“Save $350 when you register for the all-digital #CES2021 by Jan. 3,” tweeted CTA Wednesday. “Get a front row seat to the latest innovations without ever leaving home.” The $149 CES 2021 registration fee for most attendees rises to $499 starting Jan. 4. CTA said it posted the escalated price to encourage CES attendees to register early because it needs time to qualify applicants as legitimate trade visitors. Late registrations have been an unwanted practice common to virtual trade shows and conferences during the COVID-19 pandemic, said CTA President Gary Shapiro (see 2012170058).

Microsoft’s value as technology partner for virtual CES 2021 resides in the company’s cloud and cybersecurity prowess, plus its capabilities as a “production studio,” CTA President Gary Shapiro told us last week (see 2012170058). Using Microsoft’s talent and facilities, “essentially, we’ve gone from producing a physical event to producing a number of TV shows,” said Shapiro. “It’s totally different for us.” Audiences may find CES 2021's programming the most compelling content they have experienced in years, he said. But the net effect of the Microsoft collaboration is that most of the show’s conference tracks will be prerecorded, including all keynotes, CTA spokespeople confirmed Monday. The iHeartMedia conference session hosted by Ryan Seacrest, trumpeted with fanfare Monday (see 2012210024), won’t be live, nor will its featured musical performance by five-time Grammy winner Billie Eilish, said CTA. The show’s signature “anchor desk” content will be live and will include chat, emailed spokesperson Jamie Kaplan. Most anchor desk interviews will be live, as will exhibitor “spotlight sessions,” she said. Some exhibitors staging news conferences on media day Jan. 11 will have live Q&A chat components, but the conferences themselves will be prerecorded, she said: “Attendees and exhibitors will be able to host live meetings throughout the week.” CTA said all CES 2021 content will remain accessible on demand to registered attendees through Feb. 15. CTA is charging most attendees a $149 registration fee.

Ryan Seacrest will moderate an iHeartMedia conference session at virtual CES 2021 on how technology enabled artists “to continue to create and introduce new music and immersive experiences for their fans during the pandemic,” said CTA Monday. The session, Jan. 12 at 7 p.m. EST, will feature a “fireside chat” with singer-songwriter Dua Lipa and a musical performance by five-time Grammy winner Billie Eilish. The session will “explore the art of the possible and the transformation that is happening in the entertainment industry,” said CTA.

Questions abound about the briefing CTA plans for Tuesday at 11 a.m. EST for media registered for the all-digital CES 2021. The briefing is the only one scheduled before the Jan. 11-14 online event, and the only one it will have held since canceling the physical CES 2021 in July. The CES website through Monday afternoon showed 926 exhibitors signed on for the virtual event. We asked CTA if there’s a cutoff date for signing on new exhibitors. We also wanted to know about CTA’s exhibitor target, and how that count squares with association goals when it first started planning the virtual event midsummer. CTA, a stickler for auditing show attendance at the physical CES, also hasn’t spelled out plans for doing so in the virtual environment. CTA representatives didn’t respond to our questions Monday. They previously promised the briefing would feature major announcements and a live Q&A. Monday was the deadline for CTA members to register free for CES 2021. They will pay $149 to register beginning Tuesday, same as for industry attendees who are not with CTA member companies. Those fees soar to $499 beginning Jan. 4.

Twenty-one CES 2021 exhibitors plan half-hour news conferences Jan. 11, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST, said CTA’s Media Day schedule released Thursday. Hisense, Intel/Mobileye and Sony have their time slots to themselves, but the others will need to compete with one or two companies with events scheduled concurrently. “Top exhibitors will break news to a media-only audience, just as they would normally do at CES Media Days in Las Vegas,” said CTA. Media Day news conferences at the physical Las Vegas show typically run 45 minutes each, not 30. CES 2021 listed 862 exhibitors as signed on through midday Thursday, up from 806 a day earlier. CTA said 4,400 exhibitors participated in the physical CES 2020 January in Las Vegas.

Sony will mark its “landmark” 50th year as a CES exhibitor with “robust participation” in the virtual CES 2021 event, beginning with a live digital news conference at 5 p.m. EST on media day Jan. 11, said the company in a media alert Wednesday. It's one of 21 companies listed on the CES website as holding news conferences that day. Details on how to access the news conference will be released soon to registered CES media, said Sony: “Interested members of the public will also be able to watch the live press conference and all can review Sony's latest resources and materials on the company's standalone event platform, which will debut shortly.” CTA is expected to reveal more at a live virtual briefing Tuesday. The CES 2021 website Wednesday afternoon listed 806 exhibitors as taking part. CTA listed 4,400 exhibitors as participants in CES 2020.