14 Without a doubt, NATPE is the premier TV trade show for Latin American (LATAM) territories. Perhaps just a notch above the L.A. Screenings, but surely much larger than any other LATAM TV market worldwide. Being number one, however, is risky since, as the Japanese proverb goes, the nail that sticks out gets hammered down. Hammering down NATPE these days are several factors: Increased costs due to the arrangements at the Fontainebleau, where the hotel seems dedicated to squeezing every penny out of theparticipants; competition fromCanada’s publishing house Brunico, which organizes two TV markets, one in Washington, D.C. (January 27-30) just after NATPE (January 20-22) and the other in Miami a month later (February 23-26); and now Reed MIDEMwith its MIP Cancun event in November (see front cover story). Another factor challengingNATPEorganizers is the limited growth area, now restricted to LATAM business, that needs to expand to other territories like Europe and/or Asia. This limitation is due to the hotel-style arrangement demanded by much of the international TV industry, especially the U.S. studios. Nevertheless, European companies, such as France’s TVFI and possibly Italy’s APT, are planning to attend NATPE 2015 with pavilions, like the British and Spanish. Pavilions attract multiple distribution companies, and indeed, at the upcoming NATPE the European presence will increase to more than 15 percent compared to the 2014 edition. A large increase is expected from Asian countries as well, in addition to the usual large Canadian contingent. While other organizations are trying to erode NATPE’s premier status in the LATAM market, NATPEisattemptingtoenter theEuropeanmarket with NATPE Europe, though unfortunately in the month of June, which is already packed with the largest number of TV-related trade shows compared to any other month of the year (20 key trade shows over 58 cumulative days in 10 different countries). Even though Europe presents a challenge for NATPE, the market has benefited from NATPE Europe in June to spread its brand, and in particular its NATPE Miami brand, beyond Western Europe. NATPE 2015 will start on a Tuesday instead of its traditional Monday in order to avoid Martin Luther King Day. Even though it’s a national holiday, small companies tend to remain open, therefore it’s expected that some recreational and sales activities will occur on Monday, in addition to preparations to ready the hotel suites and stands for the next day. Big companies, which have to respect the holiday, will set up their offices at the hotel suites and poolside cabanas on Sunday. As usual, the hospitality suites will be spread among the hotel’s four towers (Tresor, Sorrento, Chateau and Versailles), the market floor will house the stands, while the cabanas will predictably be used as a meeting place in order to avoid the wait at the elevator banks, which is much improved since the first year in Miami in 2011, but is still congested, especially at the Tresor Tower. This year’s Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award will recognize Linda Bell Blue (executive producer of Entertainment Tonight for 19 years), Gustavo Cisneros (chairman of The Cisneros Group), Adriana Cisneros (Gustavo’s daughter and CEO and vice chairman of Cisneros), Jay Leno (former host of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno), Jonathan Murray (chairman of Bunim/Murray Productions) and Ted Sarandos (chief content officer at Netflix). They will be honored at the 12th annual Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award reception hosted by Craig Ferguson (host of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson) on January 21. The award recognizes a select group of television professionalswho exhibit extraordinary passion, leadership, independence and vision in the process of creating television programming. This year, the conferenceswill fall under several categories: the Platforms Accelerated Track, which among other related topics will explore how to monetize the fragmentation of delivery platforms; the Access to Insight Track, a series of master classes and conversations (attendance is limited); the Game Changers Track, during which top broadcast, digital platform, advertiser and production companies offer insight into how they grow their businesses; and the NATPE Reality Track. On January 20, NATPE is launching a separate strand of sessions under the banner NATPE Reality. This group of sessions will offer participants the opportunity to connect to reality executives to gain insight into reality programming. The Reality and Formats Day was developed in close collaboration with NATPE’s Reality and Formats Advisory Board, headed by Phil Gurin and Hans Schiff. In addition to the conference lineup, a PRO Pitch event will give participants the chance to pitch their ideas directly to top reality and formats development executives from broadcast, cable, syndicated TV and domestic and international distributors. NATPE is also launching the NATPE Reality Breakthrough Awards during a networkingmixer and luncheon that will honor the most innovative reality content across five categories — Reality, Reality Competition, Game Shows, Docusoaps and Factual. Confirmed session speakers include Mike Beale of ITV Studios, Ricardo Ehrsam from Televisa Internacional, Grant Ross from Zodiak Media Group, Michael Schmidt of Red Arrow Entertainment Group, Mark Linsey from BBC and Jennifer Dettman of CBC Television. A second panel focusing on reality shows in syndication will include Stephen Brown of Fox Television Stations, Lonnie Burstein of Debmar-Mercury, Hilary Estey McLoughlin from CBS Television Distribution and Valerie Schaer of NBCUniversal Domestic Television Distribution. There will also be a case study on ABC’sShark Tank, featuring executive producer Clay Newbill. Yes, There Are Many Challenges, But The Market Still Ranks No. 1 in LATAM December 2014 NATPE Preview Canada’s Moses Znaimer and John Thornton Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine with NATPE president and CEO Rod Perth at the opening night reception Telemundo Internacional’s press conference at NATPE 2014
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