NCTA Takes Wraps Off 'The Near Future'

Confirming a report in Multichannel News, NCTA: The Internet & Television Association said in a blog post Thursday that it will be hosting an event April 27 in Washington, D.C.

NCTA signaled in September it would be doing something in D.C. after canceling its annual INTX trade show, which had been scheduled for April in Washington.

The half-day event is dubbed "The Near Future," an invitation-only conference that will bring together "top influencers in technology, policy, and media who will reveal how even the most fantastic visions of the future are closer than you think."

It's futurist approach to new tech is billed as looking at next-gen tech "in an entirely new way, by exploring how four pillars of human-technology interactivity – the way we live, work, learn, and play – are being reimagined," the association said in the blog.

The event follows a day after the Cable Hall of Fame induction in D.C. and will be produced in partnership with CableLabs and feature "demonstrations, interviews, and conversations," as well as "hands-on" demos of future tech.

CableLabs last month cancelled its 2018 annual winter conference.

"Contemporary venues emphasize conversation, dialog, and more intimate opportunities to explore and interact with technology," NCTA president Michael Powell blogged when INTX was cancelled. "Ending INTX gives us a clean slate and we are excited to explore presenting our industry in new and different ways."

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.