One in a series of previews asking exhibitors about their NAB Show plans and expectations.
Sean Bowman is associate VP, sales North America at Shure Inc.
Radio World: The growth in the “creator economy” is an important theme throughout this year’s NAB Show. How are Shure’s products used in that part of the media ecosystem?
Sean Bowman: When we look at the creator economy, we see it as a broad, diverse spectrum rather than a single category. It includes everyone from individual podcasters and YouTubers to professional broadcasters, sports producers and live event teams.
Our focus is on supporting creators regardless of scale across that entire journey, starting with tools that deliver great results easily and growing with creators as their workflows become more advanced and specialized.
At the entry point, many creators are working alone or in small teams and need professional audio without a lot of technical set up. Our USB microphones and compact digital interfaces are designed to remove barriers by handling gain, processing and reliability behind the scenes, automatically. That allows creators to focus on storytelling and content while still producing audio that meets professional expectations.
As creators scale up, their needs change. They might move into live production, mobile broadcast and more complex environments where reliability, flexibility and speed matter.
That is where our digital wireless systems, software tools and other innovative technologies come into play, helping creators manage more demanding workflows without starting over. The goal is continuity. We want creators to be able to start with Shure, stay with Shure and rely on familiar tools as their ambitions and audiences grow.
RW: Have Shure products found notable application in the exploding field of sports media?
Bowman: Sports media has been a major area of focus for Shure and it is one where our products have been used for decades across sideline reporting, field of play capture and broadcast production.
What has changed recently is the pace and complexity of those workflows. Sports broadcasts are faster, more immersive and more demanding than ever, which has pushed us to rethink how audio is captured, managed and delivered in those environments.
A good example of that evolution is the DCA901 Digital Array Microphone. Traditional approaches to sports audio have often required extensive manual setup and constant adjustment, especially when trying to follow unpredictable action on the field. With DCA901, engineers can digitally steer and calibrate the array in real time, saving significant setup time while gaining much more flexibility.
It allows producers and engineers to capture exactly the sounds they want, follow the action as it moves and respond instantly as the production changes, which is critical in live sports environments.
We are also seeing that once engineers adopt these workflows in sports, they begin to recognize their value beyond a single use case. The ability to react quickly, manage uncertainty and maintain creative control has applications across other forms of broadcast and live production.
Sports media has become a proving ground for these technologies and it continues to influence how we think about audio capture across the broader media ecosystem.
RW: What new products will you highlight?
Bowman: At NAB, we will be highlighting a mix of new hardware and software that reflects how broadcast workflows are evolving. One major focus will be SLXD+ digital wireless, which is designed for broadcast professionals who need reliable performance in crowded RF environments, whether they are working in studios, mobile broadcast setups or out in the field. We will also be showcasing our broader Axient Digital portfolio, including our latest updates and expanded features, to demonstrate how engineers can manage increasingly complex productions with greater confidence and efficiency.
Another key area of focus will be the DCA901 Digital Capture Array, which we will show in a simulated sports environment for the first time. DCA901 represents a shift in how audio can be captured in fast-paced productions by replacing traditional manual setup with digitally steerable, software-controlled workflows.
Alongside that, we will be highlighting Action Isolator, a free software tool that helps broadcasters focus on the sounds they want to capture while reducing unwanted audio, reinforcing our broader strategy around software driven audio solutions.
We will also highlight products that reflect the growing overlap between broadcast and creator workflows. That includes portable and compact solutions like MV88 USBC and MVX2U Gen 2, as well as collaboration-focused technologies such as IntelliMix Bar Pro, built on Microsoft’s device ecosystem platform (MDEP) for modern AI powered workplaces.
Taken together, what we are showing at NAB is a portfolio designed to give customers flexibility, speed and consistency, regardless of where or how they are creating content.
RW: Has AI technology changed Shure’s products, behind the scenes or in how the products are deployed?
Bowman: Yes, AI has absolutely influenced how we think about our products, both behind the scenes in how we develop them and in how customers use and deploy them.
In many cases, that shows up as intelligent processing that helps improve audio quality automatically, especially in less-than-ideal environments. Whether it is noise reduction, de-reverberation or sound isolation, the goal is to make it easier for users to get clean, usable audio without having to manually correct issues after the fact.
We are also seeing AI play a growing role in customer workflows that sit on top of the audio we capture. As more tools rely on speech recognition, transcription and content analysis, the quality of the audio input becomes critical. If those systems cannot clearly distinguish voices or understand what is being said, the productivity gains fall apart. That reinforces our focus on delivering consistent, high-quality audio capture, so customers can take full advantage of AI-driven tools with confidence and spend less time fixing mistakes and more time creating.
RW: What other business trends will you be watching for?
Bowman: One major trend we are watching closely is how venues and stadiums are evolving. There is a growing focus on how the in-person experience that fans hear and feel in the venue competes with versus what an audience experiences on the broadcast.
That is driving new approaches to audio capture and distribution on both sides, especially in large, complex spaces where traditional methods no longer deliver the same impact.
We are also seeing increased interest in how technology can help create more inclusive and flexible experiences within those environments. That includes ideas like delivering consistent audio to premium seating areas, suites and hospitality spaces, as well as emerging applications such as translation and enhanced accessibility.
As these experiences become more immersive and personalized, audio plays a critical role and we are excited to work with partners who are pushing the boundaries of what is possible in modern venues.
We’ll be discussing these topics in more detail at NAB’s Sports Summit series throughout the show.
NAB Show Booth: C4916
[For more coverage of the convention see our NAB Show page.]
