NAB Figures Decline

Official NAB2008 attendance figures going into last week’s event were down from 2007. According to the broadcast trade association, 105,250 people registered to attend NAB2008. A total of 111,028 people attended last year’s convention. They recorded 28,310 international attendees at NAB2008, setting an all-time record for the convention. A total of 1296 members of the media also attended this year’s event.

Noticeably absent from the South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center were Avid Technology and Apple, as were the massive crowds, which during the past couple of conventions spilled out of the Apple booth causing serious congestion in the main aisle. People I spoke to (gave it a miss myself this year) said the radio hall was rather like a museum, mainly codec and microphone manufacturers. "It was full of the past, and not very confident about the long-term future. HD-Radio in its current form isn't taking off despite publicity".

I wonder whether NAB will eventually go the way of Comdex, or simply split up into smaller regional shows.