NAB Show 2022: Open Drives Wins Product of the Year Award

The NAB Show is back and re-opens with a staggering projected 55,000 attendees in Las Vegas after facing a 3-year absence. The last National Association of Broadcasters Show was held in 2019 and reported an attendance of 90,000 attendees, including 11,542 international attendees from 155 countries. Although attendance did not return to pre-pandemic numbers, there were still significantly more attendees than what was anticipated. 

This year, some of the biggest brands in broadcasting technology showcased the latest trends and innovations we are yet to see. As all event professionals navigate a post-pandemic environment, the trade show successfully gathered broadcasting professionals to present how their brands are leading us into the next generation of TV, streaming, and radio. 

The CEO of NAB shared, “We are thrilled that our exhibitors, attendees, and partners from all corners of the world turned out in force this week in Las Vegas. The enthusiasm and engagement on the show floor, in sessions and throughout the entire event have been invigorating”. 

The show features cutting-edge technological advancements and the newest trends that have brands flocking to virtual and cloud-based technology. FGPG shares some insight into the NAB Show 2022, and how one of our latest partners earned an award for our collaborative production of the most significant event for all corners of the media, entertainment, and technology ecosystem. 

The NAB Show Returns

Exhibitors at this year’s NAB Show understood the challenges they would face due to post-pandemic protocols; therefore, brands grew more immersive by implementing impressive booths with demos, namely with virtual and augmented reality sets. As exhibitors maneuvered through the curated journey in Las Vegas, they encountered the entire content lifecycle of each brand. All broadcasting professionals offered the opportunity to experience, from creation to consumption, each must-see product within hand reach. At NAB, all attendees have a wide selection of inside looks this year. Preview unreleased tech, groundbreaking services, and discover endless possibilities for every platform. 

The show’s floor plan consisted of a series of diverse experiences, such as:

Floor Tours

The floor tour allows consumers to build a deeper connection with the show by taking a guided tour and learning the most about the newest products and workflows. 

Experiential zones 

Within each curated collection will be unique experiential zones. These are oh-so-serendipitous spots to savor new connections and glean fresh insight.

Connected Media IP

Explore the underlying technologies enabling audiences to receive, discover, and interact with content across any device. 

Future of Delivery

Industry visionaries cover 5G, mobile video, streaming, satellite IP, LEO satellite, and any other technology impacting the future of distribution and delivery in the media broadcast space.

Futures Park

Today’s global edge-of-the-art media technologies from government, academic and commercial R&D communities.

IP Showcase Real-Time Media

From broadcast engineers and IT to CEO’s, TV Producers, and beyond, this destination is designed to guide industry professionals on the advantages of switching to IP and how to implement new infrastructure and make the shift as securely as possible.

Newest Trends at NAB

As the NAB Show came to a close, only a few of the latest tech and trends received a spotlight and sparked curiosity within the industry. Professionals believe that innovation in streaming, the media & entertainment industry’s migration to the cloud, and the future of M&E are vital points to focus on as the industry progresses. When dissecting the future of streaming, experts shared their insight for prioritizing the pain points in streaming by strategizing ways to eliminate them. Any pain points causing friction amongst consumers and threatening the consumer’s enthusiasm for streaming services are what the industry should focus on for improving efficiency. 

Additionally, user experience was another focal point that exhibitors emphasized and encouraged the need for innovation in this area. TV Tech shared some of their recent research found that 60% of global consumers are frustrated with navigating the content on streaming video services. This problem highlights the need for content aggregators across multiple streaming platforms to give consumers greater control over their experience.

With less hardware to showcase and a reduced floor plan, NAB directed us towards the future as cloud and hybrid tech stole the show at this year’s event. Much inside talk revolved around cloud and IP, while vendors promoted solutions pitched towards these challenges. Brands also demonstrated next-generation products & services that could help save time and virtual technologies that could help lead the industry into the future of broadcast.

Neal Manowitz, president and COO of Sony Electronics, said the last three years had seen a shift toward remote production workflows, virtual production, and the increased use of cinematic cameras by broadcasters. “The global pandemic has acted as an accelerant for progress,” he said.

The requirement to connect all the essential parties to collaborative work environments has led to improvements and added features in existing products. One of the most prominent issues the broadcast industry faces is smart file sharing. The event served as a crucial precedent for educating and introducing the industry to the development and migration of cloud storage. Broadcasters are experimenting with the cloud, and the storage landscape has become increasingly complex, with storage happening in private clouds and through various vendors.

Open Drives Wins NAB Show 2022 Product of the Year Award

Every year the National Association of Broadcasters recognizes leadership, innovation, achievement, and distinguished service by hosting their reputable award ceremony at their event. To efficiently prepare for the event, FGPG earned the opportunity to collaborate with Open Drives by building their latest exhibit at the NAB Show 2022. This year’s carefully curated experience consisted of features and facets that elevated the exhibition above all other experiences at the show. The challenge was to create a well-designed exhibit that would grab the attention of all attendees that crossed its path while allowing for ample meeting space for its leadership; as a result, it would propel Open Drive’s marketing and sales initiatives. We successfully installed the brand’s exhibit and left a long-lasting impression that would be commemorated by all parties involved.

Fortunately, we concluded the experience with the Open Drives team by celebrating one of their well-deserved accomplishments at the show. They announced its Atlas Core solution as the winner in the 2022 NAB Show Product of the Year Awards. This official awards program recognizes the brightest new products and technologies showcased by corporate partners of NAB Show and acknowledges the brand as an innovative leader in the industry.

Additional Brands that Shined

With so many brands on the floor, Epic Games was one of the few other brands that shined at the NAB Show 2022. Leaders from the Unreal Engine team at Epic Games finally announced at the 2022 NAB Show some ways Unreal Engine, the latest 3D creation tool, is being used by broadcasters and some of the partnerships they are forging with a wide variety of technology providers. Top broadcasters have also recently deployed Unreal Engine to achieve remarkable achievements in live events and produced programming. 

Secondly, Comcast Technology Solutions, also made its mark as a division of cable that provides media and entertainment technology to content providers, operators, and advertisers. It announced that its VideoAI service was named a winner in the 2022 NAB Show Product of the Year Awards under the AI/Machine Learning category. VideoAI is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) that can help companies understand and analyze video (live and on-demand), audio, and closed captions to create actionable metadata around content assets, generate and manage new content, improve advertising efficiency, and streamline operations.

FGPG looks forward to the next NAB Show as NAB also announced that the 2023 NAB Show to be held from April 15 to 19 in Las Vegas.