NAB Show says more than 540 companies have contracted to exhibit at the 2021 show, set to take place Oct. 9–13, 2021 in Las Vegas. Companies from 31 countries have made early commitments, including major brands AT&T, Adobe Systems, Amazon Web Services, Audio-Technica U.S., Blackmagic Design, Dolby Laboratories, Grass Valley, Nautel, Panasonic, Rohde & Schwarz, Ross Video, Sony Electronics, Verizon Media, Vizrt, Wheatstone Corporation, and WideOrbit, among others. “Research indicates that our partners, attendees and audience are eager to return to major in-person shows, and we are encouraged by the industry’s early engagement,” said Eric Trabb, NAB’s SVP of Business Development. “Despite the uncertain environment, the initial demand has exceeded our expectations and points to an exciting return for NAB Show.” NAB Show is also planning new attractions focused on content, delivery and streaming: CineCentral will serve as the basecamp for developments in pre-production, production and post; Future of Delivery represents the intersection of content, marketing and technology, exploring topics impacting distribution and delivery in media; while The Streaming Experience will showcase all things streaming in an interactive living room environment. As previously announced, the show will co-locate with the Audio Engineering Society (AES) fall convention, the Radio Show and NAB’s Sales and Management Television Exchange.
Futuri says in a year of unprecedented change in the way broadcasters do business and audiences consume content, usage of its AI-driven audience engagement and sales intelligence technology hit record highs. Analysis of 2020 product usage data shows TopicPulse, Futuri’s AI-powered story discovery, show prep, and social content system, saw 135,688,133 minutes — more than 94,000 days — of usage by partners in 2020. The 61% growth spike in user sessions TopicPulse saw earlier this year when disruptions began was sustained as broadcasters looked for new ways to discover and create content. Meanwhile, TopLine, Futuri’s sales intelligence system, helped deliver $130 million in advertising/sponsorship revenue for its partners in 2020. Despite a tough revenue year for media sales, that represents TopLine’s highest revenue number ever.
Matrix, the global ad sales platform built for media, has launched the Media Ad Sales Council (MASC) to help advance the media ad sales ecosystem through automation, convergence, and inclusion. The new group, comprised of thought leaders from across the industry, will focus on identifying outcomes and workflows that will advance how television will be bought and sold within the next three years. Specifically, the group will examine the standard of measurement for all advertising, pinpoint manual buy-sell transactions that can be automated and explore the development of a next-gen independent rep firm platform. MASC members include founders Mark Gorman, CEO, Matrix and Brenda Hetrick, CRO, Matrix, and contributing members Al Lustgarten, SVP, Hearst Television; Joe Lampert, Senior Program Manager, OmniMedia Solutions Group; Melanie Webb, VP Sales Operations, Tegna; Missy Evenson, VP Sales, Local Media, E.W. Scripps; Brett Adamczyk, VP Finance and Strategy, Cox Media Group; Peter Jones, Head of Local Sales/Sr. Director, Strategic Partners, Premion.
