Sam Matheny (L) NAB EVP and CTO with Julius Knapp (R) FCC chief, Office of Engineering and Technology at NAB Show 2017 Broadcast Engineering and Information Technology Conference Keynote. Photo by Paul Kaminski
NAB Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Sam Matheny delivered the keynote address on Sunday for the NAB Show 2017 Broadcast Engineering and Information Technology Conference.
In his opening remarks, Matheny said that the conference was “the largest and the most important conference of the NAB Show.” It comprises more than 30 subject areas, some 150 papers and panels with more than 180 presenters. Matheny praised the attendees. “You are what drives this industry forward: your wisdom, your courage, your intelligence and your determination to make this industry better and more competitive is so amazing.”
Julius Knapp, chief of the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology, joined Matheny to discuss issues such as the television frequency auction and repack, and its effect on broadcasters, which include those using wireless microphones in the UHF band. Knapp noted the commission’s efforts to provide additional spectrum for licensed wireless microphones, and making existing rules more flexible for those users.
After Knapp’s remarks and a question and answer session, Matheny brought up the subject of receiver improvements as a means to improve spectrum efficiency, and also asked about efforts to reduce interference to AM and FM signals by reducing the electrical noise from some devices.
