NAB Show 2026 points to a stabilisation after concluding with more than 58,000 registered attendees from 146 countries. Driven by a growing community of creators, enterprise media teams and sports media leaders, the event continues to attract new audiences and foster fresh collaborations. Against this backdrop, TM BROADCAST gathered first-hand insights from a selection of exhibitors to better understand the conversations and trends shaping this year’s show

*This content is included in the May issue of TM BROADCAST. You can access the full magazine here.

The broadcast industry moves from “the next big thing” toward pragmatic implementation and flexible workflows. NAB Show 2026 has once again underscored the industry’s shift toward new models of content creation and distribution. The Las Vegas Convention Center said goodbye to more than 58,000 registered attendees from 146 countries, who, over five days, drove the next era of storytelling.

From April 18 to 22, one of the leading global broadcasting events explored new ideas, discovered emerging tools and shaped how stories are created, distributed and monetized. The show floor welcomed more than 1,100 exhibitors from around the world, including 132 first-time participants showcasing their innovations.

Last year, it closed with 55,000 attendees from 160 countries and 1,050 exhibitors. Following a decline in professional attendance over the past three editions, the 2026 edition points to a stabilisation, although below the levels reached in previous years: after approaching 65,000 attendees, the figure dropped to 61,000 in 2024.

Driven by a growing community of creators, enterprise media teams and sports media leaders, the event has attracted new audiences and sparked fresh collaborations. Additionally, NAB Show 2026 stood out as the most cross-sector edition to date, featuring expanded focus areas across sports, business, and of course, AI.

This year’s conversations suggested a clear shift: the industry is no longer chasing “the next big thing”, but looking for practical technologies and flexible workflows in a market where there is no longer a single production model. With this in mind, we set out to gather first-hand insights into the key conversations and trends shaping the show, based on interviews with a selection of exhibitors.

As Christoph Gottert, DHD Audio International Sales Manager, notes, this shift is also being driven by evolving audience behaviours. “The transition from on-air to online audience preferences has created opportunities both for traditional broadcasters and upcoming specialist networks, many of whom look to trade shows such as NAB as opportunities to talk directly with major technology suppliers”.

In parallel, the unceasing burst of artificial intelligence keeps on going because “broadcasters want to understand how AI can work within their existing infrastructure to optimize and streamline their workflows – enhancing what they already have rather than replacing it”, explains Ronen Artman, VP Marketing at LiveU.

“AI capabilities are getting more and more built into products, particularly in areas such as automation and overall production processes. We believe these technologies will increase performance and decrease latencies by augmenting people-powered workflows such as real-time transcribing, translation, summarization, etc.”, explains Kuban Altan, Co-Founder & CTO of Zero Density.

Filip Milovanovic, Technical and Sales Engineer at Elements, agrees: “This year, the focus shifted toward practical, real-world implementations of these technologies. Users are no longer chasing the next big thing but are instead looking for quality and tangible value”.

Alongside these trends, conversations also revolved around cloud virtualisation, the creator economy and streaming. The show also reflected the continued momentum behind IP adoption and SMPTE ST 2110 workflows. “More system designs are embracing the benefits of ST-2110 (media over IP) as equipment costs are decreasing to the levels of traditional baseband SDI”, notes Gisbert Hochguertel, Sales & Marketing of Ikegami (Europe) GmbH.

“Broadcasters are increasingly moving past the experimental phase and are now heavily focused on practical, manageable deployments”, notes Erling Hedkvist, Sales & Business Development at Manifold and Arkona technologies.

As Matthew Williams-Neale, Vice President Marketing at Appear, remarks, professionals are looking for an easier transition, where feeds can be routed dynamically between production hubs and distribution endpoints. “The result is a more adaptable production model that can support a wider range of live events without increasing complexity”.

Another topic that had a strong presence at NAB this year was flexibility. “How can we assist broadcasters to improve their video transportation in their own ecosystems”, says Lionel Dutilleux, Marketing Manager at Deltacast.

Dave MacKinnon, VP of Product Management at Clear-Com, echoes this view, insisting on the idea that there’s no single model anymore: adaptability is key. “Productions today need the freedom to combine wired, wireless, IP, and remote resources on-prem, in a data center, or in the cloud in whatever way best fits the job. There’s no single model anymore. Customers want systems that can adapt to different production environments while still delivering clear, dependable communication”.

“What’s particularly notable is that this shift is being approached pragmatically. Rather than wholesale cloud adoption, organisations are embracing hybrid models and deploying software-defined capabilities where they deliver the most value. This aligns with what we’re seeing across the industry: a move toward more flexible, interoperable systems that can evolve over time, rather than large, monolithic deployments”, adds Mark Gardner, Senior VP of Sales – EMEA at Grass Valley.

In this same line, Andreas Hilmer, Chief Marketing Officer at Lawo, emphasizes that this move toward software-based, IP-native production platforms is built on Dynamic Media Facility principles. “The clear direction is to decouple media processing from fixed hardware and transform infrastructure into dynamically adaptable services”. In short, “broadcast facilities are evolving into software environments first and physical installations second – a shift that is now directly shaping investment decisions across the industry”, he adds.

Key trends and industry conversations

“This year, the focus shifted toward practical, real-world implementations of these technologies. Users are no longer chasing the next big thing but are instead looking for quality and tangible value”, Filip Milovanovic (Elements)

“Productions today need the freedom to combine wired, wireless, IP, and remote resources on-prem, in a data center, or in the cloud in whatever way best fits the job. There’s no single model anymore”, Dave MacKinnon (Clear-Com)

“Rather than wholesale cloud adoption, organisations are embracing hybrid models and deploying software-defined capabilities where they deliver the most value”, Mark Gardner (Grass Valley)

 “The clear direction is to decouple media processing from fixed hardware and transform infrastructure into dynamically adaptable services”, Andreas Hilmer (Lawo)

“Visitors expressed their concerns over capital expenditures for technology needed to produce live TV programs during the current economic uncertainty”, Gisbert Hochguertel (Ikegami)

“Clients want solutions that connect every stage of the production chain – from contribution and orchestration to production and distribution”, Ronen Artman (LiveU)

“There has been a perceived move away from technologies that support over-the-air broadcasters and toward those enabling content distribution via streaming and other delivery mechanisms”, Ray Miklius (Gates Air)

“The conversations feed directly into how we prioritise product development and evolve our solutions, ensuring that what we develop reflects the operational realities our customers are dealing with today”, Matthew Williams-Neale (Appear)

“AI capabilities are getting more and more built into products, particularly in areas such as automation and overall production processes”, Kuban Altan (Zero Density)

Beyond the trends

Exhibitors presented their latest innovations and had time to discuss with clients and delve into current sector developments. Apart from the subjects already mentioned, conversations also explored their worries nowadays around other emerging industry topics.

Some of the most recurrent ones centre on how to scale live production and distribution without increasing complexity, as Matthew Williams-Neale (Appear) points out.

Gisbert Hochguertel (Ikegami) adds: “Visitors expressed their concerns over capital expenditures for technology needed to produce live TV programs during the current economic uncertainty. For example, independent producers are a growing sector with the need to provide high quality video for OTT. We have introduced camera products that leverage the feature licensing options that reduce the initial acquisition costs”.

Mark Gardner (Grass Valley) also notes a common concern among professionals: how to effectively implement software-defined workflows at scale, particularly leveraging standards such as EBU DMF and MXL. “There’s growing interest in how these frameworks enable better interoperability between systems, simplify content exchange, and reduce operational friction across distributed production environments. Rather than isolated tools, customers are focused on how these standards underpin end-to-end workflows from ingestion through production to distribution”, he answers.

On the other hand, the final product is important, but also the architecture that needs to produce it. “Of utmost importance to our domestic television customers are the payback opportunities available with ATSC3.0 deployment. All are also very interested to learn if there will be a regulatory requirement relating to sunset of ATSC1 and adoption of it”, highlights Ray Miklius, Vice President of Technology at Gates Air.

Despite all the doubts and possibilities they explored with the different exhibitors, the objective is clear: they are looking for integrated solutions that allow them to produce more content, deliver to more platforms, and reach wider audiences – with less budget. Ronen Artman (LiveU) explains that this is a direct consequence of COVID, which led to a proliferation of technological experimentation and matured into operational transformation – fully remote production and virtualised workflows. “Clients want solutions that connect every stage of the production chain – from contribution and orchestration to production and distribution”, he notes.

A final topic noted by Kuban Altan (Zero Density) was the impact of “vibe coding with AI models” on the broadcast industry. Visitors also saw 3D Gaussian splatting renderers and real-time path tracing alongside game engine rendering, which sparked discussions on render engine flexibility and the freedom to choose between real-time rendering technologies.

From product exhibition to industry forum

Although NAB Show 2026 expanded its focus on key industry sectors more than ever—AI, sports, and business—it also created space to spotlight other trends rapidly gaining momentum across the industry. “NAB has evolved itself and its exhibitions over the years to embrace the online sector rather than try to protect the monopoly formerly limited to the USA’s major commercial networks. The show is massive to the point where Las Vegas is one of the few US cities with enough resources to accommodate it”, shares Christoph Gottert (DHD Audio).

Despite the fluctuating number of attendees over the years, Gisbert Hochguertel (Ikegami) summarizes it very well: “It is important not to mix up quantity with quality”, he states. Lionel Dutilleux (Deltacast) agrees: “On this edition we could observe a reduction of global attendees, but our partners took part in the show and this edition remains brilliant for us”.

With more than 530 conference sessions and around 900 speakers from across the global media and entertainment ecosystem, this edition has stood out for both diversity. “Equally important is the shift from showcasing future concepts to highlighting real-world deployment. Technologies such as IP production, cloud integration, and software-based infrastructure are now being implemented at scale, with a clear focus on ease of use and ROI”, notes Andreas Hilmer (Lawo).

Additionally, the show saw a notable expansion in audiences across areas such as Content Creators, Enterprise, and Sports. “It’s a great place to reconnect with industry contacts, build on those relationships, and have meaningful conversations with new leads. We had a strong mix of filmmakers, broadcasters, and creatives coming through the booth, and it really feels like NAB is the show for this industry,” affirms Glenn Rossney, Business Development Manager at Sennheiser.

Ronen Artman (LiveU) also mentions this evolution in the audience: “It’s no longer just broadcasters – you see OTT platforms, sports organizations, tech companies, and even content creators playing a bigger role. This opens doors to conversations that NAB simply would not have facilitated a few years ago, and it shows how the professional video industry is reaching into all business sectors”.

This variety has allowed the event to expand its presence: “NAB continues to evolve from a product-centric exhibition into a more strategic industry forum. This year in particular felt more focused on direction and transformation, with many attendees looking to understand where the industry is heading rather than evaluating individual point solutions”, shares Mark Gardner (Grass Valley).

As a result, he notes that conversations were notably more architectural and business-driven. Filip Milovanovic (Elements) also describes the discussions as “outstanding”, while Matthew Williams-Neale (Appear) highlights them as one of the key benefits for companies, as they “feed directly into how we prioritise product development and evolve our solutions, ensuring that what we develop reflects the operational realities our customers are dealing with today”.

Dave MacKinnon (Clear-Com) shares this opinion and adds another point of view: “The conversations today are less about standalone equipment and more about how technologies work together to improve efficiency, collaboration, and overall production quality. That mirrors what’s happening across the industry. Broadcasters and production teams are under pressure to deliver more content in more ways, so they’re looking for smarter, more connected solutions”.

The event brought together the broader media and content production ecosystem, “reflecting how the industry adopts upcoming technologies and platforms”, affirms Kuban Altan (Zero Density). However, Ray Miklius (Gates Air) points to a shift in the show’s focus: “There has been a perceived move away from technologies that support over-the-air broadcasters and toward those enabling content distribution via streaming and other delivery mechanisms”.

“While we now stay in continuous contact throughout the year via platforms like Slack and video calls, in-person encounters remain uniquely valuable. They add a dimension that cannot be replicated remotely, where non-verbal cues, spontaneity and shared context deepen the quality of the connection. In that sense, NAB stands not just as a meeting point, but as a vital moment within a broader, ongoing relationship”, sums up Erling Hedkvist (Manifold and Arkona Tech).

NAB’s evolving identity

“NAB has evolved itself and its exhibitions over the years to embrace the online sector rather than try to protect the monopoly formerly limited to the USA’s major commercial networks”, Christoph Gottert (DHD Audio)

“On this edition we could observe a reduction of global attendees, but our partners took part in the show and this edition remains brilliant for us”, Lionel Dutilleux (Deltacast)

“While we now stay in continuous contact throughout the year via platforms like Slack and video calls, in-person encounters remain uniquely valuable”, Erling Hedkvist (Manifold and Arkona Tech)

“It’s a great place to reconnect with industry contacts, build on those relationships, and have meaningful conversations with new leads”, Glenn Rossney (Sennheiser)