NAB Show's April Cancellation Has Limited Industry Impact
Broadcast officials differ on what canceling the NAB Show from its April slot (see 2003110036) means for the industry, they said in interviews last week. Many said there are other avenues to connect with clients and vendors and new tech, but some said the show is a “one-stop shop” that can’t really be replicated.
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“It stirs the imagination a little,” said Donald Everist, president-broadcast engineering firm Cohen Dippel, of being at the show. Being able to talk to vendors and see equipment “gets you out of your routine,” he said. Wednesday, NAB said it won't go ahead with its annual show in Las Vegas next month: see our report here. Communications Daily is releasing for nonsubscribers some of its coverage of the virus. The FCC building is also mostly shut: see report here.
It’s not clear if the face-to-face dealmaking opportunities lost when the April dates were scratched will affect mergers and acquisitions in the broadcast industry. Media broker Frank Kalil of Kalil & Co. said no. He would have brought a squad of brokers to the show to meet with clients, but he said now they will fan out around the country for those meetings. Media broker Robert Heymann, of Media Services Group, disagreed: “Anytime you lose the opportunity for face-to-face meetings, it hurts the deal process.”
The volatile stock market and COVID-19's disruptions are likely to have a much bigger effect on broadcast fortunes than the loss of the NAB Show, several said. “The uncertainty ... will likely have an effect on deals occurring in the near future,” said Heymann. “The financial markets have demonstrated this.” The loss of sports content with the shuttering of the NBA, MLB, NHL and NCAA tournament is likely to have broadcasters scrambling, said Foster Garvey broadcast attorney Melodie Virtue. Nexstar CEO Perry Sook said last month the quarantines caused by the virus could be good for business (see 2002260056).
None of those interviewed questioned the NAB Show’s cancellation. Graham Media CEO and NAB Television Board member Emily Barr said the show’s cancellation was responsible. NAB CEO Gordon Smith didn’t have a choice due to the level of “paranoia” about the virus, said Kalil.
“Canceling mass gatherings will help slow the spread of the disease,” emailed Rebecca Katz, director of the Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University Medical Center. “We know that keeping large numbers of people from gathering/interacting in the same physical space will contribute to slowing the spread, which in turn will enable the public health and medical community to better assist the people who become ill.”
Though the prevalence of COVID-19 in Nevada is still quite low compared with states like Washington, California and New York, the eight cases in the Las Vegas area through Friday afternoon confirmed at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were double those of Wednesday, the day NAB canceled the April show.
Virtue and Fletcher Heald broadcast attorney Davina Sashkin said they will be able to contact clients individually after the convention’s postponement, but vendors and broadcasters are more strongly affected. “My world is not going to end because I didn’t go to a conference,” said Sashkin. For broadcasters making big station purchases like transmitters, the show is an important chance to meet vendors personally and “kick the tires” of new equipment that's difficult to replace, she said.
Gray Television Vice President-Government Relations and Distribution Rob Folliard said other conventions later in the year such as the NAB Radio Show could expand to fill some of the gap. An NAB spokesperson told us NAB New York could possibly fill that role (see 2003110036).