With broadcasters already planning their trips to Las Vegas, the NAB has opened nominations for the 2026 NAB Technology Awards, which honor standout work in broadcast engineering, digital leadership, and technology innovation presented at the 2026 NAB Show.
The NAB Digital Leadership Award will recognize an individual at a broadcast station, ownership group, or network who has taken a leading role in driving digital success through the use of new and emerging technologies. Candidates may come from programming, engineering, product, or business-side positions as long as their work clearly advances a company’s digital strategy.
The Engineering Achievement Awards will again spotlight significant accomplishments in broadcast engineering, with separate honors for radio and for television. These awards are intended for professionals whose contributions have tangibly improved technical operations, service quality, or spectrum efficiency for their organizations or the industry at large.
The Technology Innovation Award focuses on organizations rather than individuals, celebrating advanced research and development in communications technology. To qualify, a technology must show substantial merit, be on display at NAB Show, and not yet be commercially deployed, underscoring the award’s emphasis on ideas that are still pushing from lab to marketplace.
Nominations for the NAB Digital Leadership Award and the Engineering Achievement Awards are due january 27, while submissions for the Technology Innovation Award are due march 9. Nomination forms, detailed criteria, and lists of past recipients are available through the NAB website.
Winners will be recognized during NAB Show 2026, scheduled for april 18–22 in Las Vegas, where the awards ceremony will be part of the event’s broader focus on emerging tools and practices in media and entertainment technology.
NAB EVP and Chief Technology Officer Sam Matheny said the awards “shine a light on the inventors, engineers and digital leaders who move our industry forward,” adding that the organization is continually “inspired by the creativity and technical expertise behind these nominations” and eager to honor work that is reshaping how content is created, delivered, and experienced.