With the 2012 NAB Show attendance rising back to pre-recession levels, we had the opportunity to speak with many attendees about their views of the show and the health of the industry.

Role Reversals

We knew that media companies are leaning heavily on their Finance departments. What we didn't realize was that Finance departments (as ROI analysts) are now managing the purchases for new software and equipment. Technical departments and Chief Engineers are less and less involved the final decisions on new products and services.

Business Intelligence

Forecasting and planning have always been essential to business health, and we learned that more and more media companies are embracing the idea (and investing in) business intelligence tools. Staying competitive requires decision-makers to quickly view the state of the company, analyze risks then make informed decisions. If you can implement a company-wide system that tracks trends, monitors ROI and sends projections automatically, you will be able to move the business faster with the peace of mind that you can better monitor and forecast with accuracy.

Up Economy?

Many people we spoke with at the show commented that there were more exhibitors this year than in the last 4 years. When doing the numbers, there were 44 more exhibitors (mostly exhibiting in smaller sized booths) in 2012 than in 2011. Despite the recession, exhibitor attendance was higher between 2008 and 2010, and then dipped significantly in 2011 before recovering again in 2012.

Many also said that they felt show attendance was down from last year. The numbers given by the NAB indicate that show registrations have been modestly increasing since the worst of the recession:

Year	Exhibitor Attendance		Show Attendees
2012	1,575	+2.8%	92,112	+0.2%
2011	1,531	-11.0%	91,932	+4.2%
2010	1,700	+1.8%	88,044	+4.8%
2009	1,670	+4.4%	83,842	-25.6%
Recession Hits
2008	1,600	0.0%	105,259	-5.5%

Workflow Evolution

For the last few years, the industry buzz has been around the concept of workflow to help media companies connect and automate back-office processes. We have noticed that many vendors selling workflow solutions have focused only on connecting their own hardware and/or software products  which only addresses the solution to a single problem.

The NAB Show still offered a few workflow "best practices" seminars that focused on one type of workflow (i.e. multi-camera live video and analysis workflow), but many of the attendees we spoke with said that they specifically were looking for an end-to-end workflow solution, and not a manage within each "silo" workflow approach. Thankfully, a few exhibitors this year spoke about broader reaching workflow solutions, including StorerTV!

Click for 5 Must See Workflow Examples for Media Companies >>

The problem we had discovered about workflow is that it can mean something different to each person. Many don't realize the potential of what a proper workflow engine can do. People are faced with a particular problem, and seek the solution for that problem. But an end-to-end workflow goes beyond a single solution  it is a business system  a means to connect, automate and manage each and every process within an organization. This idea is slowly being adopted by the industry, and we fully expect this idea to flourish in the next 2 years, as more media companies become aware of more workflow possibilities.

Software Stays King

Though many NAB Show exhibitors offer hardware systems, cameras, lighting, rigging, etc., we found that the dominant product being shown was software systems. As media companies evolve, they rely on their key hardware components to produce and store content, while their key software is used to edit, archive, distribute, manage, play, report and bill the acquired or produced content.

Many new software systems being promoted at the show were designed to help broadcasters and producers "monetize content". One such software was from our UK-based partner, Rights Tracker. As first time exhibitors, they were kept pretty busy showing their web-based rights management software.

Overall...

No one can deny that the industry is evolving. Today, broadcasters must do more with less  they need fast information about how their content is handled, and what the costs are. They need smarter systems that automate processes and alert them when problems arise. The industry is changing with the needs of on-demand viewing which opens up new opportunity to broadcast over multiple platforms. How will the industry keep up with the insatiable demand for content while increasing revenue? These are problems that have solutions, and it is up to the industry as a whole to embrace them and take the television experience to the next level.