While the integration of new media and conventional television has been a growing component of the last several installments of the U.S. National Association of Broadcasters conference and trade show, at this year’s event (April 22-27 at the Las Vegas Convention Center), it’s bigger than Regis.

The multimedia industry has exploded since last year’s show, with online vendor iTunes now selling TV episodes for two bucks a pop, and practically every U.S. network and movie studio signing broadband distribution deals.

Digital production and distribution will be reflected in NAB2006’s MultiMedia World conferences, which include the Digital Cinema Summit, highlighted by keynotes from movie director James Cameron and John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theater Owners.

Elsewhere, Phil Corman, a director at Microsoft TV, is slated to deliver a keynote at IPTV World entitled ‘Television’s Promise Fulfilled,’ while the MoTV: Mobile Video and TV forum will feature talks about mobile standards, content and other wireless issues, and the Web and Mobile Development Conference will offer a series of comprehensive new media-related workshops.

Rounding out MultiMedia World is the MPEG Industry Forum and ISMA Advanced Video Services from Broadband to Wireless forum.

The Podcasting Summit (April 22-23) is a separate but related two-day training event for those interested in taking advantage of this upstart form of on-demand entertainment.

Meanwhile, Frank Dangeard, chairman and CEO of French conglomerate Thomson, and Jeremy Allaire, founder and president of TV-on-the-web outfit Brightcove, will speak in NAB’s Super Sessions. Dangeard will discuss technologies for digital media distribution, while Allaire will address what broadband means to broadcasters.

With the U.S. broadcast industry regulated by the Federal Communications Commission to shut down analog signals by 2009, the continuing evolution of HD products and solutions will be front and center at this year’s conference. Top camera manufactures will return to wrestle for attendees’ attention on the show floor, with companies such as Sony offering an array of HD cameras in various budget ranges (see story, p. 16).

Sony will also display its launch of 4K digital projectors. There is considerable buzz surrounding 4K product heading into NAB, as production and post outfits take bold steps with the beyond-HD format.

‘I think 4K is really hitting its stride in the film production market,’ says Patrick Myles, spokesperson for Waterloo, ON-based DALSA Corporation, manufacturer of the 4K Origin camera. DALSA is concentrating almost all of its marketing efforts on personal demonstrations for top-end directors of photography in Hollywood, and thus will not be on the show floor. However, footage captured on the Origin camera will be used in a number of 4K post-production demonstrations at NAB.

‘We’re very focused on moving 4K post-production forward,’ Myles adds.

While the Origin is currently the only commercially available 4K camera, Myles expects competitors to unveil their own 4K camera prototypes at this year’s show.

NAB’s Post|Production World Conference [April 21-26], coproduced by Future Media Concepts, will feature keynotes from Hughes Winborne, the Academy Award-winning editor of Crash, and Dylan Tichenor, editor of Brokeback Mountain. This year’s post-production seminar lineup is jam-packed with sessions, panels and demos aimed at various levels of post proficiency, giving attendees training opportunities on popular systems such as Final Cut Pro and After Effects.

One side effect of the increased resolution of image capture is that it necessitates greater storage capabilities, an issue that will bring a number of attendees to the desert oasis.

Rob Sim, president of Toronto-headquartered equipment rental outfit Sim Video, cautions that as hard-drive storage solutions for HD cameras prove both cumbersome and volatile – and horror stories arise about lost footage due to system crashes – removable media such as tape and especially DVD is still the way to go.

‘The industry is moving toward higher-density DVD,’ says Sim. ‘I’m hearing about holographic DVDs, which are still a ways away yet, but they’ll be able to hold up to 40 terabytes on a disc. But we’re not too far from 50- and 100-gigabyte DVDs. That is certainly one of the things I’ll be looking into at NAB.’

In addition to the NAB show’s huge tech component, it is also a place for regional U.S. broadcasters to meet and discuss their industry’s most pressing issues. Although conferences begin on April 22, NAB2006 officially kicks off on April 24, with new NAB president David Rehr, successor of Edward Fritts, presenting his inaugural state-of-the-industry address.

Afterwards, former U.S. network news anchors Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw, along with the late Peter Jennings, the Canadian-born newsman who succumbed to cancer last year, will receive distinguished service awards.

TV host Regis Philbin will be inducted into the NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame at the NAB Television All Industry Luncheon, where former MPAA head Jack Valenti will also speak.

The conference will hand out the Awards for Innovation in Media, recognizing advancements in the tech side of the broadcasting biz, at the Technology Luncheon on April 26.

Perhaps due to the proliferation of multimedia and HD, attendance at NAB has been on the upswing in recent years following a post-9/11 dip. While final attendance figures are not released until after the event’s official opening, about 104,000 attended the conference last year, a 6% improvement over 2004. According to organizers, 23% of international delegates who attended last year were from either Canada or Mexico.

Scheduling and registeration information is available on the NAB website.

www.nabshow.com

www.dalsa.com

www.simvideo.com