Nope to NAB: AJA Pulls out of NAB 2020 due to Coronavirus Fears

Gear News

by Jeff LochMarch 3^rd, 2020

Around the world, fear is growing as the Coronavirus is spreading, and AJA Video Systems has just announced that they are “withdrawing from the NAB 2020 show in Las Vegas due to the risks from the Coronavirus.” Will others follow?

Image credit: AJA Video Systems

AJA Video Systems Abandon NAB 2020 Due to Coronavirus

Coronavirus/COVID-19 epidemy is spreading all over the world, and there is a big economic impact in every industry. Stock markets have already taken a big hit some weeks ago. Closer to us, Canon just shut down five of its factories due to supply shortages caused by Coronavirus. Also, a couple of weeks ago, CP+ 2020 in Japan was canceled due to overall concerns. NAB is one of the biggest tradeshows for the video industry, and it is still up at the moment, as announced in a public statement by the National Association of Broadcasters less than two weeks ago.

However, post-production hardware manufacturer AJA Video Systems is the first company to announce that they will not exhibit at NAB 2020 in April due to Coronavirus/COVID-19. In a press release, the company states that:

It is with a heavy heart that AJA is withdrawing from the NAB 2020 show in Las Vegas due to the risks from the Coronavirus. We have made this decision out of an abundance of caution for the health and safety of our employees and partners worldwide.

While we will miss gathering with our friends and colleagues from around the world, AJA remains fully committed to transitioning all of our planned NAB events (product announcements and demos, channel partner meeting and press conference) to web-based video conferences. We have exciting product news to share, and we look forward to bringing those products to market as planned.

AJA is a community-based company with a majority of our staff, product development and manufacturing located in Grass Valley, California and in light of the risks presented by Covid-19, having a physical presence at NAB posed too great of a risk.

Despite this announcement, the cinema5D team is ready to attend NAB to cover the show in great detail with a large team as usual. We’ll only not go if the show is completely canceled, but in any case, we will find ways to report the gear news to our audience.

Do you think that not going to NAB 2020 due to Coronavirus concerns is a smart decision by AJA Video Systems? Will you attend NAB this year despite the flu? Do you think the entire world is overreacting? Let us know in the comments below!