NAB 2025: Get a feel of the pace & direction of the road to 2030 at the world’s biggest M&E convention

By Shirish Nadkarni

A projected 43,000 buyers from the broadcast, media and entertainment (M&E) industries, from 163 countries, will congregate at the Las Vegas Convention Centre (LVCC) between April 5 and 9, to examine emerging trends across Artificial Intelligence, the creator economy, sports, streaming/OTT and cloud virtualisation.

“Our annual Show convenes decision-makers from around the globe, offering valuable insights, cutting-edge tools and innovative technologies that enable storytelling at scale,” says Eric Trabb, NAB’s SVP and Chief Customer Success Officer, GCE Sales & Business Development.

“Nowhere else will you experience emerging trends, all in one place. We have found that nearly 27% of attendees make the NAB Show their annual hub to connect, share and discover global storytelling solutions.”

The main theme of NAB 2025 is Storytelling at Scale. 

And the stellar development at this year’s show is the fully reconstructed West Hall at the LVCC, which features 600,000 square feet of exhibition space, including 328,000 sq ft of column-free space, and 150,000 sq ft of meeting space, including a spacious 14,000 sq ft outdoor terrace with views of the renowned Las Vegas Strip. 

“The West Hall expansion has upped the total meeting and convention space in the LVCC to approximately 14 million sq ft, making it the largest convention centre in North America,” says Trabb with pride. “We now boast a total of 2.9 million sq ft of exhibit space, 225 meeting rooms (more than 390,000 sq ft) and seating capacities ranging from 20 to 2,500.” 

At the heart of the totally transformed show is, not surprisingly, Artificial Intelligence (AI), which has kept the world in a state of both enthrallment and apprehension at the manner in which it has taken over myriad traditional jobs. From enhancing storytelling to personalising viewer experiences and increasing revenue opportunities, AI technology will permeate the show floor and dedicated tracks for all leaders.

Among the eagerly awaited events at the NAB Show is the Sports Summit, a two-day event that will explore trends, technology and opportunities that are transforming the fan experience, remodeling the business with new licensing opportunities and redefining the media rights landscape.

The show also features an expanded Creator Lab, a dedicated marketplace for all brands, creators and influencers to learn and conduct business on the show floor in the evolving media universe. There will be plenty of speculation on the manner in which the media industry will change on the road to 2030.

“A decade of change, AI and cloud technology are set to shape the media industry and empower content creators to deliver transformative new experiences,” says Simon Crownshaw, worldwide strategy director for M&E at Microsoft.

The media industry is changing at an unprecedented pace. Shifting trends around where and how consumers view content have permanently disrupted the traditional landscape, with streaming platforms taking a leading position within the industry. Furthermore, a complicated economic environment is keeping pressure on media companies to innovate if they are to succeed despite the challenges they face.

“The pace and direction of change are unlikely to change soon,” suggests Crownshaw. “There will be a continuation of the move towards digital and away from traditional media. Traditional media outlets will continue to face challenges in maintaining their audience, and their influence and impact will likely be lessened. 

“However, I think there will still be a place for those outlets, just as there’s still a place for radio despite there now being podcasts, and the marketplace will remain diverse.”

It is the emergence of AI that appears likely to become the most transformative development in the near future. AI’s integration into content creation tools is enhancing the way creators produce, manage, and distribute content. From automating mundane tasks to amplifying creative innovation, AI is transforming the creator economy.

“AI is the most exciting and expansive conversation we’ve ever had,” says Crownshaw. “Platform creation, customer engagement and technological advancement represent three amazing pillars that can be driven going forward, backed by the cloud and AI. 

“Our goal is to empower every organisation and every person on the planet to do more, and what I see is that our AI services are allowing us to do that more than ever before. It’s a co-pilot, augmenting human behaviours and interactions, and it’s a truly revolutionary tool that I believe will change entertainment forever.”

Among the most significant areas of AI transformation will be in the automation of media workflows. Tasks that previously required significant time and effort to achieve can be drastically streamlined with the help of AI, which Crownshaw sees as augmenting the existing capabilities of creators to allow them to maximise their creativity.

A topic that will be looked at with great interest during the five-day convention is the crisis that daytime TV is facing, following the rise of inexpensive, widely viewed platforms like YouTube.

“Quite frankly, the audience has kind of fled,” says Stephen Brown, Executive VP of programming and development at Fox First Run and Fox Television Stations. “You see the rise of YouTube, and you know how many people are watching that and streaming services and Instagram, so everything is kind of ticking away at traditional media.

“Our challenge is to find that audience on the different platforms.”

As one of the industry’s biggest producers and buyers of daytime TV programming, Brown says it has become necessary to leverage multiple platforms to build viewership for shows.

“The art of audience reconnection also requires out-of-the-box thinking for both show formats and the people presenting them,” Brown says. “We’re looking at new talent and new ideas, including the creator economy. We have to look everywhere.”

Brown will be among numerous programming leaders from linear TV, streaming and cable at Programming Everywhere, sharing strategies for successful content evolution in a heavily fragmented media landscape.

The focus will be on new development; reinventing production, distribution and monetisation models; programming for a multimedia audience; and the role of technology in facilitating a vibrant programming ecosystem. 

Also expected to create waves at the conference sessions of the NAB 2025, starting on April 5, is the all-new Sports Summit, which includes a Business of Entertainment track, powerhouse keynote addresses and activations from the likes of AWS, Microsoft and NVIDIA.

Among the headliners will be Women’s Tennis Association’s (WTA) CEO, Portia Archer, expounding on the rise of women’s sports and the future of tennis; Stephen A Smith, dropping unfiltered takes on the shifting sports media landscape; WWE’s Nick Khan and Triple H, pulling back the curtain on the next evolution of sports entertainment; Jason McCourty and NFL executives, speaking on the power of on-air talent in driving fan engagement.

The latest technology in several areas will also be shared:

• Esports Racing Challenge will permit racing on the Las Vegas Grand Prix track and analysing AI-powered Formula-1 insights.
• AI-powered Sports Media will allow delegates and visitors to see how AI is revolutionising live sports, content creation and fan engagement.
• AWS Amazon Nova Racing will permit the design of an F1 circuit in real time, and test it in a high-speed 3D game.

In short, there will be a concerted effort at this year’s NAB Show to reimagine media with data and AI, maximise the value of audience data, create a full customer view and get clear insights by unifying data sources across the consumer journey. 

Ways and means to elevate the viewer experience through data analytics and engagement technology will be sought, as also to empower content creators and distributors, and enable creators and distributors to produce, manage and disseminate content more efficiently and creatively, with a view to survive and thrive in the rapidly changing media landscape.

Indeed, NAB 2025 will offer you insightful views of the pace and direction of your journey to 2030.