The convention floor at NATPE 2002 just wasn't the same as in previous years. Courtesy of NATPE.

"It's not what it used to be," rues Marie-Christine Dufour, senior vice president of marketing and communications at the Canadian animation company, Cinegroupe. "Where were all the celebrities, the free lunches, the giveaways?"

Dufour and more than ten thousand others who attended this year's NATPE television conference in Las Vegas last January are lamenting more than just a lack of pizzazz. "NATPE has been changing for the past few years, but this year the change was more drastic than at any other time I can remember," explains Dufour. "There were many more sellers than buyers and that's not the kind of show we're looking for. If it continues the way it's going, we'd very seriously consider whether to attend."

Mary Bredin, Director, International Acquisitions and Programing for Walt Disney Television International, was just one of the many who found the convention to be disorganized this year.

Breaking Point
When NATPE -- the National Association of Television Programming Executives -- had its first conference in 1964 it was within a totally different television landscape, dominated by three broadcast networks and hundreds of television stations making their own independent buying decisions. Syndicators and the major studios spent millions on elaborate booths, food and entertainment in order to woo individual stations and station groups in the hopes of selling them their talk show, game show, drama or comedy. But those days are long gone. With the rise of Fox, WB! and UPN, independent stations have virtually disappeared. In their place, smaller production and distribution companies, many from Latin America, have filled the void, making for a very different NATPE.

"For years the major studios have threatened to bail on NATPE, and this year they finally made good on their promise," explains Greg Kimmelman, president of the distribution company Global Telemedia, who has been attending NATPE for more than a decade. Indeed, this year the Studios abandoned the convention floor for suites at the Venetian Hotel, a long taxi cab ride away. The result was long lines at the Venetian's elevator banks, missed meetings, and feet even more tired than usual.