As the crowds flock to Las Vegas for this year’s NAB broadcast extravaganza, broadcasters are no longer holding all the cards. More than any other year in NAB’s long history, it is audiences who have all the aces up their sleeves, and they are going all in.

Today’s consumers are in charge, choosing what, when, where and how to access content across a growing number of channels. In the run up to NAB there is always a lot of excited chatter about what to expect on the show floor, and the headlines at NAB 2025 will be writ large as manufacturers scramble to help broadcasters adapt to this evolving media landscape.

But the big stories won’t be the headline stories, and visitors will only find them by digging into the small details.

The top-level headlines will be achingly familiar. AI, inevitably, will once again be making the biggest noise, and the ability to lean into the [public] cloud to access remote and automated processing will also be vying for attention. Meanwhile, remote working and the distribution of control is still ticking quite a few boxes for visitors.

What all these technologies have in common are that they are all designed to help broadcasters deliver more flexibility, and to do it quickly. They are under increasing pressure to produce more content as they battle for the eyes and the ears of their audiences, not to mention advertising revenues, developing unique content across both traditional linear broadcast channels as well as an array of OTT streaming channels. The ability to do more for less has in itself become a familiar broadcast cliché, but with streaming and direct to consumer models gaining more traction there are very real commercial reasons why broadcasters are looking for more help.

But all the good stories are going to be in the application, and audio manufacturers and developers are stepping up with applications that add more detail to all these challenges. They all recognize that the need is there, but it’s the implementation of these technologies that will move the needle for broadcasters, and delivering flexibility is paramount.

Riedel (Booth N 1821).  Aiming to meet these challenges head on, Riedel has several products making their NAB debuts and promises more launches on the first day of the show that further expand the company’s intercom and live video production portfolio.

After its launch at IBC 2024, Riedel’s Smart Audio and Mixing Engine (SAME) is an all-encompassing software suite offering what it describes as delivering “unmatched processing capabilities that scale effortlessly with production needs.” Based on off-the-shelf server cluster technology, SAME features over 30 audio processing tools and mixers ranging from automatic levelling and dynamic equalization to 5.1 upmixing, loudness meters, and signal analyzers.

“SAME is designed as a high performance, flexible audio toolkit to solve live production needs as they arise”, said Jake Dodson, Executive Director Product Management at Riedel Communications. “SAME heralds a new era of server-based solutions, addressing the industry’s need for flexible deployment models with the ability to flexibly scale in capacity.”

Also making its NAB debut on the Riedel stand is the company’s Virtual SmartPanel (VSP) which introduces a virtual hybrid infrastructure that integrates with Riedel’s Artist-1024 platform. Riedel says it evolves its SmartPanel concept by adding remote intercoms on mobile phones and tablets as well as browsers for platform-independent operation.

The company is also bringing its StageLink family of smart edge devices following its launch at ISE 2025. Designed for broadcast, live production, and studio environments, the compact I/O boxes streamline decentralized signal distribution over generic IP networks, eliminating the complexities of traditional cabling and configuration, capturing and distributing signals across networks to ensure a reliable and cost-effective transition to IP-based workflows. StageLink devices create a decentralized, scalable system that integrate microphones, intercom, GPIO devices, and other audio-enabled equipment.

The company will also present its Easy5G private 5G network solution and its RefCam camera system that enables broadcasters to deliver real-time perspectives from the referee’s vantage point.

Lawo (Booth N 622).  With four new apps for its HOME ecosystem and the launch of a brand-new user environment, the messaging from Lawo couldn’t be clearer. Claiming to deliver a more efficient approach to infrastructure design, Lawo’s Chief Marketing Officer Andreas Hilmer says the updates enable broadcasters to “rethink your infrastructure, maximize its utilization and reduce costs.”

At NAB Lawo is introducing more video and audio apps for its HOME cloud-native management system. In addition to a new HOME video monitor app, the company is introducing three dedicated audio apps; the first is a new HOME Power Core App that offers the same functionality as the company’s Power Core hardware, but in an ad hoc manner using standard servers. Lawo says its dynamic use of generic processing means more broadcasters can take advantage of its flexible processing power, and its support for NDI means that radio broadcasters can easily adopt it for visual radio.

Second is an all-in-one commentary system which works for commentary from a remote location or a live commentary in a stadium. The commentator’s coordination mix and talkback are processed in the Home app backend, while a built-in audio engine provides local mixing and monitoring directly in the browser. Finally, the HOME MC² Crystal Controller enables operators to augment Lawo’s compact Crystal control surface with high resolution metering, monitoring and video feeds from one single UI in a browser on any device.

All three use Lawo’s new Workspaces, described as a human interface environment which adapts to different screen sizes, aspect ratios and orientations on desktop, laptop, tablet and phones, as well as supporting AR integration.

“There are many situations where technical and human workflows are well defined,” says Lawo Senior Director, Experience and Design, CTO Office, Henry Bourne. “It should be possible to just press a button and have an end to end solution appear and just work. Each app focuses on solving a specific problem for people who don't care about the technology and just want to do their job, while in the background the HOME platform pulls together all the technical processes and capabilities for building the relevant technical workflow.”

RTS (Booth N 2639) have promised something very exciting for revelation on the first day of the show, but they will also show their NEO Intercom Management Suite to NAB for the first time. NEO is a software ecosystem that provides multi-window and multi-screen support for faster and more flexible configuration of OMNEO-based RTS intercom systems. It can be natively installed and operated using either Windows or macOS and supports ADAM, ADAM-M, and ODIN matrices, as well as OMS from the RTS Digital Partyline family.

The NEO Intercom Management Suite is designed for intercom configuration, control, and system monitoring. Leveraging the power of Azedit, the software aims to give users new workflows for faster, more intuitive configuration and operation and boasts a range of new tools to optimize communications workflows.

Intercom Manager provides the ability to view intercom resources and assign them to any device with a drag and drop UI, while its properties manager consolidates multiple Azedit screens into a single work surface. Its Intercom Resource Search Engine finds any resource in the system quickly using the incremental search function to scour data fields such as resource types, descriptions and matrix names, and is available for local as well as all trunked resources, regardless of the size of the dynamic configuration. Meanwhile, its Keypanel Editor allows users to customize the interface by enabling or disabling interface elements to show only information that is useful to the user.

Sennheiser (Booth N 1229).  Six months ago in Amsterdam, the Sennheiser Group was also about keeping things simple as it unveiled its Spectera Wireless Multichannel Audio Systems (WMAS) technology at IBC. Claiming to be the world’s first wideband, bidirectional wireless ecosystem, Spectera features up to 64 channels (32 in/32 out) in a single 1U base station! The ecosystem enables data and audio control in a single RF carrier for all components, while bidirectional SEK bodypacks manage both IEM and mic/line signals simultaneously.

Since its launch, the company has kept the pressure on its development with the Spectera Pioneer Program. The program is aimed at giving customers the opportunity to experience Sennheiser’s Spectera technology in their day-to-day workflows, as well as generating feedback on how it can be further adapted for its users.

“Spectera is an ever-evolving ecosystem that will continuously be fine-tuned and shaped by input from our end users,” said Sennheiser co-CEO Dr Andreas Sennheiser. “While operators can familiarize themselves with the new, user-friendly workflows enabled by Spectera, we are engaging in a dialogue to collect valuable insights to further shape the ecosystem regarding devices, performance and features.”

At NAB the company will show the first fruits of its continued development, including Spectera’s 11 Audio Link modes which give users control of latency, audio quality and more for each link. Sennheiser says that while narrowband systems allow a largely fixed set of parameters, Spectera’s Audio Link modes allow operators to select the parameters required by the specific application or the situation on site. These modes apply to mics, IEMs or both, and vary in the latency, range, number of audio links, audio quality and battery runtime they provide. The modes can be chosen individually per device, and differently for the mic and the IEM on any given SEK bodypack.

Arkona (Booth N 307).  Hoping to simplify IP core infrastructures for broadcast productions, German tech developer Arkona is all about providing more control at NAB. The company has expanded its EASY-IP platform with the addition of hard panel control surfaces designed to provide a drop-in replacement for broadcasters wanting to upgrade or expand their existing SDI infrastructure and providing users with direct control of routing and processing.

First introduced at NAB 2024, the company has also enhanced its IP Audio (IPA) app, a dedicated audio mixer available on BLADE//runner, to include native integration with MakeProX, Behringer and other control surfaces utilizing the HUI MIDI communications protocol.

On-Hertz (Booth N 2351).  Also aiming to keep pace with the rapidly evolving demands of the broadcast industry, Belgium’s On-Hertz is unveiling a no-code UI builder to its Artisto audio production platform. Enabling broadcasters to create audio workflows without legacy hardware or complex integrations, the development hopes to make it easier to create user interfaces tailored to different operational needs by using drag-and-drop GUI components and no-code linking between UI elements and backend audio architecture.

Calrec (Booth N 1813).  British audio manufacturer Calrec is introducing a suite of new interconnected products and updates aiming to help broadcasters meet a variety of challenges. Expanding its flexible production model with its second-generation True Control 2.0 remote production technology, ImPulseV cloud-based DSP processing core and compact Argo M audio console, Calrec says it enables broadcasters to create more flexible workflow combinations.

Solid State Logic (Booth N 1813).  Meanwhile, Auditonix stablemate Solid State Logic is helping its broadcast customers make the most of all their audio workflows with the launch of a fully native ST 2110 card into its System T ecosystem at NAB. SSL says it not only delivers best of breed performance across ST 2110, Dante and hybrid networks, but simplifies setup and network connectivity by integrating all signals directly into the System T Tempest engine, irrespective of audio and video production workflows and without any need for conversion.

Audinate (Booth N127).  Speaking of Dante, Audinate has been busy developing its Dante SDK, Connect Edition, which the company says provides everything to integrate Dante into any cloud-based application and gives any cloud-based software access to Dante audio streams. It has also strengthened its ties with other big players in the broadcast space, with a high profile MOU with Lawo for the integration of Dante audio and video technologies into Lawo’s HOME Apps. 

Other articles in this NAB 2025 'Show Focus' series:

The Broadcast Bridge will be at the NAB Show – in the West Hall on booth W 3932. Please come and see us and share your thoughts on what we do and what you would like to see from us in the coming year.