Elizabeth Guider Reports: NATPE 2012 Scene Setter

NEW YORK: The accent for the 49th annual NATPE confab will be squarely on the “expanding eco-system” of content creation worldwide, and the fact that the television business, both in the U.S and abroad, is holding up considerably better than the fragile global economy would suggest.

“In some ways we’re walking around in a little bubble,” NATPE president and CEO Rick Feldman said, suggesting that despite the lingering problems in the worldwide economy, particularly in Europe, “an insatiable appetite for content” by new platforms and old has shielded the media business from the worst effects of the dug-in downturn.

Feldman and NATPE co-chair Jordan Levin fielded questions from reporters Tuesday in a conference call to set the stage for the upcoming trade show market and conference. With the trenchant theme “Content First,” the event unspools for the second consecutive year in Miami at the Fontainebleau from January 23-25.

One reason for their upbeat assessment: registration is pacing ahead of last year, with total attendance likely to top out at between 5,000-5,500. That’s well north of the paltry participation of, say, five years ago, though not nearly as robust as the trade show in its domestic syndication heyday 15 or 20 years ago before media consolidation took hold.

Program buyers will likely exceed the 600-odd who made the trek last year and exhibitors taking space will nudge the 300 mark.

As for the program of speakers the organizers have put together for panels, Q&As and talkback sessions, Feldman said it was top-notch and impressive in its variety: from a glance at NATPE’s website, the schedule ranges from the keynote with Phil Kent of Turner Broadcasting to sessions with Comcast’s Jeff Shell and Ted Harbert, Nickelodeon’s Cyma Zarghami, Lionsgate’s Kevin Beggs and Netflix’s Ted Sarandos.

All the Hollywood majors will be on hand with exhibition space, with Sony bringing a noticeably larger contingent than in recent editions.

Levin, who is also CEO of new-media outfit Generate, told journalists that the trade show is “in a positive transitional period” leading to its 50th anniversary in 2013, and that financiers, licensors, talent agents, online outfits, international players as well as traditional broadcasters and cablers should all help buoy the three-day bazaar.

All major domestic TV station groups are expected to field their general managers or program buyers and a growing contingent of new media players—Netflix, Yahoo, YouTube and MediaLink among them—will participate in panels, workshops and coffee klatches or sponsor events. A sizeable phalanx of foreign-based companies, especially Latin Americans for whom Miami is a second home, is flying in; and once again Hispanic powerhouses Univision and Telemundo will both play major roles in the confab.

Newcomer companies that have already signed on the dotted line number currently 50, from roughly 15 different countries.

If U.S. domestic syndication is no longer the be-all and end-all of the dealmaking at NATPE, first-run projects are still important galvanizers of heat.

Like the talk show project with CNN anchor Anderson Cooper that Warner Bros fielded last go-round, which is now airing daily around the country, the Disney talk show with network newsie Katie Couric is likely to come to town with considerable momentum behind it. It’s the first new high-profile strip from the Mouse House in years, and Couric is a household name, having come off a long tenure on NBC’s Today followed by a five-year stint as anchor on the CBS Evening News.

Another key component of the NATPE confab is the Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Awards, which for the past eight years have honored the best and brightest in the TV biz. This year’s gala presentation will be hosted by Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush on the Tuesday evening during the three-day bazaar. Four luminaries who have made contributions to distinct parts of the business are being honored: TV station vet Dennis Swanson, drama writer/producer Matthew Weiner (Mad Men), telenovela creator Fernando Gaitan, and FremantleMedia’s Cecile Frot-Coutaz.

While attendees last year generally gave the move from longtime Las Vegas venue to Miami a thumbs-up, there were gripes about logistical issues, in particular the long wait for elevators in the Tresor Tower where most of the syndicators were holed up. Organizers said that problem has been fixed.

“Half of our inventory of space has been shuffled around more evenly and more parts of the hotel complex have been commandeered for NATPE events and for registrants who want to take a break from the hustle and bustle, including a new lounge that will be roped off for attendees only.

The non-profit organization stands for National Association of Television Programming Executives and has been operating the trade show since 1964.