BEIT Conference presentations reveal the technical details of advanced trends and technologies to broadcast engineers and technicians, media technology managers, contract engineers, broadcast equipment manufacturers and distributors, engineering consultants and R&D engineers.

When most people in the broadcast industry think of NAB Shows, they usually don’t think of the on-site technical conferences and training concurrent to the world-famous NAB Show exhibits. Most people visit to be dazzled by new products and see old friends. Some have immediate business needs and budgets ready to spend. Others are assessing and developing next year’s Capex budgets. The most serious engineers and technicians will be at the Broadcast Engineering and IT Conference (BEITC). They want to learn about the latest trends and technologies from the experts who invent, design, build, test, and implement new broadcast technologies and workflow strategies.

The NAB Show Broadcast Engineering and IT (BEIT) Conference will offer forward-focused insights into the technical issues, challenges and opportunities affecting the future of content delivery ecosystems. Produced in partnership with the Society of Broadcast Engineers, the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers and the North American Broadcasters Association, the conference will run April 15–18, 2023 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center will be home to NAB Show’s new “Broadcast District,” a destination for radio and television broadcasters offering premium educational sessions, networking, and special events. The show floor features a dynamic marketplace showcasing next generation technologies, services, and solutions to move the broadcast industry into its future. All BEITC sessions will be in the new “Broadcast District.”

"The BEIT Conference is the place for media professionals to discover the latest breakthroughs helping to make the content pipeline more effective, efficient and expedient," said Sam Matheny, NAB executive vice president, technology and chief technology officer. "We are looking forward to an impressive lineup of presentations at NAB Show that will provide our community with real-world insights into keeping pace with the rapid evolution in how content gets delivered."

NAB Executive Vice President of Industry Affairs April Carty-Sipp added, “We are excited to enhance the experience for broadcasters with a centralized location that emphasizes community building and makes it easy to navigate the Show.” She continued, “TV and Radio broadcasters will receive tangible takeaways to help them generate revenue, streamline expenses and innovate while getting insights into what’s next for their business through a tailored experience designed to meet their needs.”

BEITC Growth

The Broadcast Bridge recently enjoyed the opportunity to discuss NAB’s 100^th Anniversary and the upcoming 2023 BEITC with Tariq Mondal, Vice President, Advanced Technology at NAB, and John Clark, Senior Vice President, Emerging Technology at NAB. Some of the most important information they shared is that more than one thousand 2023 NAB exhibitors, including more than 140 first-time exhibitors have signed on and there are also more than 50 BEITC sessions and events. The BEITC sessions begin on Saturday 15 April, the day before 2023 NAB Show exhibits open. Sessions run daily through Tuesday 18 April at 4 P.M.

Mondal said “The primary tracks are ATSC 3.0, cloud technologies, internet, streaming and network management. Industry experts on the BEITC committee designed the topics. A group of 10 broadcast engineering leaders graded the proposals and selected the best ones for our program.” This year there were 48 proposed BEITC topics covering the spectrum of broadcast technology advancements, testing and issues.

The first organizational meeting to form NAB consisted of 54 people from 16 radio stations in 1923 Chicago. The first NAB Convention was held in New York City in October 1923, with 16 stations represented by 23 attendees. When NAB was held again in 1926 New York, the key topic was high power AM broadcasting. In 1927, NAB became an annual meeting. The first NAB convention with an exhibit floor was in 1941 St. Louis. It attracted 23 exhibitors. In 1945 the NAB Convention was cancelled due to World War II. When the NAB Convention was reinstated in 1946, local TV broadcasting was new. The show attracted 46 exhibitors and 3,000 attendees.

In 1938, NAB’s Engineering department collaborated with the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE), the University of Illinois and Ohio State University to produce a broadcast engineering conference. NAB was involved again when it started back in 1946 and launched its own conference in conjunction with the 25^th NAB Convention in Atlantic City. BEC was originally a one-day event. By 1950 it had grown to a four-day event. Since then, the BEC moniker has undergone several versions and revisions, the latest being the addition of “IT” to recognize the crucial role of IT in broadcast engineering.

BEITC Benefits

Talk in the exhibits is about features, advantages, benefits, needs, and budgets. Talk in BEITC Sessions is about engineering solutions, how systems work together, what should be monitored, why gear is designed as it is, and what technologies appear to be on the horizon.

Half the benefits of visiting NAB exhibits and BEITC Sessions are listening to the questions other people ask, and how the experts respond. It can be interesting to hear an expert try to explain and interpret critical engineering details to creative visionaries, and rewarding to see when everyone gets it. Common questions among TV engineers often embody how each station and facility seeks to achieve TV success with different systems and workflows.

One of the leading benefits BEITC and the NAB Show offers is networking. The events provide a chance to hear and meet TV engineering peers and industry leaders, all talking about essentially the same topics under the same metaphoric roof for five days. It’s also a chance to hear other engineers’ opinions of equipment and brands, and how they resolve technical issues at their facilities. When asked, many engineers will gladly share what gear they use and how well they like it.

Best of all, the BEITC is a rare opportunity to learn valuable technical information from the industry’s leading TV engineering experts, meet them, and gather their business cards for future reference. Some of the most well-known industry experts are not always easy to find contact information about on the internet.

The BEITC Sessions promramme is available at the NAB Show web site HERE. 

In the coming weeks we will publish a preview of the BEIT Conference sessions and our top picks. 

The Broadcast Bridge will be at the NAB Show in the West Hall at W2976. Please come and see us, get a copy of our free book on 'Scalable Dynamic Software For Broadcasters' and share your thoughts on what we do and what you would like to see from us in the coming year.