[3] Before 1991 the show had moved around to a number of cities: Atlanta (1990), Washington DC, Chicago, New York, Atlantic City, Dallas, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Houston, San Francisco, St. Louis, White Sulfur Springs, W. Va., and once in West Baden Springs, Indiana[4][5] The first NAB Show was held in 1923 in New York.

Cheers and Frasier actor Kelsey Grammer received the inaugural Television Chairman's Award on April 20.

Emmy-nominated Big Bang Theory actor Jim Parsons was presented the NAB Television Chairman's Award for his role as theoretical physicist Sheldon Cooper.

[11] A Super Session took place on April 13 titled "Unboxing Advertising and Entertainment: Building a Transmedia Experience."

The list of experts on the panel included writer/producer from Heroes and Lost Jesse Alexander, Ivan Askwith, director of strategy at creative agency Big Spaceship ("Tim Burton at MOMA," "The Million Baby Crawl"); Elan Lee, chief designer and founder Fourth Wall Studios (Watchmen, Kings ARGs); Mike Monello, cofounder and executive creative director at entertainment marketing agency Campfire (True Blood, "Discovery Channel: Shark Week); and Ian Sander, executive producer, Ghost Whisperer.

[12] 20th Century Fox Television executives Gary Newman and Dana Walden were the keynote speakers on April 12 discussing the opportunities and challenges facing TV studios at a time of technological upheaval.

[13] Comic book legend Stan Lee held a panel on April 14 [14] and there was a significant 3D presence- 3ality demonstrated their 3D equipment at the Sony booth, and Element Technica, Panasonic, P+S Technik and Canon Broadcast made appearances as well.

[15] DreamWorks Animation head Jeffrey Katzenberg was booked last-minute for an "open conversation" about the impact 3D is having on the box office, sparked by the hasty decision to convert the Clash of the Titans remake into 3D.

James Cameron returned to the Show, Rob Legato discussed the films Hugo and Titanic and the Post|Production World Conference had the highly anticipated keynote of Steve Wozniak.

The 2013 NAB Show also featured a conversation between Senator Gordon H. Smith and Lowell McAdam, CEO of Verizon.

Additional Speakers included: Charles F. Bolden, Julius Genachowski, Tom Green, Penn Jillette, Jon Landau, Dave Ramsey and John Tesh.

[22] In September 2020, the 2021 NAB Show was postponed to October 9–13, 2021 due to COVID-19, stating that "the pandemic remains a significant threat and the evidence suggests it will be well into next year before it could be under control in the U.S."[23] However, despite having announced plans to mandate that all attendees be fully-vaccinated for COVID-19, and implement other mitigations recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a number of major vendors (including Canon, Panasonic, Ross Video, and Sony) announced that they would not participate in the show.

[24][25] The NAB Show opened in Las Vegas at the Convention Center on April 23, 2022, returning to its traditional spring location after a two-year absence due to COVID-19.