This weekend, close to 100,000 people from around the world were expected to flock to Vegas to attend the NAB Show, the broadcast industry’s biggest annual gathering. With Vegas shut down and live events on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the show is transforming into a streaming service instead.

Starting May 13, the National Association of Broadcasters will stream live and preprogrammed content on three channels 24/7 as part of a new pop-up service called NAB Show Express. “Obviously, we would prefer to be holding our event as planned in Las Vegas next week,” said NAB senior VP of communications Ann Marie Cumming. Ultimately, it decided that a streaming service was the best way to keep its audience engaged.

The NAB is not alone in its decision: Since late February, dozens of trade shows, conferences and summits have been canceled. Some event organizers simply pulled the plug altogether, while others hastily tried to line up live streams for their registered audience. With no end in sight for social distancing, some are now looking to follow NAB’s example and launch their own microtargeted streaming services for industry insiders — services that could remain up and running even after current restrictions are relaxed.

Source: Protocol