Perhaps because of the U.S. writers’ strike that threatened to cripple the entertainment industry and despite the decision by a number of major studios to abandon the convention floor in favor of suites, the recent 45th annual National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) event, which took place in January at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, is being hailed a success. VideoAge checked in with a number of exhibitors and NATPE insiders to learn what really happened in Sin City. The strike brought out program buyers from major territories such as Canada, the U.K. and Spain — buyers that were sorely missing at recent editions of NATPE. Since they were all concerned about the new U.S. TV season and the related L.A. Screenings, they went to Vegas to meet with studio reps to iron out their plans. “There are things that you can’t control, such as the strike and the general business climate, which isn’t so great,” said NATPE president and CEO Rick Feldman. “But people told us the conference was easily navigable. The sessions were pretty full and most people liked the new lounge on the upper floor. So we know we did a really good job.” However, the fact that the sessions were full and the convention floor was not caused some resentment among exhibitors. When an NBC-Universal executive was asked if the studio would exhibit next year, he pointed to the lessthan-crowded floor and said: “Take a look around. We’re only in the second day!” Carsey-Werner’s Herb Lazarus was also critical of the seminars, which pull people from the floor, especially, as Lazarus pointed out, “considering that it’s a two-and-a-half day convention.” Indeed, after the second day, many people skipped town. A number of domestic studios chose not to exhibit at this year’s market, but many domestic representatives were in the area and some were even taking meetings — a situation that upset NATPE organizers. Regardless, NATPE decided to celebrate its past glory days of domestic syndication (which used to be the event’s focus), by organizing the fifth annual Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Awards, which gives prizes to U.S. domestic TV executives. Even though the domestic studios were not prominent at this year’s edition, some of the biggest news at the market came from a domestic exhibitor, Program Partners, which announced plans for Marie , a new entertainment/lifestyle talk show starring television personality Marie Osmond. Program Partners will offer the hour-long series in syndication beginning in fall 2009. “Marie is a true original,” said Program Partners’ Ritch Colbert. “And Mariethe series will be every bit as much a winner as she is. This is the kind of project that stations have been waiting for, for a very long time.” Another talked-about announcement was Lightworks Enterprises’ declaration that Sandra Carter Global (SCG) and Sandra Carter International have merged their programming into Lightworks Program Distribution (LPD). Sandra Carter was named executive vice president, Business Development, while John Cuddihy became LPD’s president and managing director. Much attention was bestowed upon Jeff Zucker, president of NBC Universal, who kicked off NATPE’s opening day “Think Tank” with a keynote address, predicting that the tumult of the last quarter is “likely to continue” saying that the writers’ strike was only one of many problems that plague the U.S. TV industry. “Maybe what we are going through now is our version of a forest fire,” said Zucker, predicting that though the strike had devastating consequences for thousands of people, it “cleared the ground for robust growth” in the coming years. Zucker went on to say that there was an upside to the strike, in that it provided an opportunity for TV companies to examine wasteful habits. In particular, he pointed to the pilot process, in which major networks have participated for years. He promised that NBC is still “committed to as much scripted programming as possible,” but said that the network will drastically cut back on the number of pilots it plans to develop this year and beyond. Instead of pouring its resources into 80 or so pilots, said Zucker, NBC will limit the new season to just a handful of shows. At VideoAge’s traditional NATPE breakfast (which was quite a packed affair this year), editor Dom Serafini outlined the importance of “Independents’ Day” at the L.A. Screenings — a full day of general screenings, meals, conferences and parties, set to replicate the studios’ own L.A. Screenings environment — which will be held on Thursday, May 15 (a day after the end of the upfronts in New York). “If this doesn’t happen, the L.A. Screenings simply won’t be viable for independents,” said Serafini to a room that included representatives from Lightworks, Carsey-Werner, Granada International, Ledafilms and more. “We support this Independents’ Day fully. It’s something that should go on for years and years,” said Feldman of NATPE, which of late has become an independent-driven market. In fact, Feldman believes in the idea so strongly that NATPE will co-sponsor the “Independents’ Day” luncheon. Serafini said he hopes that once the idea proves itself a success that NATPE will one day take the reins from VideoAge and run “Independents’ Day” by itself. NATPE’s numbers were down about five percent from last year, when the market drew 7,700 participants. Numbers were up for Brits, however, with about 17 exhibiting companies this year. Saralo MacGregor, executive vp, Worldwide Distribution for London-based Fireworks, remarked that NATPE is vital because “more Latin American buyers attend this market than MIP-TV or MIPCOM.” U.K.-based Power also increased its presence, adding representatives from its New Media, DVD and Latin V I D E O • A G E AP R I L 2 0 0 8 32 N A T P E R e v i e w Moving With The Times: From Show Biz To Shoe Biz Lionsgate’s Craig Cegielski, Sandra Stern, Kevin Beggs Raphael Correa Netto at the Globo TV International breakfast Artear’s Diego Piasek and Luciana Egurrola with Premium Media’s Blanca Ponce (center) Dori Media’s Nadav Palti and Michal Nashiv (Continued on Page 34)
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