An NAB Show Guide For TV Station GMs

As always, there will be much to do and much to see at the NAB Show, which checks into Las Vegas for a six-day stay starting Sat., April 7 — so much, in fact, that TV station general managers may have trouble deciding what to do and what to see.

TVNewsCheck is here to help.

We’ve scoured the online agenda and press releases and have gleaned those happenings off the exhibit floor that may be of greatest interest to the GM.

We’ll start with the fun stuff.

The NAB has revamped its schedule for industry awards and honors, eliminating the TV, radio and technology awards luncheons and creating two new events.

The first is a Monday night dinner (April 9) at the Encore Las Vegas at which Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy and radio personality Elvis Duran will be inducted into the NAB Radio and Television Hall of Fame and the NAB Digital Leadership Award will be presented to Roger Keating, SVP of digital media at Hearst Television.

The second — We Are Broadcasters Celebration — will take place Tuesday (3-4:15 p.m.) in the North Hall Main Stage in the Convention Center.

Highlights will include the presentation of the TV Chairman’s Award to actress Kristen Bell, the Crystal Radio Awards to 10 stations for their year-round commitment to community service and the Engineering Achievement Awards and Service to Broadcast Engineering Achievement Awards.

Sinclair Broadcast Group’s Mark Aitken will receive the Television Engineering Achievement Award.

The North Hall Main Stage is a new venue, carved out of the NAB exhibit floor. It will also be where the opening session will be held on its usual day (Monday) and time (9 a.m.). In years past, the opening session was held in the adjacent Westgate Hotel.

In addition to the presentation of the NAB Distinguished Service Award to Robin Roberts, co-anchor of ABC’s Good Morning America, the kick-off session will feature NAB President Gordon Smith with his annual state-of-the-industry speech and a keynote by Neal Mohan, chief product officer at YouTube.

GMs, along with station owners and group managers, may want to stick around the Main Stage to reconsider their entire approach to business.

At 11, Simon Mainwaring, CEO of We First (and author of a book of the same name), will speak about how companies can thrive by building their brands around the idea of “purpose” or certain social values that benefit all stakeholders rather than just the shareholders.

“Social capital can transform your business,” the session description says. “Millennial employees want to work for companies that share their values. Media-savvy consumers prefer to buy from brands that do good.”

He’ll be joined by another purpose advocate — Roy Spence, one of the founders of the GSDM ad agency in Austin and now CEO of the Purpose Institute. Along with Haley Rushing, he is co-author of It’s Not What You Sell, It’s What You Stand For: Why Every Extraordinary Business is Driven by Purpose.

Later Monday, from 1:30 to 2:50 p.m. in N262-N264, Mainwaring and Amanda Roman from Conscious Capitalism will lead a “working session” with Q&A on implementing the concept.

The NAB has always been a chance for broadcasters to catch up of regulatory and legal affairs.

As of the posting of this article, the NAB was still waiting for a commitment from FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to appear at the show.

According to an NAB spokesperson, the other four FCC commissioners — Michael O’Reilly, Mignon Clyburn, Jessica Rosenworcel and Brendan Carr — are expected, but they have not yet been slotted a time and place on the agenda.

This year, organizers are giving broadcasters an opportunity to ask questions of FCC officials and key congressional aides on Monday (April 9, 10:40-noon). The NAB says the session is for members only, but that non-members who would like to attend should contact [email protected].

On hand from the FCC will be Michelle Carey, chief, Media Bureau; Albert Shuldiner, chief, audio division, Media Bureau; James Bradshaw, deputy chief, audio division, Media Bureau; Lisa Fowlkes, chief, public safety, Homeland Security Bureau; Barbara Kreisman, chief, video division, Media Bureau; and Rosemary Harold, chief, Enforcement Bureau.

From the Hill: Cort Bush, senior professional staff member, Senate; David Goldman, chief counsel for communications, House of Representatives; and Lauren McCarty, counsel, House.

If you’re a GM looking to understand the media technology business and how it affects your business, you might want to buy a ticket for the Devoncroft Executive Summit ($149 if purchased before April 4) on Sunday afternoon (1 to 5 p.m.). It’s will be a huge gathering of the NAB exhibitors and their customers.

At 4 p.m., you’ll hear three perspectives on the near-term outlook of broadcasting from top station group execs — Brian Lawlor of Scripps, Kevin Latek of Gray Television and Steve Pruett of the Sinclair Broadcast Group.

(Disclaimer: TVNewsCheck is partnering with Devoncroft Partners on the event.)

In chronological order, here are some other selected sessions that GMs may want to consider:

Saturday, April 7, 3:20–4:40 p.m. — Field Deployments of the ATSC 3.0 Standard, N262-N264, LVCC | Following FCC authorization of the Next Gen TV standard, broadcasters have been experimenting with the standards in Phoenix, Dallas, Baltimore-Washington, Cleveland and Raleigh, N.C. Here’s latest on what’s happening from the broadcasters involved. Panelists: Mark Aitken, VP of advanced technology, Sinclair Broadcast Group; Richard Friedel, EVP and GM, Fox Network Engineering and Operations; Madeleine Noland, office of the CTO, LG Electronics; Anne Schelle, managing director, Pearl TV; and Pete Sockett, director of engineering and operations, Capitol Broadcasting.

Sunday, April 8, 9:05–9:45 a.m. — Research Presentation by Michael Barthel, research associate, Pew Research Center, “Tradition in Transition: The State of the News Media,” N262-264, LVCC

Sunday, April 8, 9:45-10:20 a.m. — Smart Home Technology: How Media Companies Are Seizing This Opportunity, N262-264 | Smart home technology is exploding, and media companies are taking steps to capitalize on the new opportunities. This session will examine media case studies to better understand strategies and how to monetize. Panelists: Jonathan Beard, director of digital product development, Graham Digital Media; Peter Newton, chief revenue officer, Gatehouse Media, and CEO, UpCurve; Ian Stinson, senior director, digital audience for television, Cox Media Group.

Sunday, April 8, 1:30–2:50 p.m. — Presentation by Rich Chernock, CSO, Triveni Digital: “ATSC 3.0, Next Generation Television: Where are We and Where are We Headed?” N260, LVCC | Chernock, a major player in the development of the new broadcast standard, will provide an overview of Next Gen TV — what has been achieved and what kinds of new opportunities broadcasters will have to engage viewers. It will also address some of the implementation considerations for broadcasters.

Sunday, April 8, 2:15–2:50 p.m. — AI for the Local Media Market, N262-N264 | This panel will examine real-world ways of putting AI to work at media organizations by making production smarter and more efficient, creating personalized and relevant content experiences for users and providing more targeted and effective advertising. Panelists: Ethan Drelinger, solutions engineer, Watson Media and IBM Cloud Video, and Omar Karim, head of engineering, Frankly Inc.

Monday, April 9, 10:40 a.m.–noon — DFXtra: Digital Leaders Take Charge — President and CEO Panel, N262-N264, LVCC | Observers of the broadcast industry may have noticed that digital managers are making the move to senior corporate leadership positions. This panel features four who have made the leap and what it might portend for broadcasting. Panelists: James F. Goodmon, president-COO, Capitol Broadcasting; Pat LaPlatney, CEO, Raycom Media; Wendy McMahon, president, ABC Owned Television Station Group; Adam Symson, CEO, E.W. Scripps; and Sam Matheny, EVP and CTO, NAB (moderator).

Monday, April 9, 3:30–4:30 p.m. — Leading Through Disruption, North Hall Main Stage | Top media executive explain how they are grappling with the impact of disruptive forces on audience, revenue and the workforce. Panelists: Muriel De Lathouwer, managing director and CEO, EVS; Amy Emmerich, chief content officer, Refinery29; Ginny Morris, CEO, Hubbard Radio; and Marian Pittman, EVP, digital strategy and research, Cox Media Group.

Tuesday, April 10, 10:40 a.m.–Noon — How the Local TV Ecosystem Is Streamlining the Transaction Workflow, N260, LVCC | 2018 promises to be the year of breakthrough on automated local, multi-platform media buying and selling. Learn about the projects underway and understand how the Television Interface Practices initiative fits into the effort. Panelists: Ed Busby, SVP, strategy, Tegna Media; Frank Friedman, president, local investment, PMX; Heather Gundry, SVP, director of integrated media buying U.S., GTB; Brett Jenkins, chief technical officer, Nexstar Media; Gregg Siegel, VP, national sales, Sinclair Broadcast Group; and Adam Stoll, president, TargetEnterprises; Kathy Haley, publisher, TVNewsCheck.

In addition, TVNewsCheck invites you to attend our eighth annual Women in Technology Awards during the NAB Show. Receiving the Women in Technology Leadership Award will be Diane Tryneski, HBO’s tech EVP and chief digital officer. The winners of the Technology Women to Watch awards are Deborah Adeogba, director of news technology at Cox Media Group’s KIRO Seattle, and Jaclyn Pytlarz, a senior engineer for applied vision science at Dolby Laboratories in Sunnyvale, Calif. All three will be honored during on April 10 at 6 p.m. in Room N-243 of the Las Vegas Convention Center. For more information, email Samantha Cerminaro at [email protected].