The NAB Show 2022 drew 52,468 registered attendees, according to a preliminary NAB estimate Wednesday, the Las Vegas event's final day. That figure is in line with NAB's pre-show estimated attendance of about 50,000. "All numbers are based on pre-show and onsite registration and subject to an ongoing audit," said NAB. It estimated nearly 11,600 attendees came from outside the U.S., from 155 countries. NAB 2023 will be in Las Vegas April 15-19, said the association. The last in-person NAB Show, in 2019, had 91,460 registered attendees.
“It’s great to be back on a trade show floor, here with our community,” Sony Electronics President Neal Manowitz told an NAB Show news conference Sunday in his first Las Vegas appearance since taking the top Sony role in July when Mike Fasulo retired. “Since we last met here over three years ago, our industry has gone through a major, major change,” said Manowitz. “In many ways, the global pandemic has acted as an accelerant for great progress. We’ve seen an increased demand for high-quality content, a rapid expansion of streaming platforms and a shift to remote production workflows.”
The NAB Show surpassed 900 signed exhibitors with a little more than two weeks before its April 23 opening, said the association Wednesday. The 2019 show, NAB’s last physical event in Las Vegas before the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the 2020 and 2021 installments, drew 1,600+ exhibitors. The more than 900 exhibiting companies at this year’s show includes about 160 first-time exhibitors, said NAB. “As a platform for millions of dollars in commerce, the NAB Show is pivotal in ushering in the latest innovations propelling content forward and leading our community into new territory,” said Chris Brown, NAB executive vice president-managing director, global connections and events.
Roughly 20,000 attendees and 700 exhibitors have signed up to take part in the April 23-27 NAB Show in Las Vegas, said NAB Managing Director-Global Connections and Events Chris Brown on an episode of NAB’s podcast posted Monday. Brown said he’s projecting 60,000 to 70,000 attendees and hoping for 1,000 exhibitors. Brown said the registered exhibitors include Adobe, AWS and Canon. The 2021 show was canceled after many of those exhibitors announced they weren’t attending. More than a fifth of the registered attendees are from outside the U.S., Brown said. The show is still planned to require participants to be vaccinated, but that could shift “if things continue to improve,” Brown said. The show will confirm vaccination status via an app, he said. Masks will be recommended but won’t be required after Nevada dropped mask mandates, he said. The show will still include additional cleaning protocols, and COVID-19 tests will be sold at the Las Vegas Convention Center, NAB said. Brown said the LVCC has hosted several major shows successfully in 2022, and flights into Las Vegas are becoming increasingly available.