CES Splash for NBCU, Sony
Programmer, Studio to Have Big Presence at Las Vegas Show
by Linda Moss -- Multichannel News, 11/16/2008 7:00:00 PM
New York — Content kings NBC Universal and Sony Pictures Television will be doing an encore at the International CES, returning to the huge show in January with major presences, officials said last week.
At a press preview in Manhattan, the Consumer Electronics Association announced that NBCU will return as the official broadcast partner for the 2009 International CES, which takes place in Las Vegas Jan. 8-11, while Sony Pictures Television will be back again as an exhibitor.
Last week, the CEA also projected that despite the battered economy and shattered consumer confidence, consumer-electronics sales will increase 3.5% in the fourth quarter, the holiday season.
Sales for products such as flat-panel TV sets, mobile phones and GPS systems are expected to be especially strong, according to the CEA.
The CEA also asked consumers the areas where they planned to eliminate spending, and cable fared pretty well.
For example, while 31% of survey respondents said they would stop spending on sporting goods, only 11% said they would cut cable and satellite TV service.
At the show in January NBCU will debut an interactive and multi-faceted exhibit, spotlighting the digital programming that is produced by its television, cable and motion-picture properties.
In addition, as CES’s “Official Broadcast Partner,” some NBCU networks will broadcast live from the exhibition floor.
At the press conference, George Kliavkoff, NBCU’s chief digital officer, said that NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams, Today, the syndicated Access Hollywood and CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo will all be broadcasting live from the show floor.
Also at the press conference Steve Mosko, president of Sony Pictures Television, said his company will be back with a major presence on the show floor, after its first appearance last year.
The company will showcase its wide variety of content across all platforms, and in celebration of the 25th Anniversary of Jeopardy!, SPT will film 11 episodes of Celebrity Jeopardy! on a specially built set on the CES show floor next to Sony Pictures Television’s booth.
The 2009 International CES is expecting 130,000 attendees, and will feature more than 2,700 exhibitors.
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