JA J QA N U 2 0 1 3 of their consumers.” There was an upswing in 2001 when then-president of NATPE Bruce Johansen announced that a record 800 advertising executives would attend the market. Yet in 2002, although there was a strong contingent from Latin America, “The major U.S. domestic distribution companies not only pulled out of NATPE, but also set up a competing market in a hotel-suite format at the Venetian, one of NATPE’s unofficial hotels during the Las Vegas conference.” We reported that, “Domestic divisions of the major U.S. TV companies may not be back for NATPE 2003. Meanwhile, the international arms of the large TV companies will only exhibit in a hotel suite environment (with or without NATPE’s blessing).” It seemed that the non-profit organization could have been on the verge of financial collapse, and we reported that it was “difficult to estimate how long the association could conceivably stay in business at its current rate of yearly expenditures.” Things were still heading downhill in 2003, the year Rick Feldman— a “savior” but not a “visionary,” as VideoAge has said in the past — was named president and CEO. But VideoAge saw “Signs of Vitality Without [a] Respirator,” as we noted in our headline, and participants were looking forward to a return to Las Vegas the following year. Vegas proved a good antidote in 2004 when the market showed “definite signs of rejuvenation” and a resurgence in floor traffic. The 2005 market was the “best it’s been in years,” according to our review titled, “Floor Gets Hot, Lifts Backfire, Biz Lights Up.” On the first day of the 2006 market, the WB and UPN announced that they would become the CW, which brought the focus back to the domestic side. More Internet companies and mobile carriers attended the event than ever before, and there was an over-20 percent increase in Latin American buyers. By 2007, VideoAge reported that NATPE had transitioned into a oneday affair, and the “question remain[ed] whether new platforms, international buyers and sellers and independent distributors [could] take the place of NATPE’s traditional bread and butter: The syndication business.” Though the 2008 event was busier than in the recent past because program buyers came to meet with studio reps to iron out plans for the writer’s strike, more and (Continued from Page 26) NATPE’s History Repeats Itself (Continued on Page 30) 2002. Fernando Barbosa 2003. Marcos Santana (c.), Ernesto Carrizosa, Ignacio Barrera 2012. A+E Networks’ sales team 2000. Charles Falzon 2002. Eugenio Lopez Negrete, Eduardo Clemesha, Isabella Marquez, Mariano Vertiz
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