NAB 2026: The year legacy media has to admit the model isn’t working

For legacy ad-supported media providers, there’s quiet storm brewing out there and it is showing no signs of diminishing anytime soon.  We all know it’s there, even though it is not the first topic in the board deck or on the earnings call.  The business is not broken, but the trajectory is clearly heading in the wrong direction. 

2026 more than any other year at NAB should be the moment of realization for traditional media:  “We can’t keep doing this the same way.”

Digital competitors continue to outpace legacy media in targeting capabilities, automation, and accountability. New digital entrants don’t carry legacy workflows, technological and legal restrictions.  Add to that the fact that, increasingly, the “audience” you’re trying to reach isn’t just human. It’s AI interpreting, filtering, and deciding what gets seen. The only real antidote to extend the life and protect any shot at growth for legacy media is change. But no change will solve the problem unless you’re ready to actually commit to it.

At this year’s NAB, we’ll see a lot of innovation. New platforms. New capabilities. New promises.

All of it potentially valuable, but none of it matters unless it connects to a more fundamental shift:

How your business actually operates.

Because the companies that are finding growth right now aren’t just adopting new tools.

They’re making intentional, game-changing decisions about:

• How inventory is allocated, packaged, and sold and by whom

• How data flows across the organization and to clients in real time

• How sales, operations, and product work as a unified system

• Where AI and automation is embedded into daily execution, not just tested on the side

Sure, we’ll be looking at technology at NAB, but here’s the part that’s easy to underestimate:

These are strategic leadership decisions, not technology decisions.

They first require clarity on what the future model looks like, and the willingness to align the organization around that vision before tools are evaluated, selected, and implemented. 

Done right, this isn’t disruptive chaos. It’s part of a coordinated evolution. Done halfway, it’s expensive noise.

At NMP, we work with media companies every day at exactly this stage, the moment where the decision to evolve has been made, and the question becomes how to translate that into a clear path forward across strategy, technology, and organizational transformation.

If you’re heading to NAB and thinking about what comes next, not just what’s new, you’re in good company.

We’ll be in Las Vegas April 19–22.

If you’re interested in a real conversation (not a booth pitch) about what it takes to make this work, we’d welcome the discussion.

— Gerard Kunkel & Chris Faw