Thursday, April 11, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
Big names in the television and radio industry converge on Las Vegas Saturday for the National Association of Broadcasters 1996 convention.
Rupert Murdoch, chairman and CEO of News Corp. Ltd. and the owner of the Fox Television Network, will address the opening session Monday at 9 a.m.
At the same event, Charles Kuralt, longtime CBS correspondent and host of "Sunday Morning" who retired in 1994, will receive the 1996 Distinguished Service Award. The award is the industry's top honor, designed to recognize a broadcaster who has made a significant and lasting contribution to the industry.
Vice President Al Gore is scheduled to address the Television Bureau of Advertising's annual marketing conference Tuesday at 10 a.m. at the Las Vegas Hilton. The association is meeting in conjunction with the NAB show.
TVB spokesman Robert Romano said Gore has been asked to speak on the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
The law, the first overhaul of telecommunications laws since their inception in 1934, relaxes rules governing the television, telephone and home computer industries.
The new law and its effects will be addressed in a number of seminars including one attended by the Federal Communications Commission members and Chairman Reed Hundt.
Attendance for this year's show will be around 90,000, up from the 83,408 who attended last year's show, said Patti McNeill, director of media relations for the NAB.
She attributes the increased attendance to more exhibits at the show. The 1995 show took up 550,000 square feet in the Las Vegas Convention Center and Las Vegas Hilton. This year's show covers 650,000 square feet and has expanded to include the Sands Expo and Convention Center.
"And we are offering a lot of new programs which we think will be of interest to the broadcasting industry," she added.
The number of exhibitors is up from 992 last year to more than 1,088 expected for this year's show.
The show kicks off Saturday with special conferences addressing different areas in the broadcasting industry including broadcast engineering, teleproduction, radio management, financial management and law and regulation.
Honors will be bestowed on the television show, "MASH," one of the most successful series in the history of the industry, which will be this year's television inductee into the Broadcasting Hall of Fame.
Series producers, writers and cast members will be at the ceremony, which takes place at Monday's luncheon. Scheduled to accept the award for the show are Mike Farrell, Jamie Farr and Loretta Swit.
The keynote speaker will be Robert Wright, president and CEO of NBC, who will speak about broadcasters' roles in the future communications marketplace.
Don Imus, host of the nationally syndicated "Imus In The Morning" radio talk show, will be this year's radio inductee into the Broadcasting Hall of Fame. The induction will take place following the Tuesday radio luncheon.
The keynote speech at Tuesday's luncheon will be delivered by Charles Osgood of CBS Radio's daily "The Osgood File" and "CBS News Sunday Morning."
The fastest growing segment of the broadcasting industry is multimedia, the convergence of video, audio, graphics and animation. The multimedia exhibits and seminars will be conducted at the Sands Expo and Convention Center and will feature more than 150 manufacturers and suppliers in addition to nearly 25 seminars.
Digital technology also will be prominently featured as well as high-definition television. KLAS Channel 8, in conjunction with Westinghouse, will do a live demonstration of high-definition television transmission using what's expected to be the new standard in the industry, McNeill said.
The convention is open to members of the broadcasting industry only.
However, a career fair Sunday is open to anyone interested in the industry, and persons can attend at no charge at the convention center.
The fair runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Rooms N245 and N247. Exhibitors will include Walt Disney/CapCities/ABC, Viacom Radio, Post-Newsweek Stations Inc., and Tribune Broadcasting Co.
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