A little over a week before the planned start of IBC 2021, the in-person event has been canceled after host country the Netherlands announced a three-week partial lockdown due to an uptick in COVID-19 cases. The lockdown is scheduled to be reviewed on Dec. 3, the date that the International Broadcasting Convention was slated to begin at the RAI Convention Center in Amsterdam.
On Tuesday, Nov. 23, the IBC announced via a statement posted online that it was cancelling this year’s in-person convention amid “growing concerns about the COVID–19 situation in the Netherlands, which has deteriorated over the past week, and feedback from the IBC exhibitor and visitor community.”
IBC said its board made the decision to keep exhibitors and visitors from traveling to the Netherlands. Instead IBC said it would focus on bringing people together via IBC Digital.
The 2019 IBC conference and exhibition attracted an estimated 56,000 attendees and 1,700 exhibitors, though this year’s event was expected to be far smaller, with companies such as Avid and Sony having made the decision not to exhibit due to the pandemic.
Due to COVID, the event had moved from its typical window in September to early December. IBC 2020 had also been cancelled due to coronavirus.
IBC is owned by six industry organizations including the Royal Television Society, Society for Broadband Professionals, and Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. The 2022 IBC convention is slated to be held Sept. 9-13.
