FatKat Animation had its first booth at NATPE in 2007. All images courtesy of Sarah Bailey unless otherwise noted.

Things were running hot and cold, figuratively and quite literally, at NATPE 07 held Jan. 15-18 at the Mandalay Bay Resort Convention Center in Las Vegas. Las Vegas was experiencing one of its worst cold spells with frozen ice on the desert iceplant and icicles hung from the rafters of many hotels. However, inside in the tower where many of the Latin American buyers and distributors preferred hospitality suites to the convention floor, a fire broke out on the fourth floor, forcing the evacuation of the participants for nearly three hours.

One exhibitor allowed a goodie bag to drift to close to a candle burning in the bathroom, which set off the sprinklers in part of that wing. It had to have been nerve-racking for the MTV Networks Latin America group just on the other side of the suite where the fire started. Roughly a year ago, the rain-soaked roof at MIP had come crashing down on the MTV Networks booth, destroying the booth and scattering buyers and sellers to makeshift rooms at hotels to try to conduct business. This time MTV/Nick came through unscathed and was able to get back in time for its scheduled cocktail party that evening.

The size and excitement generated by major networks and studios in the past has cooled off considerably for the market, but the action for selling to Latin America has heated up considerably. The major TV industry trades have dwindled in size as the ad dollars have gone to making the Latin American TV trades quite substantial and prominent at the show.

The first National Association of Television Program Executives Conference, better known as NATPE, had a humble beginning in May of 1962 at the New York Hilton Hotel with 71 registrants, mostly programming directors from U.S. television stations. Today it has grown into an international event with more than 7,500 participants and a look at all media, both large and small.

When those 71 programming execs entering the two-day conference in 1962 they were looking for shows to fill their time blocks, because back then local stations had a lot of time they programmed. Cartoons became a mainstay for the after school block and Saturday morning was for kids-only viewing. Programmers were looking for shows that would satisfy the needs of their advertisers, like Mattel, General Foods and Hasbro. Indie producers could sell direct and television syndication was born.

NATPE became huge, attracting networks that were looking for affiliates, local stations looking for content to air and producers with great ideas for television. In the hey-day of independent television, NATPE was a once-a-year, one-stop shop. New show concepts emerged from the floor and legends, like Oprah, Wheel of Fortune and Scooby-Doo were made in syndication.

In its 40th year, NATPE, this year, is reflecting the major changes that have occurred in the television industry in the last 10 years. Among the "majors," a term lovingly used for the big networks and big production companies, the numbers have shrunk dramatically.

It took two large exhibit halls to house NATPE Today, only one modest size exhibit space at the Mandalay Bay Resort Hotel is needed and a massive amount of hotel suites in The Hotel next door.

In the past Paramount, CBS, Nickelodeon and King World each had their own massively impressive displays. Now they are all housed under one banner. Universal and NBC stood separately until last year. ABC was all by itself and now shares space with Disney, its owner. These mergers and acquisitions have shrunk the presence on the conference floor.

Networks now have almost all of the independent stations already locked in as affiliates in the U.S. and through their production companies, they supply their affiliates programming to cover almost all day parts. The demand for syndication has shrunk in the U.S. And many other global conferences compete with NATPE. But business at NATPE was still being done this January.