virtual events

The Alliance for Women in Media Foundation taps Lauren Ash to host the virtual awards on Tuesday, Oct. 5, featuring special performances by Jewel and CeCe Winans.

Originally set for Oct. 11-14 in Atlanta, the cable industry’s big technology trade show is the latest major event to retreat to a Zoom screen amid COVID-19’s delta variant surge.

The National Cable Television Cooperative and ACA Connects opt for online-only event in response to shifting COVID-19 situation.

The 2021 NAB Show is delayed until October, but NAB is offering a virtual alternative to its usual spring gathering, the newly announced NAB Show Premiere. This 10-day virtual event will take place April 12-23 and offer exclusive content through NAB Amplify.

Sean McManus kicks off the new event covering live sports production, the rise of sports gambling, esports, the importance of sports to local broadcasters and more.

This year, at least one perennial upfronts week presenter — Disney — is returning to its usual position on the schedule. Disney will hold its upfront presentation on Tuesday, May 18, at 4 p.m. ET, which is the company’s traditional upfronts week time slot. But attendees will have to wait another year to return to the typical location at New York’s Lincoln Center — the event will be held virtually.

The March 22 virtual event will convene creative professionals, marketers, developers, technologists, and entrepreneurs to focus on consumers, content and connection. It will offer insights, partnership opportunities, technology roadmap, commerce vision across Comcast NBCUniversal and Sky.

2021’s totally online NATPE Virtual Miami is just but half over. Some inkling of how it might shape out, however, is fast falling into place. Basically, streaming stole the show. Yes, Fox did announce during NATPE that the Jay Leno-hosted You Bet Your Life reboot, bowing this fall, has sold in 85% of the U.S. Yet a once annual launchpad for shows seeking U.S. syndication was dominated this time round by the seismic pivot of Hollywood’s majors and other players into global VOD platforms, and the impact of this tectonic shunt on the industry at large.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau this morning unveiled highlights of the agenda for its annual conference, which will be held virtually March 8-12, and which will feature speakers such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, Sen. Ron Wyden and WPP CEO Mark Read.

The pitch for ATSC 3.0, the IP-based broadcast television standard marketed as NextGen TV, often focuses on the 4K resolution it can deliver over the air. But at the online-only CES 2021, industry executives suggested it might appeal more to viewers’ ears than their eyes. “We’ve had a lot of conversations around audio and NextGen,” said Grace Dolan, Samsung VP for integrated marketing, at a “Next Generation Television in Focus” panel Tuesday morning.

Next week’s CES will feature virtualized presentations of new 8K TV sets, streaming technology and ever-improving home video production tools that will be of interest to broadcasters. Veteran consultant Shelly Palmer says smart TVs will take a leap forward, smartphone tech will pause until post-pandemic mobility returns and huge trade shows like CES itself will never be the same again.

NBCUniversal Television and Streaming Chairman Mark Lazarus will be the opening opening keynoter of the virtual gathering. He will be joined on stage by Hoda Kotb, co-anchor of NBC News’ Today, who will moderate the fireside conversation.

MipTV in April is moving online as the pandemic continues to wreak havoc with the film and TV calendars. Organizer Reed Midem confirmed the news today. Sister events MipDoc and MipFormats will also be digital.

The International CES electronics extravaganza historically held in Las Vegas in early January, was once a “TV show”—that is, a massive annual exposition and convention to showcase the latest, greatest television receivers and consumer video equipment. This year, the “All-Digital CES 2021” is a pandemic-induced virtual exhibit and conference taking place Jan. 11-14, (with a month of “reruns”). Registration opened on Dec. 3.

After last spring’s upfront events were canceled because of the coronavirus, many wondered what their future would be. Most of the events were redone as digital gatherings. In the first announcement about the 2020-21 TV season, the NewFronts, featuring digital video, will be held by livestream the week of May 3, closer than ever to the broadcast network upfronts, traditionally scheduled for right after Mother’s Day.

A new initiative kicks off with a NATPE V-Fronts session Dec. 15 and will continue throughout 2021 including NATPE Virtual Miami in January. The association will also form an MVPD committee led by industry executives.

The veteran TV news executive with tenures at CNN, ABC News and NBC News (among numerous other organizations) will look at the dramatic ways in which news trust and technology are reshaping the industry’s fundamentals in the keynote interview at TVNewsCheck’s virtual NewsTECHForum on Dec. 15. Register here.

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences said Tuesday that all of its awards shows will remain virtual through 2021. This includes the Daytime Emmys, Sports Emmys, News and Documentary Emmys and Technology and Engineering Emmys.

In largely prerecorded sessions, SMPTE’s annual conference this week has drawn about 1,300 attendees and had a focus on esports. Using the cloud for everyday production was another emphasis. Above, the Virtual Tour of Flanders esports event, produced by race organizer Flanders Classics, cycling simulator firm Bkool, cloud production vendor Kiswe and VRT’s sports channel Sporza, featured 13 professional riders racing a simulated course on stationary “roller” setups at home.

In addition to NATPE Virtual Miami, each of three new events are a full component of the NATPE Virtual platform, a highly interactive experience designed to address the current content business environment.

Their research, innovation and application of new technologies and techniques are shaping the future of media and entertainment.

The interactive remote conference format offers peer-reviewed technical paper presentations, training and networking events, plus a live esports competition.

The journalist, host and executive producer will receive the 2020 NAB Show New York Impact Award, honoring her influence and impact on the overall industry.