will move to the Fontainebleau Hotel complex in Miami Beach, Florida in 2011. For the upcoming event — the last to be held in Las Vegas — some potential NATPE exhibitors complained: “Why pay $7,350 per suite at THEHotel in Sin City, when one can get two adjacent hotel rooms for less than $2,000 on the same four days at the Mandalay Bay?” Naturally, if a company exhibits outside the NATPE umbrella, it would not be listed in the market’s official guide and no signage would be allowed. In addition, if not a part of the official registration, participants would not be able to receive copies of VideoAge Daily at NATPE in their hotel rooms because concierges (who will be delivering them) will not have a record of their participation. Plus, such rooms have to be stripped of beds at an extra charge. But the most challenging issue for NATPE is not costs going up, but how attendees can hop from floor to floor without delay with just five elevators at THEHotel and two at the tower side of the shared reception area available. With half of the exhibitors in suites at NATPE 2009, the slow elevators were a major cause of frustration for all involved. This time around, the elevator situation is expected to be even more of a nuisance considering that four new floors will be added below the penthouse (tower) side. FremantleMedia, NBC Universal and CBS Paramount are expected to be in suites, as are several smaller distributors, independents and tech companies. It is anticipated that most of the business at the upcoming market will be conducted at the restaurant and lounge tables that line the path to THEHotel’s elevators in order to avoid elevator congestion. To further alleviate elevator overcrowding, NATPE organizers are negotiating with THEHotel management to officially open the emergency doors that access the stairs at either end of the corridors. Last year, some participants used the emergency stairs to go from floor to floor (excluding the lobby), but only a few people knew this was even an option. Last year’s conference took up eight floors with more than 6,500 attendees and more than 300 exhibiting companies. NATPE officials like to point out that the booths on the convention floor are not completely dead. This time, the space is confined to a ballroom in the Mandalay Bay Plaza rather than the hotel’s convention center. The ballroom is adjacent to the new registration area, and both are very close to THEHotel’s lobby — which is much better than the long walk to reach the convention area that attendees were forced to take in previous years. The new marketplace exhibition floor will feature a lounge, a tech center and a digital theater for attendee use. In 2010, NATPE will be held January 25-27. Sunday, January 24 will be reserved for setting up, a few afternoon events and a possible evening reception. Exhibitors are encouraged to start arriving on Saturday, January 23. The Monday kickoff (as opposed to previous editions’ Tuesday start-up) is attributed to the fact that in the past, companies in the suites had an advantage because they were able to start business earlier in the week, while those with stands were still setting up on Monday. Despite this earlier start, some independent Latin American companies are still expected to set up appointments on Sunday, before buyers begin visiting the studios’ suites on Monday. For this reason, VideoAge will start its daily edition on Monday, with a focus on Latin America. In order to avoid a mass exodus on Wednesday, NATPE organizers are planning a series of seminars on the market’s third day, focusing on Canada and Latin America. That same day, VideoAge’s own Dom Serafini will moderate a session entitled: “DTV in the U.S.: Your American Dream,” which will examine international distributors’ ability to provide content to U.S. TV stations, which have 5,000 new channels to program. The announcement that NATPE will move to Miami Beach, Florida in 2011 was received favorably by most. In truth, Miami Beach wasn’t NATPE’s first choice, but circumstances in Las Vegas forced the organization to make the decision. Some distributors did, however, express their unease with the locale since many Latin American TV program buyers have houses in the Miami area and most Latin sellers have offices around Miami. This aspect was cause for concern since there could be temptation to conduct business outside the hotel environment. However, it was pointed out that Santa Monica’s American Film Market is a success despite the fact that many exhibitors have offices around Los Angeles. There, the hotel’s centrality is always fully appreciated. The Miami locale is also viewed favorably by potential European exhibitors and buyers who like the subtropical climate during the cold winter months, as well as the direct flights available to Miami from most nations’ capitals. Miami is not the most convenient place for Asian participants, but for many years now, NATPE has ceased being a major event for the Asian TV industry. Therefore, the Asian TV presence is not considered a make or break element. In addition, if the European currency stays strong against the U.S. dollar, the premium high-season hotel rates and general costs will be compensated by the favorable euro-dollar exchange rate. V I D E O • A G E DE C E M B E R 2 0 0 9 (Continued from Cover) Road To NATPE 26 The Televisa International contingent was out in full force at NATPE 2009 CABLEready’s Gary Lico promoting CableU, a service that monitors and analyzes cable network performance and programming trends. NATPE will move to the Fontainebleau Hotel complex in Miami Beach, Florida in 2011 Mediaset’s Sonia Danieli (r.) and Tivú Sat’s Nella Allegretti NATPE officials like to point out that the booths on the convention floor are not completely dead.
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