CES 2025 was packed this year. Audit proves it.

If you attended CES 2025 in Las Vegas in early January, then you already know that the annual technology conference was crazy crowded. Now, an independent audit proves it.
The show ran Jan. 7 to 10 after two days of preshow events for journalists. The conference drew 142,465 participants from across the globe, show owner Consumer Technology Association announced Thursday in a press release.
That’s an increase of 2.7% from last year’s CES. But it’s down from the show’s peak of 184,279 in 2017.
CES has been steadily climbing in attendance since the Covid pandemic canceled the 2021 in-person show and shortened the 2022 show.
The Consumer Technology Association is focused on the quality of the show attendees, not the quantity. It noted increases in attendance from senior-level executives, investors and media.
CES 2025 included more than 4,500 exhibitors, up from 4,312 last year. The show floor covered 2.5 million net square of exhibit space, on par with the 2024 show.
CES 2025 also drew 6,582 members of the news media. That’s back above pre-pandemic levels.
CES will return to Las Vegas Jan. 6-9, 2026. The conference is still referred to by many as the Consumer Electronics Show, even though it dropped that name more than 20 years ago. (I can’t find the exact year. Even those vaunted AI chatbots couldn’t help. The show organizer changed its name to the Consumer Technology Association from the Consumer Electronics Association later, in 2015, though.)

Related articles:

CES 2025 news in review: AI, robots, smart glasses, smart rings and more (Jan. 31, 2025)

Celebrities at CES 2025: Anthony Mackie, Karlie Kloss, Sophia Bush, Will.i.am and more (Jan. 25, 2025)

CES 2025: Aye yai yai, AI! (Jan. 25, 2025)

Photo: CES 2025 signage outside the Las Vegas Convention Center. (Patrick Seitz)

How soon before CES haters try to derail the show with unfounded Covid fears?

Registration for CES 2023 began on Sept. 13, starting the countdown to one of the world’s largest technology conferences. The show is scheduled to run Jan. 5-8 in Las Vegas, with preshow media events starting on Jan. 3.
The 2022 show went ahead despite calls from a small but vocal group of perpetual CES haters on Twitter who demanded that it be canceled because of the omicron wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Organizers ended up shortening CES 2022 by a day but kept the in-person event. The previous year’s show was an all-digital affair because of the pandemic.
While CES malcontents and fearmongers couldn’t get the 2022 show canceled, they did convince numerous major companies not to exhibit, leading to a much smaller conference.
With Covid infections likely to pick up in the winter, the CES haters probably will resume their calls to cancel or boycott the show.
But Covid is less of a concern now, given the widespread acceptance of Covid vaccinations, which boost the immune system and lessen the severity of the illness.
Also, many other large conferences have gone on without problems this year. So, the world is back to business as usual.
On Sept. 14, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said that the end of the pandemic was finally near. “We are not there yet, but the end is in sight,” he said.
U.S. President Joe Biden went a step further. “The pandemic is over,” he told CBS’ “60 Minutes.” (See article by CNN.)
At CES 2022, attendees were required to be vaccinated and wear a mask, among other precautions. Despite some anecdotal reports of people coming down with Covid during the show, the disease was not a problem at CES 2022.
“We had very few cases reported directly to us,” Jamie Kaplan, vice president of communications at the Consumer Technology Association, owner of CES, told me Sept. 16.
“We had very good survey results coming out of the show,” she said. “Attendees said they were satisfied with the health and safety measures.”
The current plans for CES 2023 include no health mandates for attendees, she said. Instead, attendees will be strongly encouraged to get vaxxed and boosted for Covid and get a flu shot. Masks also will be optional, she said.
The Consumer Technology Association currently is forecasting over 100,000 attendees for CES 2023. That compares with 44,400 at the 2022 show. It also expects over 2,000 exhibitors, which would be close to the prior year’s 2,279 exhibitors.
“The industry wants to move forward,” Kaplan said. “Brands are looking to make big announcements at the show.”

Photos: Scenes from CES 2022. (Consumer Technology Association)

Newest physical halls of fame open for sailing, baking, comic-book characters

With the world finally opening after the Covid-19 pandemic, so too are museums. That includes those with halls of fame.
On May 10, the Sailing Museum opened its doors in downtown Newport, Rhode Island. The pandemic had delayed the opening. The museum contains the National Sailing Hall of Fame and the America’s Cup Hall of Fame.
The previous week, on May 6, the Comic-Con Museum officially opened in San Diego’s Balboa Park. The museum had its soft opening starting in late November. It celebrates the fantastic worlds of comic books, movies, TV shows and more.
One exhibit area is the Comic-Con Museum Character Hall Of Fame. This year’s inductee is Spider-Man. The superhero joins previous inductees Batman, Pac-Man and Wonder Woman.
In late 2020, the Bundy Baking Museum in Urbana, Ohio, became the new home for the American Society of Baking’s Baking Hall of Fame. The Bundy Baking Museum is located at the Bundy Baking Solutions headquarters. However, the museum is open only to baking industry professionals by appointment.
The number of physical halls of fame for professions, passions and pursuits in North America now totals 487. (Check out this Google Map for a comprehensive list of physical halls of fame.)
Other physical halls of fame are in the works.
The National Native American Hall of Fame plans to open at exhibit at the First Americans Museum in Oklahoma City, Okla. It is due to open in November.
The American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame is scheduled to open in April 2023 in High Point, N.C. The hall will serve as a showcase for the home furnishings industry and will include exhibits and memorabilia.

Related articles:

Newest physical hall of fame is devoted to monster trucks (July 18, 2021)

New physical halls of fame in the works for home furnishings, sailing, opera and more (Nov. 22, 2020)

Supply Chain Hall of Fame is the nation’s newest physical hall of fame (Oct. 26, 2020)

Latest physical hall of fame is for U.S. Olympians (Aug. 2, 2020)

Physical halls of fame on the way for U.S. Olympic athletes, Illinois rockers, more (Feb. 22, 2020)

Photos: The Sailing Museum (top) and Comic-Con Museum Character Hall Of Fame event for Spider-Man.

Ready or not, the conference industry is returning post-Covid

After being shut down for about two years because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the in-person conference industry appears to be coming back.
After a two-year absence, the National Association of Broadcasters held its NAB Show in Las Vegas April 23-27. The 2022 show attracted more than 900 exhibitors and 52,468 attendees. The NAB Show is the world’s largest annual convention for broadcasters and the broader media, entertainment, and technology industries.
The biennial MODEX manufacturing and supply chain conference drew 857 exhibitors and 37,047 visitors to Atlanta’s Georgia World Congress Center March 28-31. It was the largest MODEX show ever, with 20% more visitors than the last pre-pandemic show – MODEX 2018.
The MODEX show is sponsored by MHI, an international trade association that represents the material handling, logistics and supply chain industry. MODEX is held every other year, alternating each year with the ProMat trade show.
Many other U.S. conferences are scheduled for physical shows soon. They include the Robotics Summit & Expo in Boston on May 10-11; the Sweets & Snacks Expo in Chicago from May 23-26, L.A TV Week in Los Angeles from June 6-8; the Automate conference in Detroit from June 6-9; and Sensors Converge in San Jose, Calif., from June 27-29. Those are just a few that I’ve been pinged about.
Some tech companies I follow are hesitant to go back to in-person shows just yet.
Apple is holding its annual Worldwide Developers Conference as an online event for the third straight year.
Google’s annual developer conference, Google I/O, will take place online May 11 and 12. Google I/O was canceled in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and returned as an online event in 2021.
However, other tech companies are going forward with in-person events that also will be livestreamed for people who can’t or don’t want to travel to a physical show.
Dell is holding its Dell Technologies World conference in Las Vegas May 2-5. Intel has scheduled its Intel Vision conference for May 10-11 at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas.

Related reading:

After two years of Covid, live events are finally happening again (Tech-media-tainment; Feb. 13, 2022)

Photo: Officials cut a ceremonial ribbon to open the NAB 2022 trade show in Las Vegas. (NAB)

Watching the slow death of DVD

A little over 25 years after its introduction, the DVD is in its end-of-life-phase. The ease of on-demand video streaming has been pounding nails in DVD’s coffin for years. But the digital video disc and its high-definition successor, Blu-ray Disc, have been holding on.
However, the signs of its demise are easy to spot. From retailers shrinking shelf space for video discs to fewer movies being released on the physical format, you can almost see the obituary for the DVD being written.
Last year, revenue from physical video media fell 20% to $2.8 billion in the U.S. Meanwhile, revenue from digital video services rose 11% to $29.5 billion, according to the Motion Picture Association.
Physical sales have been on a slow, steady decline. In 2014, for instance, disc revenue totaled $10.3 billion in the U.S., the MPA said.
Netflix continues to run a DVD-by-mail service in the U.S., but it has been shrinking along with the overall physical media business.
In the first quarter, Netflix’s DVD revenue fell 20% year over year to $39.8 million.
While Netflix still has a better movie selection than any single subscription video-on-demand service, its catalog has been diminished as older films go out of print and new ones are never put on disc to begin with.
My Netflix DVD queue now has 47 discs in it. But my “saved” queue of movies not presently available on the service is up to 65 titles. Many of those may never be released or are permanently out of print.
My “saved” list would be even longer if I didn’t occasionally remove titles that got to see via HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, and other services.
And my “saved” queue only includes movies that Netflix has indexed on its website. There are dozens more movies I’ve searched for on the service but just aren’t listed. I keep a list of those movies in my “want-to-see” movies list at tracking service Reelgood.
Elsewhere, Redbox, operator of DVD-rental kiosks, says its business has been hurt by fewer new movies being released on disc. It blamed the lingering Covid pandemic for a smaller number of theatrical releases.
Redbox said it released just 57 new DVD rental titles in 2021, compared with 68 in 2020 and 140 movies in 2019.
Are the bells tolling for DVDs?

Photos: Netflix DVDs (top) and Redbox kiosk.

After two years of Covid, live events are finally happening again

With the omicron wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in the rear-view mirror, people are ready to get out and attend live events again. That includes sporting events, concerts, conferences, and other activities.
In the U.S. at least, the public has been educated and has access to vaccines. Whether they choose to believe the experts and get vaxxed is up to them. The benefits and risks are well known at this point.
Government mandates and masking requirements have become politically unpopular after two years of the pandemic. People just want to get on with their lives unfettered by rules set by hypocritical politicians.
With serious illnesses and deaths from Covid limited to the unvaccinated, people are ready to treat the virus like they do the annual flu.
Live music venues near me, such as Capital One Arena, Jiffy Lube Live and the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, have a full slate of summer concerts planned.
Even music festival Coachella will be back after a two-year absence this April in Indio, California.
We’re likely to see an end to events being canceled or rescheduled because of the Covid pandemic.
The CES 2022 consumer electronics show went ahead with a live conference in Las Vegas in early January amid much hand-wringing about the omicron wave. But the show didn’t turn out to be the Covid superspreader event that many feared. (Attendees had to be vaxxed and masked.)
The Chicago Auto Show, the nation’s largest and longest-running auto show, opened Saturday Feb. 12 and will run through Monday Feb. 21.
Live conferences coming up include the SXSW conference, aka South by Southwest, in Austin, Texas, March 11-20. The last two in-person SXSW shows were canceled because of Covid.
Disney is holding its D23 Expo, called “the Ultimate Disney Fan Event,” in Anaheim, Calif., Sept. 9-11 after a two-year absence because of the pandemic.
Two awards shows delayed because of the omicron wave are coming up as well.
The Critics Choice Awards will be held March 13 after being pushed back from its original Jan. 9 date.
The Grammy Awards will be held on April 3 in Las Vegas after being postponed from the original Jan. 31 date in Los Angeles.

Photo: Covid pandemic word cloud by EpicTop10.com via Creative Commons.

Dude with Sign, Cats of Disneyland, and other interesting websites

Some clever folks have made names for themselves with shticks they perform on social media.

Dude with Sign

For starters, there’s Dude with Sign. Seth Phillips started an Instagram account with photos showing him holding pretend protest signs. (See article by Washingtonian magazine.)

Emily’sTikTok.edu

Emily Zugay earned fame for her hilarious TikTok videos where she does terrible redesigns of corporate and product logos. She pretends she’s using her college design education to improve the logos of corporations and brands. (See articles by PRWeek, AdAge and UW-Stout.)

Jake Thumbs Up Emoji

Another TikTok user, Jakie62, does videos where he figures out when globes were designed based upon historical map changes. (See article by Laughing Squid.)

What follows are some other interesting websites.

Cats of Disneyland

There’s a niche Instagram account that posts photos of the feral cats that roam Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif. It is called Cats of Disneyland. (See article by Insider.)

Nineteenth century videos. Back to life.

A YouTube site called “Nineteenth century videos. Back to life” posts cleaned-up and colorized newsreel footage from the early 1900s and late 19th century. It includes film from the Titanic before its doomed voyage in 1912 and from the 1918 influenza pandemic. (See article by BGR.)

Public Domain Review

Readers of this website know that I’m a big supporter of the public domain and reasonable copyright laws. A good resource is the Public Domain Review.
Founded in 2011, The Public Domain Review is an online journal and not-for-profit project dedicated to exploring works of literature and art that have gone off copyright and are now in the public domain.
Every year it publicizes new works that have entered the public domain. Works entering the public domain in 2022 included A.A. Milne’s “Winnie-the-Pooh,” Ernest Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises” and Agatha Christie’s “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.”

SorryAntivaxxer

The website SorryAntivaxxer documents the many antivaxxers who have spread misinformation about the Covid-19 pandemic and then died of the disease. Spoiler alert: there are many. (See article by the Los Angeles Times.)

Covid-inspired apocalypse movies populating Amazon Prime Video

Amazon Prime Video is a dumping ground for numerous crappy low-budget movies. That includes the post-apocalyptic genre that I closely follow.
In my most recent review of movies on the service, I counted nine exploitation films that seem to have been inspired by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
They include “Before the Fire,” “Covid-21: Lethal Virus,” “2025 – The World Enslaved by a Virus,” “American Apocalypse,” “Fear,” “Lockdown: 2025,” “Armageddon Tales,” “Infected: The Darkest Day” and “Positive Apocalypse.”
In four articles between November 2019 and July 2020, I documented 117 low-budget independent and foreign films in the post-apocalyptic genre on Amazon Prime. Most of these movies were poorly reviewed on Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb, if they even merited reviews.
What follows are 46 more such post-apocalyptic movies on the service. They bring my total to 163 movies.

In the Year 2889 (1967)
Robot Holocaust (1987)
Ice (2000)
Steve Niles’ Remains (2011)
Ridge War Z (2013)
Collapse (2014)
Doomsday (2015)
Plan Z (2016)
Merrick (2017; France)
Beneath The Eyes Of God (2018)
Dystopia (2018)
Post Apocalyptic Commando Shark (2018)
Republic Z (2018; Russia)
Shangri-La: Near Extinction (2018)
Carroña (2019; Argentina)
Redcon-1 (2019)
Solar Impact (2019)
Transit 17 (2019)
A Feral World (2020)
After The End (2020)
Atomic Apocalypse (2020)
Before the Fire (2020)
By Day’s End (2020)
Deadlocked (2020)
Edge of Extinction (2020)
Girl With No Mouth (2020)
Go/Don’t Go (2020)
The Last Hope (2020)
The Wylds (2020)
When the Fever Breaks (2020)
2025 – The World Enslaved by a Virus (2021)
American Apocalypse (2021)
Armageddon Tales (2021)
Covid-21: Lethal Virus (2021; Spain)
Dead Life: Wormwood’s End (2021)
Deus Vult: God Wills It (2021)
Exodus (2021)
Fear (2021)
Infected (2021), aka Infected: The Darkest Day
Lockdown: 2025 (2021)
Nebulous Dark (2021)
Once Upon a Time in the Apocalypse (2021)
Positive Apocalypse (2021)
Survive (2021)
Unit Eleven (2021)
Zone Drifter (2021)

Photo: Movie poster for “Covid-21: Lethal Virus” (2021).

Was CES 2022 the Covid superspreader event that some feared?

Before the CES 2022 tech conference opened in Las Vegas, there was much hand-wringing and worrying in some corners that it would be a superspreader event for Covid-19, given the surge in infections from the omicron variant. Were those fears valid?
On Wednesday, Reuters reported that about 70 members of the South Korean delegation to CES 2022 had tested positive for Covid after attending the show. They included employees from Samsung and Hyundai.
CES provided PCR tests to international attendees before their flights home. The Consumer Technology Association, which produces CES, would not say what percentage of those tests came back positive for Covid.
“We are currently auditing data and will have more information in the coming weeks,” said Jeanne Abella, senior coordinator of event communications for the Consumer Technology Association.
CES 2022 was the first big industry conference in the U.S. this year. As such, it was viewed as a test case for the conference industry and whether such shows could be managed safely during the ongoing pandemic.
CES 2022, which officially ran Jan. 5-7, took a host of health and safety precautions to prevent the spread of Covid at the show. Those precautions included requiring attendees to provide proof of full vaccination and to wear masks while indoors at the show.
CES 2022 drew “well over 45,000 attendees in person, including 1,800 global media,” the CTA said on Jan. 7.
There’s not enough information yet to discern whether CES 2022 was a superspreader event.
Anecdotal reports on Twitter indicate that more than a few people came down with Covid after attending CES 2022.

Great job! My boyfriend now has Covid from your convention you senseless profiteering people

— 12345 (@shoommie852) January 10, 2022

Great job, CES, you put small companies in a terrible situation by not canceling! My daughter and her boss brought Covid back from your show with a 70% reduction in attendance, you have no shame. I've been in the tech business for 30+ years and I'm furious with you for your greed

— Speed Mequeen Bruce A Smith (@Bsmithmia) January 9, 2022

Have to cancel as well as I caught Covid at CES and now I am stuck in Vegas. 😅

— Sven Naef (@svennf_) January 11, 2022

UPDATE CES 2022: Several members of my team now have Covid after working at CES 2022 in unsafe conditions without social distancing and around attendees with out masks! @GaryShapiro you are responsible, you promised safe working conditions and you failed! @CTATech @CES @CES2022

— Farilla (@Farilla2) January 11, 2022

I made it 2 years but COVID got my ass

watch your back my friends #CES2022 pic.twitter.com/5IW6r4mtXZ

— Taylor (@TaylorWebbIRL) January 9, 2022

Also of note Omicron is running wild. The line to pickup the free covid tests kits in the customer service area was much longer than it had been on #CES2022 days 1 & 2. One of our team tested positive & pretty much expect this event to be a super spreader.

— RDM (@RDM702) January 7, 2022

#CES2022 attendees, pls get/use your free #COVID self test kit. I used one as soon as I got home and it came out positive. Getting a PCR test tmr to make sure. (I tested negative last Sunday before entering the CES venue, and test negative again on Thursday morning) pic.twitter.com/cb86bG4yyp

— Yifan Yu (@YifanYuNews) January 8, 2022

I’ve been feeling sick all weekend, and I’m not sure if it’s covid or exhaustion from working CES…and the earliest test I can find is a week from today :)

— zach (@__zach) January 9, 2022

Everyone I know that went to #CES in vegas who were vaxxed that got covid, either had no symptoms or very little.

— Dan Landis (@DanLandis14) January 12, 2022

Due to the nature of business I had to go to CES. I was using n95 masks, I obsessively washed my hands, I passed out purell hand sanitizer at CES. I am double vaxed and boosted. Honestly would have been shocked if I hadn't tested positive for COVID-19 today.

— Blaze 🔜 CES (@blazecollie) January 13, 2022

Several friends got Covid during CES — take care out there.

— Kenson (@rikognition) January 16, 2022

I'm not shocked. I took every friggin precaution possible at CES and my happy-ass STILL caught COVID; you might be able to control variables at the event itself, but you can't control the external stuff. Godspeed friends, here's to health and the eventual return of LTX! 🤙🏼🍻

— The Manic Geek Just Wants Peace (@TheManicGeek) January 20, 2022

Photo: Ameca, a humanoid robot from British firm Engineered Arts, converses with CES 2022 attendees. (CES)

CES 2022 news in review: Digital health, augmented reality glasses, the metaverse

The following is a roundup of my coverage of the hybrid CES 2022 technology trade show.

Will 2022 be the year of augmented reality glasses? (Jan. 7, 2022)

How digital health firms are innovating far beyond your wrist. (Jan. 6, 2022)

Sony drives into electric car market at CES 2022. (Jan. 5, 2022)

AMD, Nvidia, Intel, Qualcomm tout chip advances at CES 2022. (Jan. 4, 2022)

Metaverse hype permeates CES 2022 tech show. (Jan. 4, 2022)

CES 2022: Electric vehicles, digital health, metaverse in focus. (Dec. 30, 2021)

In-person CES show will go on despite Covid surge, exhibitor dropouts. (Dec. 27, 2021)

Photo: CES 2022 arch at Las Vegas Convention Center. (CES)

I wish I were going to CES 2022 in Las Vegas, just to see how it turns out

With so many large tech companies pulling out of the in-person CES 2022 conference because of the Covid pandemic, I had no choice but to cancel my trip to the show. After all, I cover publicly traded consumer technology companies for Investor’s Business Daily.
Still, I wish I were going to Las Vegas next week just to see how the physical CES 2022 show turns out. Because right now, the main halls of the convention centers look like they’ll be pretty empty.
Some tech press are predicting a train wreck of an event. And as someone who went to the poorly attended last Comdex show in Las Vegas in 2003, I’d be a good person to make a judgment on that.

CES pullouts make the press look cowardly

Most large tech media organizations have said they will not attend the in-person CES 2022 and plan on covering the show remotely. They include CNET, Engadget, the Verge, TechCrunch, IGN and TechRadar.
I think that’s a mistake. As some pundits have noted, journalists have covered wars and natural disasters but here they won’t cover a tech conference that has health and safety protocols to prevent the spread of Covid. That’s not a good look for the Fourth Estate.
Without boots on the ground in Las Vegas, they won’t be in a position to assess for themselves how the in-person show went.

CES 2022 could be a boon for startups, small firms

Many hundreds of companies are still exhibiting at CES 2022 despite concerns about the more-contagious omicron strain of Covid-19. These are mostly smaller companies looking to drum up business and get media exposure. Show organizers say over 2,200 companies are confirmed to exhibit in person at CES 2022.
What tech media do show up to CES 2022 will have no shortage of interesting companies and products to write about, especially at Eureka Park, home to numerous startups.
At a typical CES, big, well-known companies tend to suck up all the oxygen. They get the lion’s share of media coverage at the annual show. At next week’s physical show, they won’t be a distraction for journalists who will now be able to focus on the little guys.

Digital is a poor substitute for in-person coverage

Tech media outlets say they’ll be able to provide complete coverage of CES 2022 remotely. But that’s a lie or they’re fooling themselves.
Judging from last year’s all-digital CES 2021 and preparations for the upcoming show, the online presentations will cover only a fraction of CES 2022.
The Consumer Technology Association, the show’s producer, says the digital aspect of CES 2022 will carry more than 40 livestreamed conference sessions, keynotes, and press conferences. But a number of those likely will be prerecorded corporate presentations for Media Day, which is held the day before the show officially opens on Jan. 5. Many conference sessions will be available only for on-site attendees.
And you can’t walk the expo show floor and discover new and exciting products sitting in front of a PC screen in your home office.

Photo: Moen Inc. demonstrates smart home products at CES 2020 in January 2020. (Consumer Technology Association)

2022 predictions in technology and media

The new year looks to begin just like the old year, with the nation gripped by the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s also starting off with a bunch of year-ahead predictions that most likely won’t happen. But hey, they’re still fun to consider. (Check out last year’s predictions for 2021.)
What follows is a compilation of interesting predictions for the technology and media industries in 2022.

Netflix possible acquisition target?

Internet television network Netflix could be acquired by a large media company in 2022, says Phillip Swann, editor of TV Answer Man.
“I predict that Netflix Chairman Reed Hastings and his team will conclude the time is right to join with a rival to form an even more powerful company – one that can survive a long-term streaming war that will be even more expensive than the current one,” Swann wrote in a blog post.
Two buyers make the most sense: Disney and Comcast, he said. “If I were betting today, I would bet on Disney. But either company could be in the hunt,” Swann said.

Roku: Acquisition target or studio buyer?

Depending on who’s talking, streaming video platform Roku either will be acquired by a larger company or bid for a major studio in 2022.
Hub Entertainment Research analyst Peter Fondulas predicts a large company like Apple could buy Roku. The deal would help Roku’s expansion into international markets and give Apple customers a lower-priced alternative to the Apple TV box, according to Fierce Video.
Media analyst Michael Nathanson told CNBC that Roku might buy a studio, such as Lionsgate, to bolster the exclusive content for its Roku Channel. But it likely would face other bidders such as Comcast’s NBCUniversal, ViacomCBS, Netflix and Disney.

Twitter, Pinterest acquisition targets?

MKM Partners made several “black swan predictions” for internet companies in the year ahead. It calls these “high-impact, low-probability” events.
It’s possible that Twitter and Pinterest will no longer be independent public companies after 2022, MKM managing director Rohit Kulkarni said in a Dec. 23 report.
“Both companies have had issues during 2021, with media reports surfacing around M&A. If the stock price stays under pressure, we wouldn’t be surprised if such speculations start swirling again. Twitter has a new CEO while (former CEO Jack) Dorsey leaves the board. Pinterest altered executive compensation this week – such events increase the likelihood of M&A speculations on both Pinterest and Twitter,” Kulkarni said.

NFT bubble might pop

Activate Consulting, a management consulting firm for technology, internet, media, entertainment, and sports businesses, predicted that non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, will continue to grow in 2022. NFTs are unique blockchain-based digital assets such as artwork, videos, games and recordings.
“Buying, collecting, and trading non-fungible tokens will become a mainstream behavior,” the firm said in a news release. “Many industries are creating NFTs, including art, fashion, sports, video games, and consumer products. Every technology and media company will need an NFT strategy.”
However, “NFTs could be experiencing a speculative bubble,” Activate Consulting noted.
But others are highly skeptical about the worth of NFTs.
“NFTs will remain hyped to oblivion (and) some people will lose their shirts,” James Ball, global editor at The Bureau of Investigative Journalism at the Guardian, said in his 2022 predictions.

Photo: Television from Best Buy brand Insignia running the Fire TV operating system from Amazon. (Best Buy)

Here’s why I’m canceling my trip to the in-person CES 2022 conference

As much as I wanted to attend the return of CES to an in-person event in Las Vegas, I can no longer justify the trip.
I was holding out hope that exhibitors would not give into fear about the ongoing Covid pandemic and would show up in force to CES 2022, which officially runs Jan. 5-8. Organizers of the conference had set measures to keep people safe, including requiring attendees and exhibitors to be fully vaccinated against the airborne disease and to wear masks and socially distance indoors.
But major exhibitors this week began canceling their attendance at the show. Eventually enough dominoes fell that I had to cancel as well.
Companies canceling include Amazon, AMD, AT&T, Casio, General Motors, Google, iHeartMedia, Intel, Lenovo, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, Pinterest, TikTok, T-Mobile, Twitter and Waymo. Other exhibitors plan to have a scaled-down presence at the show.
I have no doubt that CES 2022 will continue with an in-person event, though it will be much smaller than in past years. It will not be canceled though, despite calls by a vocal minority on Twitter.
But an increasing number of registered attendees will switch to the companion online version of the show. However, the digital version of the show is a poor substitute for the experience of discovering new technology products in person.
I believe the media that do attend CES 2022 in Las Vegas will see a lot of cool devices that will generate some interesting articles. Those articles likely will focus on the many smaller companies exhibiting at the show.
But I focus mostly on large, publicly traded companies. And those are the types of exhibitors that have been canceling attendance at CES 2022. Those corporations are more concerned about liability issues and the optics of sending employees to an in-person conference amid a wave of infections from the omicron variant of Covid-19.
I’m not going to fly across the country to watch online press conferences on my PC or tour sparse exhibit halls.
So far, only one of my interview appointments has canceled, but I’m sure there will be more in the week ahead. That’s why I’m switching to online coverage of CES 2022. That includes phone interviews, Zoom calls and watching videos of keynotes and panel discussions.
It will be just like the all-digital CES 2021, which took place after the in-person show was canceled because of Covid. But I didn’t find the online CES 2021 very engaging.
I have attended every in-person CES conference since 2000. And I’m not looking forward to more time stuck in my home office. Damn you, Covid!

Photo: Internet meme of Mark Cuban from ABC’s “Shark Tank.”

The most controversial magazine covers in the U.S. in 2021

The most controversial U.S. magazine covers of 2021 were criticized for being tasteless or offering dangerous messages, among other things.
What follows are the magazine covers that generated the most news coverage and social media outrage in the past year.

Newsweek magazine was accused of fearmongering with its Nov. 5 issue. It featured a photo of a scared child wearing a face mask with the cover line “Would you give this kid a shot?” The subhead, in smaller black print, said “Health experts strongly back a Covid vaccine for children,” then in red, said “Parents aren’t so sure.” (See article by Mediaite.)

The June cover of Los Angeles magazine was too racy for Gelson’s supermarket in L.A. It covered up the image of Kim Kardashian exposing her bare bottom in a reenactment of an iconic Coppertone ad. (See article by the Hollywood Reporter.)

V magazine came under fire in late October for its cover that featured singer Madonna recreating Marilyn Monroe’s death scene. (See articles by Today, the Sun, TMZ, Uproxx, the Daily Mail and Page Six.)

Critics condemned the December issue of Newsmax for describing Russian President Vladimir Putin as the “master of the world” on its cover. The issue featured a photo of Putin with the cover line “Vlad the Great.” It claimed Putin as the de facto leader of the world now that Donald Trump is no longer in the White House. (See articles by the Washington Post and Newsweek.)

Meanwhile, partisans blasted Time magazine for its over-the-top attempt to make U.S. President Joe Biden look cool. One critic said the June 21 cover was “sycophantic.” (See articles by Fox News, the Daily Mail, and Blaze Media.)

Time magazine also was roasted for its Sept. 27 issue, which featured an awkward cover shot of Prince Harry and wife Meghan Markle. The photo seemed to show an emasculated Harry cowering behind his wife. (See articles by Fox News, Page Six, the Sun, Mirror, the Daily Mail and Mandatory.)

In May, N magazine apologized for putting Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy on the cover of the glossy Nantucket publication. N magazine had received backlash from readers over the cover story. (See articles by Page Six, Boston.com and Fox Business.)

The cover of February’s Vogue magazine was called disrespectful to Vice President Kamala Harris because she was photographed in casual attire, including Converse sneakers, in front of cheap-looking backdrop. (See articles by the Hill, the Daily Beast, CBS News, the New York Times, Today, Page Six and CNN.)

And finally, W magazine attempted to pull its latest issue before it could hit store shelves. The cover featured rapper Travis Scott and his partner and child but would have hit newsstands after the Astroworld Fest concert tragedy. (See articles by TMZ, Complex and the Daily Mail.)

Bonus cover:

Social media trolled People magazine for its Jan. 10, 2022, issue, which published in late December. The cover story titled “Betty White Turns 100!” hit newsstands three days before her death, which occurred a few weeks shy of her 100th birthday. She was born on Jan. 17, 1922. (See articles by Insider, the Daily Mail, and Meaww.)

Related article:

The most controversial foreign magazine covers of 2021 (Tech-media-tainment; Dec. 19, 2021)

Covid omicron wave threatens to disrupt CES 2022

Still known to many as the “Consumer Electronics Show,” CES 2022 is set to open in two weeks in Las Vegas amid a winter wave of Covid-19 infections from the more contagious omicron variant. That fact is making potential attendees nervous about going to the large technology trade show.
The Consumer Technology Association, producer of CES, is taking numerous steps to minimize the risk of its conference becoming a super-spreader event. It is requiring all attendees to provide proof of vaccination and wear masks while indoors at the show. The conference also is distributing one complimentary Abbott BinaxNOW Covid-19 Self-Test kit to each attendee upon receiving their badge.
On Friday, CES announced that it has more than 2,100 confirmed exhibitors for the in-person show. That’s up from the 1,943 exhibitors that participated in the all-digital CES 2021 last January after the in-person show was canceled because of the pandemic. But the last in-person CES show in 2020 had 4,419 exhibitors.
The Consumer Technology Association hasn’t disclosed how many people have registered for CES 2022. But it has said “tens of thousands” of people have signed up. However, CES 2022 will be a hybrid event with a physical show plus a digital component for industry professionals and media who can’t or won’t attend the show. That means the registered attendees number includes a mix of online and in-person attendees.
The last in-person CES two years ago attracted 171,268 attendees. TechRadar reported Friday that just 21,000 attendees are expected for CES 2022.
More than 2,400 members of the media have registered for CES 2022, Gary Shapiro, chief executive of the Consumer Technology Association, producer of CES, said in a post on LinkedIn. But how many will show up in Las Vegas?
Meanwhile, some smaller conferences have canceled their in-person shows this fall and winter because of Covid.
For instance, on Dec. 15, JPMorgan canceled its annual health-care conference set for Jan. 10-13 in San Francisco and will go virtual instead, CNBC reported.
Some companies that usually attend CES are taking a pass on the upcoming show. (They include Dell, Logitech and iRobot.) Others are sending skeleton crews or are just attending special events like Pepcom’s Digital Experience or Showstoppers.
CES organizers are setting low expectations for the event, given the on-going pandemic.
CES 2022 will showcase the latest automotive technology, digital health, food tech, smart home, televisions, and other advancements. Augmented reality glasses, the metaverse, NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and space tech are poised to make headlines at the upcoming show, which officially runs Jan. 5-8.
Based on commentary on Twitter, some people are getting cold feet about attending CES 2022 in person because of Covid-19.

BREAKING: Jefferies cancels their CES Conference cocktail party citing, "the rise in COVID-19 cases." It's unclear whether CES, slated to be held in Vegas in January, will be in-person.

— Lydia Moynihan (@LJMoynihan) December 17, 2021

The Covid-19 forecast is bad.

Wear a mask.

Skip #CES2022

2 shots aren't going to stop #Omicron

Upgrade your masks. https://t.co/VBLbXyetm7

— David Michaels (@michaelsecom) December 17, 2021

Second year in a row. 😭

Technically, #CES2022 is a hybrid event this year, but I ain't flying no virus-tube to Omicron Beta just to see some 8K TVs. pic.twitter.com/F7K7WFZTo7

— Stephen Double-Vaxxed Clark (@theMediaman) December 17, 2021

I'm sitting this one out #CES2022
All I want to do there is put shared hardware on my face!

— Nicole Lazzaro #Metaverse #BLM (@NicoleLazzaro) December 16, 2021

Taking cue from #Queen who cancelled holiday plans due to #Omicronvariant #COVID19https://t.co/VXLUYGgPmg

Another factor: #jpm2022 going virtual

After lots of though I have cancelled plans to attend & speak at #CES2022

I'm not royalty. Just a girl w a #publichealth degree pic.twitter.com/anKGfmncbv

— Jane Sarasohn-Kahn (@healthythinker) December 16, 2021

I’m thinking every conference on the calendar for 2022 will be watching #CES2022 very closely. https://t.co/JWbXrlkxti

— rich pesce (@rpesce) December 17, 2021

In light of Omicron, anyone re-evaluating their #CES #CES2022 plans ?

— Dr. Rana el Kaliouby (@kaliouby) December 18, 2021

I'm reading about people starting to cancel #CES2022 plans. If you really want to know if its true look at available seats on airlines leaving LAS on Friday January 7th. So far my LAS-EWR has had no significant openings. If attendees are having 2nd thoughts they haven't acted yet

— David Danto (@NJDavidD) December 18, 2021

Related reading:

Will Omicron Shut Down CES 2022? (ChannelNews; Dec. 6, 2021)

Will Covid-19 variant omicron impact CES 2022? (Tech-media-tainment; Nov. 28, 2021)

D.C. Jingle Ball 2021: Good show even without Doja Cat, AJR

When iHeartRadio announced the music acts for its 2021 Jingle Ball Tour, I was impressed with the lineup of artists. The tour is back this year with in-person shows after canceling its 2020 holiday tour and going virtual because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, the 2021 Jingle Ball tour was rocked by high-profile cancellations by artists because of the disease. Coldplay, Lil Nas X, Doja Cat and AJR dropped out of the tour after they or members of their teams caught the coronavirus. Also, Dua Lipa canceled because of laryngitis.
Two of those acts, Doja Cat and AJR, had been scheduled to perform at the D.C. show at Capital One Arena on Dec. 14.
The Jonas Brothers headlined the D.C. tour stop. Other acts included Megan Thee Stallion, Black Eyed Peas, Saweetie, Tate McRae, Monsta X, Bazzi, Dixie D’Amelio and Tai Verdes.
The not-family-friendly show was good despite the absence of the two big artists. I particularly liked Saweetie, Monsta X and Tai Verdes. (See review by the Washington Post.)
Here are some tweets from me and others from the show:

@iHeartRadio #HOT995JingleBall at Capital One Arena in DC pic.twitter.com/5YpuQJ0A37

— Patrick Seitz (@PatrickSeitz) December 15, 2021

At DC Jingle Ball. Just watched Monsta X and Dixie D’Amelio perform. #HOT995JingleBall pic.twitter.com/m6yMcZx5M0

— Patrick Seitz (@PatrickSeitz) December 15, 2021

We LOVE @dixiedamelio !! #HOT995JingleBall https://t.co/9cK5eb7jBi

— HOT 99.5 🎄 (@hot995) December 15, 2021

Backstage hangs with @OfficialMonstaX ✌️@CapitalOne #HOT995JingleBall pic.twitter.com/b1eA5maj4A

— HOT 99.5 🎄 (@hot995) December 15, 2021

Forever dancing with @OfficialMonstaX 💃 #HOT995JingleBall pic.twitter.com/BGTtd9gb9r

— HOT 99.5 🎄 (@hot995) December 15, 2021

At DC Jingle Ball, Tai Verdes sings about, what else, drugs. #HOT995JingleBall pic.twitter.com/oRuWddZyFm

— Patrick Seitz (@PatrickSeitz) December 15, 2021

Ready for that mic drop @taiverdes 🎤💥 #HOT995JingleBall pic.twitter.com/rKtTBO2zaQ

— HOT 99.5 🎄 (@hot995) December 15, 2021

Bazzi now at DC Jingle Ball pic.twitter.com/wai7VT5irt

— Patrick Seitz (@PatrickSeitz) December 15, 2021

Saweetie puts on booty-riffic performance at #HOT995JingleBall pic.twitter.com/egaLjmWLd3

— Patrick Seitz (@PatrickSeitz) December 15, 2021

YES! take care of yourselves babes! #HOT995JingleBall @Saweetie pic.twitter.com/LkJFEc3CYN

— HOT 99.5 🎄 (@hot995) December 15, 2021

My ICY queen 👑👑 @Saweetie #HOT995JingleBall pic.twitter.com/hq497GpPAN

— HOT 99.5 🎄 (@hot995) December 15, 2021

Heyyyy @saweetie - can we be Best Friends?! 👯‍♀️💖 #HOT995JingleBall pic.twitter.com/wrSAyGLsSP

— HOT 99.5 🎄 (@hot995) December 15, 2021

That's my BEST friend 🥰@Saweetie @CapitalOne #HOT995JingleBall pic.twitter.com/0NrXeduIxQ

— HOT 99.5 🎄 (@hot995) December 15, 2021

Black Eyed Peas at #HOT995JingleBall pic.twitter.com/qXNAn95Eia

— Patrick Seitz (@PatrickSeitz) December 15, 2021

Tate McRae at DC’s Jingle Ball tonight pic.twitter.com/oxpDzzvlua

— Patrick Seitz (@PatrickSeitz) December 15, 2021

OKAYYYY @tatemcrae, bringing the heat backstage at #HOT995JingleBall 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/OZUq9j5zeB

— HOT 99.5 🎄 (@hot995) December 15, 2021

thank you for blessing our #HOT995JingleBall stage with ur presence, HOT GIRLLL! 🔥🔥 @theestallion https://t.co/crZefInszm

— HOT 99.5 🎄 (@hot995) December 15, 2021

Megan Thee Stallion at DC’s Jingle Ball pic.twitter.com/3n4zfGuXFT

— Patrick Seitz (@PatrickSeitz) December 15, 2021

Twirking queen Megan Thee Stallion pic.twitter.com/ydkqdzGW8v

— Patrick Seitz (@PatrickSeitz) December 15, 2021

tina snow outsold the entire holiday season #MeganTheeStallion
see you next time hottie @theestallion #HOT995JingleBall 💫❄️💫 pic.twitter.com/aPM46JFKUO

— jaz ↯ 🎰 POST CONCERT DENIAL?! ❅ (@dreamieur) December 15, 2021

Jonas Brothers closed out #HOT995JingleBall with a boisterous set. pic.twitter.com/fpuNlxGRzc

— Patrick Seitz (@PatrickSeitz) December 15, 2021

If there was a @JonasBrothers & Megan @theestallion collab last night at #HOT995JingleBall...I would have combusted. https://t.co/DfXQ1AoHF9

— HOT 99.5 🎄 (@hot995) December 15, 2021

JINGLE BALL 2021!!🎁🎄
Thank you to all our performers and fans for making #hot995jingleball the best one yet!

📸 Craig Hunter Ross pic.twitter.com/qAyHOucgNQ

— Capital One Arena (@CapitalOneArena) December 15, 2021

Will Covid-19 variant omicron impact CES 2022?

Just as tech companies are gearing up for CES 2022, a scary new variant of Covid-19 threatens to hang over the annual consumer electronics show.
The Consumer Technology Association is returning to Las Vegas for an in-person CES conference in early January after canceling this year’s physical show because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
CES 2021 was an all-digital event. CES 2022 will be a hybrid event with an in-person show plus a digital component for industry professionals and media who can’t or won’t attend the show.
On Friday, the World Health Organization designated the omicron strain of the coronavirus a “variant of concern.” South African scientists said the variant is behind a recent spike in Covid-19 infections in the country’s most populous province, according to the Associated Press.
The conference industry has struggled to return to normal since the Covid-19 pandemic began in early 2020.
On Nov. 1-4, about 40,000 people attended the Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal. Last year’s event was held online because of the pandemic. (See articles by DW and Fast Company.)
However, on Nov. 23, broadcasting technology show IBC canceled its December in-person event as the Covid-19 situation worsened in the Netherlands. The event was due to take place at the RAI in Amsterdam Dec. 3-6. (See articles by Variety and the Hollywood Reporter.)
CES organizers have signed up over 1,700 exhibitors for the 2022 show and “tens of thousands” of registered attendees so far. The last in-person CES, in 2020, attracted 4,419 exhibitors and 171,268 attendees.
CES 2022 will take place Jan. 5-8 with pre-show media events starting Jan. 3. Attendees must have proof of Covid-19 vaccination. They also likely will have to wear masks inside and on public transportation.

Related articles:

CES 2022 will be half the usual size, but at least it’s in person (VentureBeat; Nov. 24, 2021)

CES 2022 to Have Smaller Footprint, Fewer Attendees (Media Play News; Nov. 18, 2021)

Digital CES Component Here to Stay as ‘Almost a CES Bonus’ (Consumer Electronics Daily; Nov. 15, 2021)

CES 2022 will be a rebuilding year (Tech-media-tainment; Oct. 30, 2021)

Will Covid-19 pandemic loom over CES 2022? (Tech-media-tainment; Oct. 9, 2021)

Photo: The anchor desk from the all-digital CES 2021. (Consumer Technology Association)