NATPE Smaller, But No Less Vital To TV

That said, what kind of syndication presence do you expect at the show this year?

I know for a fact that the people that represent the major station groups and the people that represent the major sellers are all going to be at NATPE and talking to each other. How much actual business gets done, I don't know. There will be renewals, there will be library deals.

A guy like John Nogowski [of CBS Television Distribution], who has got tons of product, should be busy. There are VOD channels, there are new cable channels, there are channels all over the world that will be looking into CBS products. We have all these people from Latin America that are looking for new product.

I'm not looking for the most robust market that we have ever seen before, but I think maybe even in bad times people need to get in every single opportunity where they can get in front of people.

So each of the major syndicators will have suites in the hotel this year?

Yes, most of them will. I don't want to go into detail. Everybody is doing it a different way. The bottom line is that we will create an environment where people are going to come. How they're going to come and how they're going to meet, that's up to them.

None of the big boys are going to be on the floor, right?

Right. None of the big boys are going to be on the floor. You know, we're moving to Miami next year. There, everybody's going to be in an ocean-front suite.

What about the CES and the NAB? Seeing the same sort of future marketplace as you, they have been trying to cut into your turf by soliciting programmers to come to their shows. What effect has that had on NATPE?

It honestly hasn't. NAB exists in its own universe and we exist in ours. Ours is in January; theirs comes in April. While there is definitely duplication, the group heads who feel that they need to look at the technological aspects of what NAB has, they go to NAB. Those people that are involved in talking to advertisers and to advertising agencies and agents, they go to NATPE.

What about CES?

Sony has always been a big player there. NBC is still involved. CNBC or MSNBC does a live show there, but in terms of the minions that they were bringing over the last couple of years, I know from my friends at NBC that's not happening anymore. I think that everybody's gone back to their knitting. These guys do their tech thing and we do our programming thing.

Is it an accident that once again the NAB board meeting conflicts with NATPE?

You would have to ask them and they will tell you that it's an accident. Since it's the second time in three years, my guess is that I'm not so sure it is an accident and it is not particularly appreciated on this end.

Why the switch to Miami in 2011?

The most vibrant part of our marketplace is the Latin market and, to some degree, the Canadian market. First of all, changing venues after seven or eight years in the same place was a good thing and so is going to a place where we can control the entire hotel and Eden Roc next door. Everybody that you meet over a three-day period will be in the television business and people will not have to wander a half an hour from the suite to the floors.

With regard to creating an environment that's going to allow people to do business in a much more constructive, efficient way, Miami is going to offer that. Not to mention that I'm always somewhat jealous when I go to Banff or Cannes and I go, god, this is so beautiful. Why can't we have something that's beautiful?

But isn't moving so far east going to further strain the Hollywood connection?

Yes. It probably does to some extent. There are risks to doing everything. Part of the risk of staying in Las Vegas is that I don't get as many Europeans as I would like. Going from Berlin to Miami Beach in January sounds like a pretty exciting prospect to some people.        

If you can change the venue, why can't you change the time so it syncs up better with the needs of the syndicators? They generally bring out their new product in the fall.

We've talked to people about that. The fall is really not a good time to do it. January is the time to do it. The reason it's January is because new shows go on the air in September and you need the November book. You need three or four months to evaluate what you're going to need and what you're not going to need. So frankly, doing it in the fall is really not the right time.