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Buffeted by economics and squeezed by Big Tech the last thing America’s broadcasters wanted was to have their news operations muzzled or business threatened with political interference yet that’s the realpolitik of US TV entering NAB Show NY.
While US TV networks continue to engage in a high stakes battle for free speech members of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) which carry network programming want the support of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on two equally pressing business matters.
Brendan Carr, the chair of the media regulator is painted as the villain following the politically charged comments he made leading up to Disney's suspension of ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’, yet station groups want Carr to relax rules around national TV ownership and to speed up the transition to NextGen TV or risk regional broadcasters going to the wall. Both are prominent topics of conversation at NAB New York this week.
Earlier this year NAB petitioned the FCC to reform the rules which limit the reach that any one TV station owner can have. Under the current 39% ownership-cap rule, the proposed $6.2 billion acquisition of station group Tegna by rival Nexstar would be barred.
NAB argue that the rules are outdated and “prevents local stations from achieving the scale needed to compete with global tech and streaming giants like YouTube, Amazon, Meta and Netflix – none of which face similar restrictions.”
“The message is clear,” said NAB president and CEO Curtis LeGeyt in a statement. “It is time to eliminate the outdated national TV ownership cap. Broadcasters are united in calling on the FCC to level the playing field and give local stations a fair shot to compete, invest in journalism and continue providing our communities with trusted news and public safety information.”
In a further attempt to thwart Big Tech from swamping their business, the NAB is pressing the regulator to mandate a nationwide switchover to the IPTV platform ATSC 3.0 from the current ATSC 1.0. While 75% have switched, there is a reluctance among others because, as in the UK, there is a risk of a small but significant part of the population being unable to receive any local TV if terrestrial services are shut down overnight.
Carr has previously described the issue as a “break glass moment” and this month appeared “tentatively” prepared to agree to NAB’s proposals for a hard cut-off in 2028.
Not only does NextGen TV promise superior audio and visual quality but it can deliver personalised experiences which are the lynchpin of future programming and advertising revenues for cash-poor stations.
NAB argues that a Spring 2028 sunset should give TV set vendors enough time to upgrade their product with new tuners and for TV stations to revamp internal systems to 4K.
Execs from Nexstar, Sinclair and Hearst entertain the debate ‘Technology and the Future of the TV Station Group’ while representatives from E.W. Scripps and the Graham Media Group discuss the ‘State of the Industry’ in another conference session.
Rebuilding credibility in news
Sinclair and Nexstar both dropped ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ across their ABC affiliate stations and only relented once Disney had returned the show to air. While execs from these groups are speaking, don’t expect them to reference the controversy.
Do, though, expect tougher questions to be asked at a strand of sessions examining the future of journalism. BBC tech journalist Thomas Germain moderates a panel including speakers from CNN, Axios and Hearst around issues of ‘Trust, Misinformation, and News Credibility’. Part of this is the corrosive use of AI to create deepfakes and algorithm-driven misinformation. At the same time, audience fragmentation “fuelled by filter bubbles and partisan echo chambers” says NAB “has intensified polarisation and eroded the shared reality that credible journalism depends on.”
This is happening against the background of a White House intent on having news organisations sign NDAs to prevent unlicensed reporting or have their Pentagon access blocked; while CBS News teams are ordered to report to conservative-leaning journalist and entrepreneur Bari Weiss recently installed as their new boss by CBS’ (and Paramount) owner David Ellison.
Weiss has already stamped her mark, telling staff at the network’s news division to explain what they do during working hours, apparently in the strictest confidence. Union Writer’s Guild East begged to differ and urged staffers not to comply.
World Cup puts sports on agenda
As attention turns to next year’s FIFA World Cup hosted across the US, Canada and Mexico, closely followed by the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, sports tech American-style is moving centre field.
The country has pimped up it’s already tech-laden stadia with private 5G networks ready for a range of media activations during both events.
Speaking at the session Reimagining the Arena: Innovation at the Heart of Live Sports is Jake Kornblatt, VP of Global Enterprise and Commercial Lead for Sports & Venues at Verizon which is FIFA’s official telco partner supporting global media broadcasts of the World Cup.
It has teamed with NVIDIA and will use AI to manage numerous camera feeds and highlight key moments for live production. 5G networks at all World Cup venues will also be used to connect referees, coaches and team members throughout the tournament.
Stadia are no longer just a place to watch the game, says NAB with more than a touch of hyperbole, “it’s becoming the ultimate experience engine.”
A keynote from the US Soccer Federation will address efforts to lift the domestic game on the same tide as World Cup 2026.
There are few faster growing areas of sports than those powered by women. Deloitte predicts that global revenues in women’s elite sports will reach at least US$2.35 billion (£1.88 billion) this year, a rise of 240 per cent in four years, with a significant rise in broadcast ($590 million, 25 per cent) and matchday revenues ($500 million, 21 per cent). The two highest revenue-generating sports remain according to the analyst, are basketball and football with the former on track to become the leading revenue-generating women’s sport globally.
Against that backdrop it will be fascinating to hear from TOGETHXR, the country’s fastest-growing women’s sports media company. It’s co-founders include World Cup winner Alex Morgan and WNBA national and Olympic champ Sue Bird.
The chief content officer and executive chair of TOGETHXR talk about ‘Shaping the Next Era of Sports Media Coverage’ with content ranging from social media to scripted and unscripted video, docuseries, and merchandise anchored by the tagline, ‘Everyone Watches Women’s Sports.’
Bigger, better, more cost-effective
NAB NY’s show floor is a fraction the size of the one in Las Vegas but still holds a healthy selection of vendors. The theme cutting through the lot of them is helping broadcasters to deliver more content, faster, and across more platforms than ever.
In many ways it’s the same fundamental challenge: how to produce more, with fewer resources. Budgets to produce events are shrinking, yet audiences demand higher-quality content in greater volumes—often personalised by language, platform, or format. Many of the same forces: internet infrastructure and audiences eager for content spell opportunities if the right formula is applied.
The primary challenge for broadcasters today “is figuring out how to maintain a stable business model when every piece of the media value chain is undergoing transformational change,” says Steve Reynolds, CEO of Imagine Communications. His solution is IP deployed using the SMPTE ST 2110 standard.
That’s not because IP is the newest tech, he says, but because it enables everything else — remote workflows, cloud integration, distributed teams, and scalable infrastructure. “IP is the enabler, helping media operations pursue new business models that were previously out of reach.”
MultiDyne’s president Frank Jachetta agrees, “Right now, broadcasters are really juggling three different worlds: SDI, SMPTE 2110, and then IP, streaming, and cloud. Each one has its own set of demands when it comes to equipment and expertise, so the real challenge is making them all work together without complicating the workflow. But that’s also where the opportunity lies. If you can align those workflows, it opens the door to more efficient, flexible operations. It also supports things like REMI production, which we see as a big part of the future.”
Telemetrics’ VP Michael Cuomo believes the main pressure points are around reducing production costs. “Because budgets are limited, yet production studios are being asked to produce more content, we're addressing this concern by incorporating robotics that streamline workflows.”
An emerging opportunity, identified by Duncan Miller, Director of Global Marketing, Adder Technology, lies in the rise of virtual production.
“By merging real-time rendering with traditional production techniques, virtual production enables agile content creation, reduces post-production overheads, and allows effective collaboration from anywhere. For broadcasters and content providers, this means the ability to meet audience demand for more content, faster, without compromising on quality.”
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