Digital content, artificial intelligence, electric vehicles and podcasting are among session topics for radio managers at the upcoming NAB Show New York.
The October convention adds radio content for the first time, now that the annual fall Radio Show is no longer held.
The topics above will be part of a one-day track on Thursday Oct. 20 called “Radio Reimagined” and focused on station-level managers.
A separate executive seminar called “Radio Insights” takes place on Wednesday Oct. 19, presented by Bloomberg and only available to NAB members. It will focus on C-suite attendees and includes a luncheon and tour of Bloomberg’s building and media center.
The NAB Show will be co-located with the AES New York 2022 Convention. The two will share an exhibit floor at the Jacob Javits Center, with exhibits on Oct. 19–20. A Tech Chat stage will feature exhibitors talking about their products in 15-minute discussions. The floor also includes a Content Theater.
As of late September, there were about 220 exhibitors listed on the NAB portion of the floor, and about 100 for AES. NAB estimated that 10,000 people will attend its event.
Insights and reimaginings
The “Radio Insights” track on Wednesday includes a session featuring Urban One Founder and Chairwoman Cathy Hughes and Beasley Media Group President/CEO Caroline Beasley. There will also be a presentation about DTS AutoStage by speakers from Xperi and Cumulus Media/Westwood One.
A sample of sessions for the Thursday “Radio Reimagined” track: Daniel Anstanding of Futuri Media will explore what programming and sales managers need to know about artificial intelligence.
Buzz Knight of Buzz Knight Media and John Vermeer of iHeartMedia will discuss how radio managers and programmers should prepare for the growing sales of electric vehicles.
John Ross of Triton Digital and Tim Clarke of Audacy will talk about generating revenue with digital content.
And a series of “Take Five” presentation blocks that day promises helpful info delivered in five-minutes bites.
The two days of radio sessions require their own registrations.
Winners of the NAB Marconi Radio Awards will be announced Wednesday evening. Among the many categories is “Legendary Radio Manager of the Year.” The finalists are Dr. René Heredia, Guadalupe Radio, Los Angeles; Julie Koehn, WLEN(FM), Adrian, Mich.; Pamela McKay, KMJQ(FM), Houston; Joel Oxley, WTOP(FM), Washington; and Steve Wexler, WTMJ(AM), Milwaukee.
Up for “Best Radio Podcast of the Year” are WTOP(FM) in Washington, WDRV(FM) in Chicago, WBBR(AM) in New York, KSL(FM) in Salt Lake City and KYW in Philadelphia.
Beyond radio, sessions or tracks are planned on cybersecurity, post-production, streaming, NextGen TV, the metaverse and Web3’s impact on the business of media.
Film producer Evan Shapiro will keynote the opening of NAB Show New York, speaking about “Bringing Media Into the Current Century, Now.” The association says, “Many in media know him as the official, unofficial cartographer of the media universe” and promises “a notoriously interactive presentation.”
Also notable: U.K.-based Podcast Radio will hold a concurrent conference on Wednesday, also at the Javits, on the theme of “Getting Podcasts Heard.”
Podcast Radio is a platform that plays sample episodes of podcasts, clips from podcasts and interviews with podcast producers and presenters, and it says it has investment money to expand its U.S. footprint.
Honors for the Jacobs brothers
The National Radio Award will be presented to Fred and Paul Jacobs.
Fred is founder and president of Jacobs Media. He’s credited with creating the classic rock format and has a background in audience research, having worked for Frank N. Magid and Associates and ABC Radio. He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018 and has served on the board of the Public Radio Program Directors Association.
His brother Paul is vice president and general manager of Jacobs Media, after having worked in sales and management at stations in Detroit and Dallas. He also started jācapps, the first mobile app development company in radio. He has served as board chair for Greater Public and the Michigan Association of Broadcasters Foundation.
In 2017, the brothers partnered with the NAB Auto Initiative Committee to develop a “Best Practices” report to help broadcasters understand and improve their visual presence in car dashboards. They are sought after as speakers at industry events, and their annual Techsurvey is a source of insights into the behavior of radio listeners.
Saluting parametric EQ
The Audio Engineering Society’s 153rd Convention will celebrate “technologies now so foundational that they are indelibly integrated into audio production, and individuals so influential that they permanently advance the creative application of audio technology.”
“Fifty years ago, the concept of a parametric equalizer was introduced at an AES Convention in a paper authored and presented by George Massenburg, now an AES Fellow and Gold Medal awardee,” the organization said in a press release.
“At AES New York 2022, Massenburg will return full circle for the golden anniversary of this seminal and now ubiquitous technology, discussing his coining of the term ‘parametric’ and the experimentation and collaboration of individuals who contributed to the development of sweep-tunable EQ.”
Another session will celebrate the late producer, engineer and mentor Al Schmitt.
Jonathan Wyner, AES Past president and chair of the convention, said, “The parametric EQ is something we take for granted, but we shouldn’t lose sight of its impact. It changed recorded music forever — and so did Al Schmitt, who set a standard for what recorded music could sound like.”
Susan Rogers will deliver the Thursday keynote of AES New York 2022. Her talk is titled “This Is What It Sounds Like: A New Model of Music Cognition,” promising insights into a new model of cognition that focuses on the listener profile, “the constellation of individualized preferences mapped to an array of musical and aesthetic dimensions to create a better understanding of our own unique auditory experience.”
In addition to being a producer/engineer, audio technician, author and researcher, Rogers is a professor of cognitive neuroscience with a doctoral degree in experimental psychology. She has worked with musicians including Prince, David Byrne, Geggy Tah and Nil Lara.
If You Go — The cost of registration for radio events at NAB Show New York ranges from $249 to $399 depending on the package. An exhibits-only pass costs $75 if purchased before Oct. 4.
For the AES New York show, an all-access registration purchased on-site is $670 for non-members; discounts apply for members, student members and advance purchases. A more limited “exhibits plus” registration is free for AES members, $50 for others.
AES is also offering an online version of the event that will be held later in October, at lower rates.
Exhibit Hall Hours: Oct. 19: 10 a.m.–6 p.m. and Oct. 20: 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
