The West Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center was one of NAB Show 2025's hot spots. (Media Play News staff photo)
NAB Show 2025 Comes to an End After a Tumultuous Week in the Markets
April 9, 2025
LAS VEGAS — The 2025 NAB Show concluded its four-day run April 9 amid a chaotic economy and a push for AI as an enabler rather than a replacement for creativity.
A highlight of the event was the two-day Streaming Summit, in which streaming expert (and summit chair) Dan Rayburn warned of “hard times” and predicted more layoffs on top of the estimated 10,000 people in streaming who have already lost their jobs in the first quarter of this year.
“Unfortunately, we are not out of the woods at all from an economic standpoint, as anyone who sees what went on last week in the market alone very obviously knows,” Rayburn said.
This year’s NAB Show attracted 55,000 registered attendees from 160 countries, along with nearly 1,100 global exhibitors, including 125 first-timers. About 26% of attendees came from outside the United States, and 53% of participants registered for the first time.
“The 2025 NAB Show truly exemplified the vibrant evolution of media and entertainment, debuting tools and technologies for all storytellers,” said Karen Chupka, the NAB Show’s EVP. “This year’s show provided a global platform for innovation, diverse voices, and forward-thinking conversations that will shape the future of storytelling and empower everyone to become a content creator.”
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“NAB Show 2025 was an incredible opportunity to connect with industry peers,” said Welby Chen, the newly appointed CEO of Whip Media, an enterprise software platform and data provider to some of the world’s largest entertainment organizations.
“This is our Super Bowl,” said David Ross, CEO of Ross Video, a 2025 NAB Show exhibitor. “You’ve got to come to NAB — it’s the biggest trade show in our industry. This is our chance to show the full breadth of our portfolio to all our customers.”
AI certainly enjoyed its moment in the spotlight, but practical applications were on top of everyone’s mind, just as they were three months earlier at CES 2025.
At the Streaming Summit, there was no longer a separate track for AI, as there was last year. “We don’t have that track this year,” Rayburn said. “Why is that? Because a lot of vendors in the space finally realized AI is not something they’re selling. AI is not a technology. AI adds logic and intelligence to a larger platform, stack, workflow of some kind. You’re not selling AI.”
“Not surprisingly, AI dominated the conversation — but what really stood out was how much noise there is in the space,” Whip Media’s Chen said. “It was great to see how our deep roots in content licensing and supply chain resonate right now. More and more companies are realizing that AI isn’t something you can just layer on top of legacy systems — it needs a solid foundation and the right partners to make a real impact.”
NAB Show once again brought together a broad spectrum of thought leaders, including representatives from major corporations such as The Walt Disney Co., NBC Universal, TikTok and YouTube. The show had more than 550 conference sessions and over 1,000 speakers.