NEW YORK—In today’s rapidly changing media world, the word “podcast” has cachet. The list of podcasters is growing at an almost frantic pace as personalities, radio stations and program producers discover their simple production values, relatively low production costs and easy distribution avenue—the internet. Meanwhile, a hungry audience grows.

The real questions concerning podcasting are: How to stand out in the crowd and how to, preferably at the same time, bring in the advertising dollars?

NAB Show New York will offer several podcast-oriented events and bring “live podcasts” to the show floor in the Podcast Studio.

“Watch as radio business-focused podcasts and popular New York-based podcasts record episodes live from the show floor,” event organizers announce on the show’s website. “You’ll hear interviews with premiere NAB Show New York presenters and have a chance to meet some of your favorite voices from various podcasts; all before the episodes are released to the public.” The Podcast Studio will be “on-the-air” Wednesday, Oct. 17 and Thursday, Oct. 18.

SESSIONS

The first session, “Creating and Growing Top Podcasts,” is scheduled for Wednesday Oct. 17, 3–3:30 p.m., in the Presentation Theater.

“Podcasting as a distribution platform offers a unique way of reaching listeners, but also has some inherent challenges when it comes to creating compelling content,” said Dan Franks, co-founder of the Podcast Movement, a podcast convention, and co-host of the session. “This session will explore not only the creation of content that has the best chance to be successful, but also discuss ways to help grow your audience.”

In a time of tight resources at many stations, Franks said that podcasts can be worth the effort. “If the podcast is created in a thoughtful and tactical way, then absolutely. Podcast listeners are passionate and loyal, and represent a desirable demographic to creators and advertisers alike. However podcasting is a different beast than radio, so it must be treated that way when it comes to developing content and executing the creation!”

Franks will be joined by fellow session co-host and Podcast Movement co-founder Jared Easley; moderator E.B. Moss, head of content strategy, MediaVillage; and panelists Patrick Hinds, host and producer, “True Crime Obsessed”; and Stuart Last, chief operating officer, Audioboom.

Following on Thursday, Oct. 18, 3–3:30 p.m. is “What’s Fueling America’s Podcast Ad Growth?” The moderator is Mark McCrery, founder and CEO of Podtrac. He’ll be joined by Brendan Monaghan, CEO of Panopoly, and Sarah Van Mosel, chief podcast sales and strategy officer at Market Enginuity.

Reportedly, U.S. podcast advertising revenue is on target to hit more than $400 million in 2018 and is projected to be over $650 million in 2020. The session will examine key factors fueling the growth, what advertisers find appealing about the medium and how challenges associated with rapid expansion are being addressed.

Hosted by the Podcast Movement, the podcasting community and creatives who want to leverage it are invited to the “Podcasters & Creatives Mixer,” which will take place 4:45–5:45 p.m. at Middle Bar.

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The National Association of Broadcasters said 244 companies will be first-time exhibitors at the NAB Show in April.

The list includes Blubrry Podcasting, Libsyn, Padcaster, Women in Media, Sohonet, Deity Microphones, Red Bee Media and StreamShark. (See the list.) Some have appeared at the show in the past in other booths, such as Audinate, found in the Bosch/RTS in the past; others are likely to be entirely unfamiliar. The show will have approximately 1,700 total exhibitors including 819 from outside the United States.

We asked NAB Executive Vice President of Conventions and Business Operations Chris Brown for some insights into this aspect of the event.

Radio World:What can we glean from the list of companies — what technology sectors seem hottest, and in what kind of new tech areas is the show growing?

Chris Brown: It is a great list of new companies and they tend to reflect the breadth of the show and the trends that are driving innovation. We have companies covering all ends of the content lifecycle from acquisition to management to distribution — with a slight leaning, a little more than a third, representing acquisition and production technologies. From a tech and trends perspective we are seeing healthy interest in streaming technologies, advanced advertising, social media, cloud, storage and IP. Our focus every year is to dig for companies that are developing leading edge technologies or serving particular segments of our audience with specialized products or services.

RW: Do you know which NAB Show exhibitor is the longest-tenured?

Brown: Unfortunately we don’t have accurate enough history (and remember, the show has been around since 1923) to confirm this definitively. But we certainly have a healthy list of companies that have exhibited with us for a very long time; these include companies like Sony, Panasonic, Imagine and GatesAir (formerly Harris Corp.), Grass Valley, Avid and Ross just to name a few.

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RW: What will be the three largest booths at the show?

Brown: Sony, Blackmagic Design and Canon. Beyond these and others that have been exhibiting for some time, we have a number of other important brands that are emerging with an increasing presence in the show. A couple of good examples would be AWS Elemental and Google. The combination of AWS and Elemental has matched the enormous resources AWS with the deep industry expertise of Elemental to create an entity that is having a major impact on the industry. In the case of Google, not much needs to be said — they play a vital, varied and growing role within the media and entertainment ecosystem. Just two years ago they were not even participating as an exhibitor.

RW: How does this year’s exhibit space compare to last year?

Brown: Between exhibit space and exhibitor activity in meeting rooms and suites, the show will once again cover more than 1 million square feet of activity. It will essentially cover the same area as last year.

RW:What are other platforms at the show where attendees can find up-and-coming companies?

Brown: We have an area of the show that is all about up-and-coming; we call it the Innovation Pipeline, and it covers the companies and trends from inception to full launch. Three distinct areas are included: NAB Pilot’s Futures Park, which represents the true R&D side of the equation, with research and other companies showing technologies that are still in the lab stage. Then there is Startup Loft, an area that features companies that are in their true infancy, with products or services that are baked but only on the market for a year or a year and a half. These are the “garage” entrepreneurs of our business. And as a final phase, there is Sprockit. Sprockit is a program that identifies the most promising young companies in the media and entertainment space and brings them into the spotlight at the show. These are companies that are bringing technology that can revolutionize, even disrupt, the industry.

We also will be featuring a number of technology pavilions that will lean forward and will feature companies that are relatively new to NAB Show. These include our Immersive Storytelling Pavilion (North Hall), the Game Developers Gallery (North Hall) and the Podcasting Pavilion (South Hall).

LAS VEGAS—Over the years, the NAB Show has successfully adapted to the rapidly changing demands of the media and entertainment industry. This year is no different.

This means connecting with streamers, gamers, post professionals and, of course, broadcasters. But this year’s annual event has been reorganized to meet all of those needs with a new lineup of sessions, summits and exhibits that seemed unimaginable even a few years ago.

One theme that seems to permeate throughout the new programs is the way in which technology is being used to create better storytellers.

“Effectively using technology is critical to creating quality content,” said Chris Brown, executive vice president of conventions and business operations for NAB. “NAB Show offers inspiration, training and the very latest tools and technologies to help storytellers step up their game and advance their tradecraft.”

STREAMING SUMMIT

The NAB Show is responding to the increasing popularity of over the top platforms with the introduction of the Streaming Summit, a one-day conference that will focus from top to bottom on the culture and dynamics of the streaming media business. What was cutting edge and resourceful 12 months ago—be it ways of monetizing or streaming protocols—may be outmoded and outpaced come this April. The session will address topics like live linear workflows, transcoding, distribution, new business models and technology platforms.

What’s not up for debate: that regardless of the technology and monetization schemes behind the curtain, consumers expect a certain level of quality content and a certain level of quality delivery, Brown said. “As video streaming services continue to gain immense popularity, media and technology companies must evolve to meet the demand for quality content when and where consumers want it,” he said.

RECOGNIZING EXCELLENCE

NAB has also shuffled around one of the most popular events at the show—its TV, radio and technology luncheons—into two new major events. The first is a new NAB Achievement in Broadcasting Dinner; the second is a celebration called “NAB: We are Broadcasters” Celebration.

The changes were made to better highlight key awards and expose them to a broader NAB Show audience, Brown said, while still highlighting the work the broadcast industry does from a business, creative and community perspective.

Just as the individual broadcast and tech awards did in the past, the new Achievement in Broadcasting Dinner is designed to recognize those individuals and companies who are working to advance the industry through technology, public service and content. At that same dinner, two awards will be presented: the NAB Radio and Television Hall of Fame Award and NAB Engineering and Digital Leadership Award. Game show aficionados may want to brace themselves for this double-whammy award ceremony that will honor “Wheel of Fortune” and its hosts Pat Sajak and Vanna White, as well as “JEOPARDY!” and its host Alex Trebek. All three have hosted their respective programs since the mid-80s, and between them have produced a combined 13,000 episodes.

This year’s NAB Digital Leadership Award will be awarded to Roger Keating, Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer for Hearst Television. The Television Engineering Achievement Award will be presented to Mark Aitken, vice president of Advanced Technology at Sinclair Broadcast Group and Clay Freinwald of Freinwald Technical Services will receive the 2018 Service to Broadcast Engineering Award.

The NAB’s “We Are Broadcasters” Celebration event will include the presentation of several familiar radio and TV awards, including the NAB Crystal Radio Awards and Television Chairman’s Award. Attendees will find them in “the good place” for the Television Chairman’s Award, which will be presented to TV and film actress Kristen Bell.

Those of us who want to hear firsthand what NAB President Gordon Smith has to say will need to re-route the Uber away from the Westgate over to the main stage in the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. After that keynote presentation, the NAB Distinguished Service Award will be awarded to ABC co-anchor Robin Roberts.

The NAB is also partnering up with that famous little gold statue guy. This year, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) will present the Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards at NAB. Up to this point, these technical honors had been awarded at the annual CES show. “We couldn’t be more pleased that NATAS has chosen to recognize the industry’s most innovative companies and leading technology minds at NAB Show,” Brown said. “The awards are a natural fit for NAB Show. Many of the winners are regular attendees or among our exhibitor ranks.”

MORE THAN JUST EXHIBITS ON THE EXHIBIT FLOOR

A surprisingly number of new areas will spring up on the show floor this year too. At the Destination NXT Theater, an on-the-show-floor education program In the South Hall, attendees can listen to presentations on distribution, delivery and commerce. In one instance, that will mean getting inside the devoted, chaotic, demanding and progressive head of a sports fan.

One of the events in the Destination NXT Theater will be “The Super-Fan Journey,” which will take a real-life look at the ways that a sport fan flits from social media to video games to OTT to follow his teams. So how does a team or network provide a more targeted, streamlined journey from one hop to the other? The session, manned by staffers from the San Francisco Giants and Minnesota Vikings, will take a crack at answering the question.

Other new spots on the show floor will be the Podcasting Pavilion and the Immersive Storytelling Pavilion, which will look at the ongoing creation and commercialization of virtual, mixed and augmented immersive content. Convention organizers expanded podcasting’s presence at the show to help attendees “capitalize on the medium’s growing popularity and potential,” Brown said.

Away from the show floor, attendees will see five new conferences. In addition to the new Streaming Summit, the NAB is introducing the “Ad Innovations” conference that will look at everything from AI and big data to ad models and new platforms.

And fan engagement comes swinging around again in several new conferences. “Content Strategies for Podcasting” will look at the way podcasting can tap into rabid fan engagement and introduce new revenue streams. Likewise, the new eSports conference looks at this rapidly growing market and the ways in which streaming, media rights and fan engagement tools are helping shape it.

The NAB will also usher in three new networking opportunities, including several new Community Mixers, the new Braindate series of small group conversations, and (for those of us seriously tired of standing up eating a cold hot dog while leaning against a hallway wall) a new Draft House food and beverage area in the South Hall.

For more information, visit www.nabshow.com.