TVBEurope hears from key industry figures about the decision to cancel NAB Show 2021
By Jenny Priestley
Published: September 17, 2021 Updated: September 21, 2021
TVBEurope hears from key industry figures about the decision to cancel NAB Show 2021
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin>
Following the news earlier this week that the 2021 NAB Show would no longer be taking place next month, TVBEurope asked key members of the industry to give us their reactions on the cancellation.
Avid president and CEO Jeff Rosica said it must have been an incredibly difficult decision but was the right one to take. Avid supports NAB as well as other industry organisations but it's certainly in the best interest of everyone to keep clear of large gatherings right now, he told TVBEurope.
For us at Avid, this means we are standing by our decision earlier this year to follow this course until we know we can be safe. The good news is that we've been able to adapt and remain fully engaged with our customer community throughout the pandemic. Trade shows will eventually return to our go-to-market mix, but not this year and not until we can be thoroughly confident that the situation is under control.
Rob Malcolm, chief product officer at Imagine Communications expressed the company's disappointment at the news, but added they appreciated the tireless work of the NAB team to try to make this year's event happen.
The pandemic has been an unprecedented event in all of our lifetimes, added Malcolm. That the disease continues to evolve, creating new challenges like the Delta variant, means that planning travel and associations at any distance into the future becomes difficult. For this reason, we hope IBC will make a decision sooner rather than later about whether the planned December event may suffer from a similar cascade of cancellations.
Exhibitions remain vital to Imagine, as a way of meeting our customers and debating the best technological route forward for them. We sincerely hope that we will be able to meet in April 2022 for a very successful NAB Show.
NAB Show 2021 has been cancelled
The Awards are still on! Best in Market nominations open
Other reactions include:
Jon Finegold, chief marketing officer at Signiant: Of course, safety is the top priority and so we understand the decision but are certainly disappointed we won't have the opportunity to connect with the industry in person as we have so many exciting things to share. We look forward to connecting with the market in other ways and look forward to getting back to in-person events when safe to do so.
Ciaran Doran, director of marketing, Rohde & Schwarz Broadcast and Media: It is deeply disappointing that the US international travel embargo created a major barrier to our participation but demonstrates the real ongoing fear with Covid around the world. Broadcasters are rightly cautious they have programming obligations and we respect customer's decisions not to travel to Las Vegas. So we will bring the show to them over the coming months in the run up to April 2022 when, God willing, we can all meet again in person
Mike Grieve, commercial director of Mo-Sys Engineering: The cancellation of NAB 2021 is a disappointment, of course, but it is also the right choice. Our products - and indeed much of the industry - sell on a global basis, and if the continuing pandemic means it is difficult for the world to get together right now, then we will continue with the online marketing strategy we've been following for the last 21 months. We look forward to NAB 2022.
Miguel Churruca, marketing and communications director Brainstorm Multimedia: We were looking forward to re-engage in person with customers, partners and the market in general, as we have been doing for the past 25 years. However, the health situation is far from controlled, and if we add the current travel restrictions this effectively prevented most of our team from attending the show. We also believe the NAB took the necessary steps to ensure everybody's safety, which we applaud and acknowledge, and we certainly hope to be back to normal by NAB 2022, which should represent the return of the shows as we know them.
The broadcast business requires to take close looks at the products in person - one-to-one demos, face-to-face meetings, long discussions with customers and visually engaging presentations -, and while these can be done remotely, the personal contact certainly improves the experience. An international show is the perfect scenario to measure the pulse of the industry and the manufacturers, which, combined with attractive venues, is what traditionally brought visitors. In the meantime, we will use our own resources to continue engaging with the market, even if remotely, with another edition of the Brainstorm Virtual Week which will be announced soon.
Dominic Harland, CEO, GB Labs: We would like to thank NAB for making every effort to deliver a live show this year, and for making the difficult decision to cancel the event in order to put safety first. While we are disappointed not to have the opportunity to meet with our customers and partners at this year's event, we look forward to reconnecting with our industry colleagues and friends in Las Vegas in April 2022.
Alison Pavitt, director of sales and marketing at Pebble: It was the right decision given the amount of companies both inside and outside of the US who had cancelled their presence at the show. We'll miss the opportunity to reconnect in person with our peers and customers across the pond in Vegas, but Team Pebble is very much looking forward to NAB in April 2022. In the meantime we'll be attending smaller, more regional events and carrying out customer visits where we can, and of course carrying on connecting digitally an
Europe Stories
19/12/2025
With Playout Release 2025.4, ToolsOnAir continues to push professional playout w...
19/12/2025
19 Dec 2025
VEON's Mobilink Microfinance Bank Launches Islamic Banking Oper...
19/12/2025
The six-part drama, set in a close-knit Welsh town fractured by an unspeakable c...
19/12/2025
Rohde & Schwarz drives the future of mobility at CES 2026 At the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Rohde & Schwarz will present a powerful lineup o...
19/12/2025
RT is proud to return to the RDS to support the 2026 Stripe Young Scientist & T...
18/12/2025
Canada's largest indoor arena has transformed its live production capabilities with a full ST 2110 infrastructure and Calrec's compact Argo S console. S...
18/12/2025
Long-term agreement includes the SES SCORE platform and hybrid distribution worldwide to deliver more than 5,000 hours of golf tournaments annually featuring th...
18/12/2025
18 Dec 2025
VEON Upgraded to Nasdaq Global Select Market, Enhancing Investor Visibility Dubai, December 18, 2025 - VEON Ltd. (Nasdaq: VEON), a global digital o...
18/12/2025
Thursday 18 December 2025
Sky Sports remains the exclusive home of the Masters ...
18/12/2025
Using the additive process of 3D printing, layer after layer gets printed until an object is as close to the final shape needed as possible. Historically, machi...
18/12/2025
In 2025, RT proudly supported 185 arts and cultural events across the island of Ireland, reflecting significant growth since the scheme was re-launched in 2014...
18/12/2025
RT Sports Awards 2025 live on RT One and RT Player at 8:05pm on Saturday 20 December
On Saturday 20 December live on RT One and RT Player at the earlier t...
18/12/2025
RT lyric fm presents a very special Winter Solstice edition of Ambient Orbit, l...
18/12/2025
At 7.45pm on 1st January 1926, the precursor to RT , then 2RN, delivered the fledgling new Irish state's first public radio transmission. From those first c...
18/12/2025
December 18 2025, 05:30 (PST) The Movie Experience SLO Becomes First U.S. Exhib...
17/12/2025
Investigative journalists across the Western Balkans and T rkiye continue to con...
17/12/2025
The right playlist is essential on New Year's Eve, building the energy as you get ready and keeping it high as you count down to midnight. This year, Spotif...
17/12/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
17/12/2025
Wuppertal December 17, 2025
Riedel Builds Global Communication and Commentary ...
17/12/2025
December 17 2025, 17:00 (PST) Dolby and LG Unveil a New Era of Home Audio With ...
17/12/2025
Wednesday 17 December 2025
Heated Rivalry will be coming to Sky and streaming service NOW on 10 JanuaryTurn on cookies to view this content. Go to Privacy opti...
17/12/2025
RT has announced that Kathy Fox has been appointed Commissioning Editor with re...
17/12/2025
With the new season of Dancing with the Stars shimmering in the not-too-distant future this New Year, the celebrity and dancer pairings of the twelve couples ha...
16/12/2025
Hawkins has landed on Spotify, just in time for Stranger Things Season 5, Volume...
16/12/2025
Wherever you are, your favorite music and audio content should go seamlessly with you. That's why Spotify has partnered with NAVER Corp, Korea's leading...
16/12/2025
2025 Wrapped arrived bigger and bolder than ever. This year's experience is designed to be ultra personal and shareable, with new features like Wrapped Part...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON Announces Release Date for Full Year and Fourth Quarter 2025 R...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON's Kyivstar Invests in Renewable Energy in Ukraine with Acq...
16/12/2025
Harmonic's XOS Advanced Media Processor Improves Streaming Video Quality and Boosts Viewer Engagement SAN JOSE, Calif. - Dec. 16, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: ...
16/12/2025
RT Sport Awards 2025 live on RT One and RT Player at 8:05pm on Saturday 20 December.
On Saturday 20 December live on RT One and RT Player at the earlier t...
16/12/2025
Singer -songwriter Brian Kennedy has been announced as the final celebrity dance...
15/12/2025
Cape Town, November 13, 2025 - SES and International artist and humanitarian, Fo...
15/12/2025
Luxembourg, December 15, 2025 - SES, a leading space solutions company, and Abra Group launched fast and reliable multi-orbit inflight connectivity service on t...
15/12/2025
15 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan Delivers First Starlink Direct to Cel...
15/12/2025
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor finds himself the topic of year's cracker jokes
Oasis, David Harbour, Celebrity Traitors and Angela Rayner all feature in this y...
15/12/2025
Comscore Expands Cross-Platform Campaign Measurement to Include Audio and Social New capabilities strengthen cross-platform campaign reporting suite; CCR rebran...
15/12/2025
RT .ie has reached one billion page views this year and is on track to finish 2025 2% ahead of last year. Average time spent on the site is up 3% on 2024, with ...
12/12/2025
Last month, Spotify announced a new collaboration with the ATP Tour, the global governing body of men's professional tennis, aimed at bringing the next gene...
12/12/2025
Friday 12 December 2025
Ted is back! Seth MacFarlane's live-action comedic ...
12/12/2025
Uachtar n na h ireann, Catherine Connolly visited RT Raidi na Gaeltachta's...
12/12/2025
Ireland AM host Eric Roberts has been revealed as the sixth contestant taking to...
11/12/2025
Thomson and the Center for News, Technology and Innovation (CNTI) convened a two-day workshop in Sarajevo bringing together more than 35 journalists, editors, p...
11/12/2025
Having the right song soundtrack your moves can make all the difference when gam...
11/12/2025
It's been a big year for Taylor Swift. Her highly anticipated album The Life...
11/12/2025
11 Dec 2025
VEON's Banglalink Receives Regulatory Approval to Launch Digita...
11/12/2025
Thursday 11 December 2025
Sky Arts paints a picture of Britain's beauty as ...
11/12/2025
It's not every day we're asked to create a website for a classical musician!
So, we were delighted to help pianist Georgina Duncan as she embarks on he...
11/12/2025
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
Irish golfing hero Shane Lowry...
11/12/2025
RT Sport Awards 2025 live on RT One and RT Player at 8:05pm on Saturday 20 December
On Saturday 20 December live on RT One and RT Player at the earlier ti...
TVBEurope hears from key industry figures about the decision to cancel NAB Show 2021
