Pai to Appear at NAB Show Express

(Image credit: FCC)

The virtual show must go on, and while the NAB Show in Las Vegas was a casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic, NAB president Gordon Smith's Q&A with FCC chairman Ajit Pai was not.

The association's NAB Express Show online alternative to its physical gathering will kick off with a May 13 appearance by the chairman in a keynote conversation with Smith.

That opening session will be streamed on nabshowexpress.com at noon, and on demand afterwards.

The May 13 streamed event will also include Smith's annual "State of the Broadcast Industry" address, the state of which is under extreme stress due to coronavirus.

Also on the virtual agenda will be the presentation of NAB's Distinguished Service Award to Muppet creator, the late Jim Henson.

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.