starting Sept. 25: people wanting to gain entry to various venues will be required to demonstrate proof of vaccination against COVID-19, recovery from an infection of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, or a negative test for the infection within 24 hours of entry.

Under the new regulations, indoor events, like IBC, where people do not stay in a fixed seat will be allowed at 75% capacity, provided they use coronavirus access passes. Other hospitality businesses, cinemas, music venues, professional sports events, and cultural sites can return to 100% capaci
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2021/09/16/nab-cancelation-fallout-aes-202...
See more stories from svg

More from Sports Video Group

02/07/2025

World RX of Sweden: Aurora's Matt Beal on Taking Up the Broadcast Reins Alongside the FIA

Progressive realism: Aurora on taking up the broadcast reins for World RX alongs...

02/07/2025

World RX of Sweden: Getting the Production Together With NEP Finland, Cloudbass Graphics

Great speed: New host broadcaster Aurora on getting the World RX 2025 season pro...

02/07/2025

World RX of Sweden: Host Broadcaster Aurora Looks Ahead to This Weekend's Second Race of the Season in Hljes

Seat of its pants: Aurora boxes clever and looks ahead for the FIA as new host b...

02/07/2025

UEFA Women's Euro 2025: EBU, BBC Sport, Sunset+Vine Talk Coverage Plans, Distribution and Maintaining Momentum

UEFA Women's Euro 2025: EBU, BBC Sport and Sunset Vine talk coverage plans, ...

02/07/2025

UEFA Women's Euro 2025: Women's Super League Launches New Content Series to Support Teams, Players Over Summer of Football

UEFA Women's Euro 2025: Women's Super League launches new content series...

02/07/2025

UEFA Women's Euro 2025: Ignite Puts Fans, Players Front and Center With Title Sequence for ITV

UEFA Women's Euro 2025: Ignite puts fans and players front and centre with t...

02/07/2025

Storytelling in the Live Game Broadcast: ESPN Director Jimmy Platt Breaks Down the Craft

Storytelling in the Live Game Broadcast: ESPN Director Jimmy Platt Breaks Down t...

02/07/2025

CONCACAF's Miguel Angel Garcia on the Gold Cup's Enhanced 2025 Production Plan

CONCACAF's Miguel Angel Garcia on the Gold Cup's Enhanced 2025 Productio...

01/07/2025

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Spyrosoft's Jonathan Witty on Futher Business Expansion in the U.S.

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Spyrosoft's Jonathan Witty on Futher Business Exp...

01/07/2025

The NIL Effect: How the Shifting Business of College Athletics Impacts On-Campus Video Production

The NIL Effect: How the Shifting Business of College Athletics Impacts On-Campus...

01/07/2025

Cherry On the Cake: Inside the Technical Production of the Tour de France 2025 with EMG / Gravity Media

Cherry on the cake: Inside the technical production of the Tour de France 2025 w...

01/07/2025

NESN's Josh Jun on Keeping Alternative Broadcasts Fresh for Boston Red Sox, Boston Bruins Fans

NESN's Josh Jun on Keeping Alternative Broadcasts Fresh for Boston Red Sox, ...

01/07/2025

TNT Sports Races Back Into NASCAR With Fresh Look, Familiar Edge

TNT Sports Races Back Into NASCAR With Fresh Look, Familiar Edge Production approach emphasizes creative freedom, bold storytelling, casual-fan-friendly tone B...

27/06/2025

How Smarter Video Compression is Creating a Sustainable Future

How smarter compression is creating a sustainable future By Michael Burns Monday, June 23, 2025 - 14:13 Print This Story Live sport is especially vulnerab...

27/06/2025

RTL Group To Acquire Sky Deutschland

RTL Group To Acquire Sky Deutschland By George Bevir, Editorial Director, SVG Europe Friday, June 27, 2025 - 8:00 am Print This Story | Subscribe Story ...

27/06/2025

Frictionless, At Scale: The Current State of Live Video Streaming Techology

Frictionless, At Scale: The Current State of Live Video Streaming Techology Leaders from Bitmovin, Comcast Technology Solutions, Harmonic, IMAX, and Phenix brea...

27/06/2025

Marquee Sports Network's Nick Steger on Meeting the Moment of the Contending Chicago Cubs

Marquee Sports Network's Nick Steger on Meeting the Moment of the Contending...

27/06/2025

NHL Draft 2025: The League Is Primed for First Decentralized Draft in Non-Pandemic Era

NHL Draft 2025: The League Is Primed for First Decentralized Draft in Non-Pandem...

26/06/2025

10th-Annual SVG Regional Sports Production Summit Presents Useful Roadmap for the Future of the RSN, Local Media Business

10th-Annual SVG Regional Sports Production Summit Presents Useful Roadmap for th...

26/06/2025

The Big Cloud Debate: Public vs. Private vs. Hybrid

The Big Cloud Debate: Public vs. Private vs. Hybrid Tech leaders from CineSys, Diversified, and Net Insight breaks down all flavors of cloud By Jason Dachman, ...

26/06/2025

Program Productions' Jess Kowatch on Training the Next and Current Generation of Sports TV Technicians

Program Productions' Jess Kowatch on Training the Next and Current Gener...

25/06/2025

SVG College Summit 2025: Select Sessions Now Available to Watch on SVG PLAY

SVG College Summit 2025: Select Sessions Now Available to Watch on SVG PLAY Tackling the latest in college sports video: NIL, live production, virtual productio...

25/06/2025

ESPN Is Set To Bring AR Graphics to Wimbledon, Revamps Bunker and Studio 18 VO Booths

ESPN Is Set To Bring AR Graphics to Wimbledon, Revamps Bunker and Studio 18 VO B...

24/06/2025

2025 NBA Draft: ABC/ESPN Prepares for Two-Day Draft at Barclays Center

2025 NBA Draft: ABC/ESPN Prepares for Two-Day Draft at Barclays Center Partners Game Creek Video, CP Communications, NEP Specialty Capture will be on hand By M...

24/06/2025

Cloud Broadcast Tech Update: Google Cloud's Jane Day on the Impact of AI on Sports

Cloud Broadcast Tech Update: Google Cloud's Jane Day on the Impact of AI on ...

24/06/2025

Cloud Broadcast Tech Update: AWS's Dana LaGattuta on Data-Driven Innovation in Sports

Cloud Broadcast Tech Update: AWS's Dana LaGattuta on Data-Driven Innovation ...

24/06/2025

British & Irish Lions Men's Tour: Dublin Opener Sees Sky Sports Take Remote Route

Lions live: Dublin opener sees Sky Sports take remote route By Fergal Ringrose ...

24/06/2025

British & Irish Lions Men's Tour: Pumas Maul Lions as S4C and TG4 Deliver First-Ever Joint Host in Dublin

Pumas maul Lions as S4C and TG4 deliver first-ever joint host in Dublin By Ferg...

24/06/2025

ABC/ESPN Prepares for 2025 NBA Draft, the First at Barclays Center

ABC/ESPN Prepares for 2025 NBA Draft, the First at Barclays Center Partners Game Creek Video, CP Communications, NEP Specialty Capture will be on hand By Mark ...

23/06/2025

Adventures in Live Cloud Production: Stories From the Trenches with MLB, NHL, NBC Sports, Warner Bros. Discovery, and AWS

Adventures in Live Cloud Production: Stories From the Trenches with MLB, NHL, NB...

23/06/2025

Finding the Edge: How Badger & Combes Produces Live-Streamed Coverage of County Cricket for LancsTV

Finding the edge: How Badger & Combes produces live-streamed coverage of county ...

23/06/2025

Masters of Madness: New Football Format Shakes Up the Rules of Sportainment

Masters of Madness: New football format shakes up the rules of sportainment By Adrian Pennington Monday, June 16, 2025 - 11:38 Print This Story The ball i...

23/06/2025

New State-of-the-Art Mountain Media Center Launches in Former Starz Encore Building Near Denver

New State-of-the-Art Mountain Media Center Launches in Former Starz Encore Build...

23/06/2025

ESPN Says Goodbye to Seaport Studios, Hello to New State-of-the-Art Production Facility at Disney's 7 Hudson Square

ESPN Says Goodbye to Seaport Studios, Hello to New State-of-the-Art Production F...

20/06/2025

A True Test? Cricket's Growth on the Global Stage and the Role Broadcast Can Play

A True Test? Cricket's Growth on the Global Stage and the Role Broadcast Can...

20/06/2025

Sky Sports Goes Large for the British & Irish Lions Tour with AR Graphics, UHD and a Pop Up Channel

Sky Sports goes large for the British & Irish Lions Tour with AR graphics, UHD a...

20/06/2025

ESPN's Men's College World Series Finals Coverage Combines Innovation, Legacy

ESPN's Men's College World Series Finals Coverage Combines Innovation, L...

19/06/2025

SVG Rewind: PGA Tour Introduces Drone AR Smart Tracing, Reflects on Winning George Wensel Technical Achievement Award

SVG Rewind: PGA Tour Introduces Drone AR Smart Tracing, Reflects on Winning Geor...

18/06/2025

Technology Focus: Fan Expectations Drive Advances in the In-Stadium Experience

Technology focus: Fan expectations drive advances in the in-stadium experience By Jo Ruddock Tuesday, June 3, 2025 - 08:36 Print This Story For years, att...

18/06/2025

Making Connections: How Stadiums Are Meeting the Ever-Growing Demand for Data and Connectivity

Making connections: How stadiums are meeting the ever-growing demand for data an...

18/06/2025

SVG Venues & Teams Summit Keynote: RWS Global Powers the Stadium Environment at 2024 Paris Olympics

SVG Venues & Teams Summit Keynote: RWS Global Powers the Stadium Environment at ...

18/06/2025

SVG Rewind: Behind the Scenes of Producing Tottenham Hotspur's Europa League Victory Parade

SVG Rewind: Behind the Scenes of Producing Tottenham Hotspur's Europa League...

17/06/2025

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Mercury Intermedia's Tom Richardson, Mike Ligon on Powering DTC Streams for Teams Reclaiming Media Rights

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Mercury Intermedia's Tom Richardson, Mike Ligon o...

17/06/2025

Total Sports Performance from Relo Metrics, VideoAmp, Offers Next-Level Media, Brand Measurement

Total Sports Performance from Relo Metrics, VideoAmp, Offers Next-Level Media, B...

17/06/2025

From Stage to Stream: Producing Live Esports Events in 2025

From Stage to Stream: Producing Live Esports Events in 2025 Leaders from ESL FACEIT Group, Riot Games, and more break down the latest trends By Jason Dachman, ...

17/06/2025

Inside FIFA 2025 Club World Cup Operations With FIFA's Oscar Sanchez, HBS's Stefan Wistuba

Inside FIFA 2025 Club World Cup Operations With FIFA's Oscar Sanchez, HBS...

17/06/2025

Production Ambitions: Over Exposed on Making the National League Promotion Final for DAZN as Spectacular as Possible

Production ambitions: Over Exposed on making the National League Promotion Final...