NAB 2014

The annual gathering rebounds from recession blues, but are the TV industry and the show equipped to handle new challenges? Perhaps the most important thing to come out of this year’s gathering in Las Vegas is that both the television industry and the NAB seem to have a profound understanding of these questions and are responding in ways aimed at positioning television broadcasters for future success.

Broadcasters had a chance to mine their frenemies relationship with Google, Facebook and Twitter more closely Tuesday at the National Association of Broadcasters Show in a spirited back and forth exchange. Two points were clear: both camps need each other in an inextricably entwined media landscape and broadcasters need to take a highly differentiated approach to each social platform as they continue to iterate.

TV stations are more likely to woo young adults by fostering online conversation about news stories rather than by posting hard news headlines. Another tactic is to hire people in their 20s to whom social media is second nature.

NAB Show panelists say there’s a myriad of challenges in covering crises — logistics, safety and emotional impacts are some — but that having a disaster plan and putting the necessary tools and protocol in place to execute it are essential for broadcasters to help keep the public safe in such situations.

NewTek CTO Andrew Cross says don’t expect to be watching sports at home in 4K in the near future. Over-the-air is out for now and it could be a decade or more before there is sufficient bandwidth to deliver 4K via the Internet, he says.

Pearl announces it will test interactive news and ad trials in three markets. The consortium will also expand its test of the Mobile Emergency Alert System in Florida later this spring.

Little details, but lots of applause from the closed-door session at which the network reviewed its plans for next season.

NEP Chief Technology Officer George Hoover says modern computer design techniques have helped the mobile TV production facilities provider roll out a new generation of “super trucks” that offer much greater efficiency in terms of production capability per pound, maintenance and workflow.

The accomplishments of TVNewsCheck’s annual Women in Technology honorees, including 2014 award winner Renu Thomas (second from left), were celebrated at the NAB Show Tuesday in Las Vegas. Thomas, Disney ABC Network Group’s SVP of technology and operations, was lauded for her accomplishments navigating some of the most difficult and frustrating shoals in television engineering. Thomas said she encourages young women to go into engineering so that women in technology don’t have to be celebrated. “It’s just going to be a fact of life.” Thomas was joined by (l-r):TVNewsCheck Publisher Kathy Haley and Women to Watch honorees Tania Paz, VP of digital media operations and technology at Telemundo Networks; and Ann Marie Rohaly, director of accessibility, policy and standards for Microsoft’s Corporate Accessibility Group. (Photo by John Staley)

The logistics and costs associated with participating in the network’s TV Everywhere initiative topped discussion at a closed-door affiliates meeting Tuesday in Las Vegas. According to the affiliates board chairman, Hearst TV’s Jordan Wertlieb, the mood among the stations is “overwhelmingly very positive,.

The Republican FCC commissioner says that NAB chief Gordon Smith’s call for a National Broadcast Plan could backfire on broadcasters.

“There were things that [Fox] showed us today that I think makes us optimistic and confident that Fox is going to get this thing turned around and we’ll get back to a position of dominance that they and we have enjoyed for so long,” said Raycom’s Jeff Rosser, chairman of the Fox affiliates board.

Participants weighed in on everything from the benefits of pooling audience data from different media — and changing the nature of the data that’s collected.

Saying the FCC wants to help the industry, Chairman Tom Wheeler urges support of open Internet regs and participation in the incentive auction; says the commission will back ATSC 3.0; defends the new JSA rule; and questions industry support of OET-69.

At a closed-door meeting with more than 100 affiliates Monday at the NAB Show in Las Vegas, NBC showcased its plan to launch its TV Everywhere app, which has not yet been named, and how affiliates can participate in the initiative, sources say.

The commission reassures broadcasters that there will be no repercussions if they decline to talk about — or participate in — the upcoming spectrum auction.

WideOrbit’s previews its latest business analytics solution release at the NAB Show that offers new core dashboards containing more than 35 major reports, new standard data sources for ad-hoc data exploration and numerous features specifically built for station management.

The Disney ABC Network Group’s SVP of technology and operations is skilled at overseeing smooth changes by being sure to include all those affected. She is this year’s recipient of TVNewsCheck’s Women in Technology Leadership Award, having navigated some of the most difficult and frustrating shoals in television engineering, among them converting ABC News’ traditional control room to an automated one and shepherding a major overhaul in her company’s asset, marketing resource and work order management systems.

Mobile TV won’t thrive if broadcasters don’t push it rather than wait for other segments of the industry, such as electronics manufacturers, to take the lead, according to NAB Show panelist Salil Dalvi of NBCU Digital Distribution. But Hubbard Television Group’s Robert Hubbard, who heads the Mobile 500 Alliance, said it’s not that simple, with the investment necessary a challenge for some broadcasters to afford.

The hit sitcom is the latest inductee into the NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame. Creator Phil Rosenthal credits its success to its real-life roots. He says he adopted a technique for creating storylines pioneered by Carl Reiner, who told Dick Van Dyke Show writers to report “what happened in your house this week.”

At its NAB Show booth, GatesAir is presenting a technology demonstration showing how a single channel can be used to transmit DVB-T2 and LTE content by leveraging time division multiplexing and a technical aspect of DVB-T2 that instructs TVs to ignore the LTE signal and the LTE device to ignore the television signal.

Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake says the JSA crackdown that the FCC approved in a 3-2 vote last Monday (March 31) was originally proposed by the agency in 2004. He also said that while the FCC regularly granted new JSAs over the past decade, the agency also has regularly warned broadcasters that a crackdown might be coming.

Grace Koh, a House Energy and Commerce Committee staffer,says: “We have made it very clear in the House side that STELA [the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act] is not the right place to address retransmission consent reform. This is not something we want to wade into lightly.”

Tania Paz, VP of digital media operations and technology at Telemundo Networks; and Ann Marie Rohaly, director of accessibility, policy and standards for Microsoft’s Corporate Accessibility Group, have been named […]

Renu Thomas is the fourth person to receive the Women in Technology Leadership Award. TVNewsCheck introduced the honor at the 2011 NAB Show 2011 — The first recipient was Darcy […]