IBC 2021 cancelled due to impact of Covid-19 in the Netherlands

IBC has announced the cancellation of IBC 2021, the event that was to be held at the Amsterdam RAI from December 3-6.

Le GRV Board of Directors made the decision today to “prevent exhibitors and visitors from traveling to the Netherlands”. The event organizers justify the decision on the “growing concern about the COVID-19 situation in the Netherlands, which has deteriorated in the last week,” as well as on “feedback from the IBC exhibitor and visitor community.”

Although there will not be a live event, IBC is confident that it will be able to offer a quality digital experience through IBC Digital, bringing together all the latest news from the broadcast world over the four days of the event.

Drops during the last week

Numerous companies, even those that had reiterated their support for the event publicly, decided to stop participating in the main European broadcast event. One of the last companies to drop out was Conception Blackmagic, which was to occupy the largest booth in the history of IBC. The Australian company justified the decision on the latest “containment measures“, going so far as to state publicly that there is “a lot of risk and uncertainty“. The lack of concreteness in the message alluded to a reality: among exhibitors there were doubts not only about the health context of the event, but also about its economic viability. In fact, according to an IABM survey, only 18.9% of the event’s regular professionals were planning to attend the fair. Other companies that confirmed they would not be visiting Amsterdam this year were Telestream, Xytech, Viaccess-Orca, LiveU, Canon, Irdeto, Vislink, DVB, Actus Digital et Mediakind.

In the face of a trickle of exhibitor cancellations, IBC organizers remained optimistic about the event (at least in terms of their communications). Since announcing that the show would go ahead despite the restrictions imposed by the Dutch government, IBC continued to share its schedule and various publications from the few companies that continued to support the event.

A complex health situation in the Netherlands

The Netherlands is experiencing one of the most complex times with regard to Covid-19. The country continues to break its infection records every day, with a figure currently standing at 21,000 new cases per day. This situation is causing unprecedented hospital overcrowding in the country, with ICU saturation growing by the hour and the consequent cancellation and postponement of cancer and heart surgeries by the National Institute of Health (RIVM).

Faced with this situation, the acting Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, has announced new containment measures, such as the reestablishment of social distance, the recovery of teleworking, the closure of non-essential businesses at 18:00, the closure of hotels and supermarkets at 20:00 or the requirement of the COVID pass for terraces, museums, swimming pools, gyms, hotels, nightlife and musical and cultural events.

These measures, scheduled until December 4, directly interfered with GRV.