The annual NAB Show in New York City brought together TV hardware exhibitions, TV technology conferences, and specialized seminars covering sports, advertising, and broadcast news — though content creators and TV content distributors were completely absent as exhibitors.
Organized by the Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Broadcasters — a trade group representing U.S. radio and TV broadcasters — the event took place at its longtime venue, Manhattan’s Javits Convention Center.
Held from October 20-22 (with the show floor opening on Wednesday, October 21), this year’s New York event featured 235 exhibiting companies — 23 percent of which came from outside the U.S. This compares to 260 exhibitors last year and 270 in 2024. By contrast, NAB’s main flagship event at the Las Vegas Convention Center, scheduled for April 4-7 next year, typically attracts over 1,100 exhibitors.
Across both conference sessions and the exhibition floor, the event officially welcomed 6,700 participants. Content creators accounted for 17 percent of attendees, while 15 percent were broadcasters.
The event featured 147 speakers across 50 sessions. Highlights included a panel titled “The Power of Sports on Broadcast,” featuring NAB president and CEO Curtis LeGeyt alongside Clay Travis of FOX Sports. Speaking with VideoAge on the exhibition floor prior to the session, LeGeyt showed some disinterest toward the presence of content exhibitors at the NAB shows.
During the sports presentation, both LeGeyt and Travis criticized the impact of paid streaming platforms compared to free broadcast television. They agreed that sports leagues’ “desire is to chase money,” that consumers are “fed up with high costs,” and that the “system is broken.” LeGeyt warned that if sports organizations fail to reach young audiences with free broadcasts when they are 10 or 11 years old, they risk losing a generation of fans.
A more extensive report will be featured in VideoAge‘s November Issue.
Pictured above, top l. to r.: The Javits Center, the exhibition floor, the registration area, Clay Travis of FOX Sports (on the left) and NAB president and CEO Curtis LeGeyt
Leave A Comment