The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show scheduled for just a few weeks away in Las Vegas has been cancelled, with the association citing the COVID-19 pandemic and recent surges fueled by the Delta variant of the virus.
The annual NAB Show was scheduled to take place in Las Vegas Oct. 9-13, but exhibitors, broadcast professionals and integrators that service the broadcast industry will have to wait until April 2022 for the next iteration of the in-person NAB Show.
The organization issued a brief statement on its website from Chris Brown, executive vice president and managing director of global connections and events:
For more than a year we have worked tirelessly to bring our industry together safely in Las Vegas at NAB Show. Unfortunately, the pandemic and surge of the Delta variant has presented unexpected and insurmountable challenges for our global community. As we have always kept the best interest and safety of the industry as our priority, 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. NAB Show is the premiere destination for the media and entertainment industry and we will not move forward with a show that delivers anything less than the excellence our community has come to expect and deserves from us. While we are disappointed that we will not be together again in person next month, we look forward to converging in Las Vegas at the 2022 NAB Show, April 23-27, 2022, to reignite our passion for our business and focus on a bright future ahead.
Brown also hinted at upcoming details about virtual content through NAB Amplify.
This comes just days after three vendors signaled their intention to pull out of the show, including Sony, Panasonic and Canon, all of which have also said they are pulling out of InfoComm, the largest audiovisual trade show in the U.S., scheduled to take place later in October.
AVIXA, the AV industry association that runs InfoComm, has thus far only announced vaccination or negative test requirements and other preventative measures like social distancing.
