LONDON—IBC 2021 is scheduled to go ahead as planned next month, despite the Dutch government imposing a partial lockdown in the country.
The show takes place Dec. 3-6 at the RAI in Amsterdam.
IBC confirmed it plans to stage this year’s show following an IBC Partnership Board meeting, where it was agreed to continue with the planned event as the event’s organizers believe it “can be delivered safely and create the essential business momentum that the industry needs”.
In a statement, IBC chief executive Michael Crimp said:
“As content and technology companies strive to recover from the awful impact of Covid-19, IBC2021 will be the catalyst that brings the industry together again and enables us all to get back to doing business in person.
“We recognize that attending a live event is not for everyone at this time, and we fully respect individual decisions. We will forge ahead with our IBC Digital offering to ensure that whether onsite in Amsterdam or onscreen at home the industry can come together.”
Last week the Dutch government announced a three-week partial lockdown, that currently runs until Friday Dec. 3, the first day of IBC. Restrictions will then be reviewed. Also last week, in the U.S., the CDC issued a travel advisory alert for Americans traveling to the The Netherlands, indicating "a very high level of COVID-19 in the country."
Registration
Visitors can register for the show via the IBC website. The free visitor passes provide access to the exhibition halls, content program and Showcase Theatre sessions, show floor sessions, IBC Accelerator Media sessions, and more. There are also a limited number of Visitor Plus passes that provide fast-track on-site registration, access to Visitor Plus booths, and a dedicated networking lounge.
The show has revealed that some of the high profile media companies are scheduled to attend this year’s show include Disney, Netflix, Apple, BBC, ITV, Sky, BT Sport, France Televisions, RTE, RTL, Amazon Prime, Formula One, Olympic Broadcasting Union, FIFA, UEFA, NHK, Fox, CBC, ABC, Eurosport and ARD Germany.
Exhibitor Cancellations
In September, Ross Video announced it would not be attending the show, citing concern about “predicted spikes in infection rates from the Delta variant of Covid-19. With the international travel situation continuing to be uncertain and customer appetite for a physical event in December unclear at best, we do not feel able to ask employees, partners and customers to make the trip to Amsterdam.”
Sony also confirmed it is not exhibiting at IBC this year, but is expected to attend to “meet partners and support the event.”
Here is a list of other companies that have announced that they will not have a booth at the show (as of Nov. 17):
Object Matrix
DHD.Audio
LiveU
Irdeto
Updated Nov. 18:
Xytech
Viacess-Orca
Newsbridge
Aspectra
DVB Project
SDVI
Canon (will still be listed as an exhibitor)
Updated Nov. 19:
Blackmagic Design
Grass Valley
Telestream
Synamedia
CommScope
Object Matrix
vMmix
Schoeps
Broadpeak
The IABM—an association representing its membership of broadcast manufacturers, and an IBC stakeholder—has revealed the preliminary results of a survey into market intent with regard to IBC show attendance. The results so far are that 65.7 per cent of respondents say that they will not attend the show, with only 18.9 per cent saying that they will.
TV Tech will continue to update this list when warrented.
