Second Station Summit Looks Set To Shine

PromaxBDA’s second annual Station Summit is on track to surpass last year’s conference on just about all counts, with more attendees and a beefed-up presence by broadcast networks, says PromaxBDA President-CEO Jonathan Block-Verk.

The four-day conference will take place June 26-29 at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. Mick Ebeling, CEO of design and production company The Ebeling Group, will be the keynote speaker.

“This year, we have five networks hosting affiliate marketing meetings, six syndicators and 12 stations groups,” says Block-Verk. “It’s a significant increase in participation this year.”

Registration is pacing 30% ahead of last year. In 2011, more than 550 people attended the conference, far exceeding PromaxBDA’s initial projection of about 200 attendees.

“We conceived this as a way to service the local television industry and bring them back to the PromaxBDA fold,” says Block-Verk. “We created Station Summit to super-serve the needs of local television GMs, marketing and promotion executives.”

Each day of the Summit is tailored to a specific group of television marketers.

It will kick off on Tuesday, June 26, with network affiliate meetings. ABC and NBC are returning for a second year. CBS, The CW and Spanish-language network Telemundo are holding affiliate meetings for the first time.

Wednesday, June 27, is set aside for TV station GMs and marketers to meet with syndicators CBS Television Distribution, Debmar-Mercury, NBCUniversal Television Distribution, Sony Pictures Television, Twentieth Television and Warner Bros.

Disney-ABC isn’t a Station Summit sponsor but it will have people attending the conference. Station groups CBS Television Stations, Gannett, LIN Media, NBC Owned Television Stations, Raycom Media, Scripps, Sinclair, Tribune, Young, and others will also be attending.

Thursday, June 28, will be a full day of panels, with Mick Ebeling giving his keynote speech at 9:30 a.m.

The Ebeling Group is a production and design firm that creates promos for companies like Marvel and it has its own productions, such as the Christmas TV movie Yes, Virginia. The company also created EyeWriter, a pair of high-tech glasses that uses retinal scanning to help physically disabled people communicate by moving their eyes.

Also on Thursday is The Best of the Best, a showcase for the best TV station promotions from around the country. Fox Television Station’s Leslie Lyndon will be the host.

Other sessions on Thursday include A View from the Top with Fox marketing SVP Nick Belperio, Raycom President Paul McTear, ABC Entertainment Group CMO Marla Provencio and NBC O&O President Valari Staab.

Panelists on the Successful Strategies for Launching (and Maintaining) Daytime Talk are: CBS Television Distribution marketing EVP Michael Mischler, Harpo Studios EVP Jonathan Sinclair, Ricki Lake Show Executive Producer Lisa Kridos, Telepictures Productions President Hilary Estey McLoughlin, Tribune Broadcasting programming president Sean Compton and Mark Itkin from William Morris Endeavor Agency.

This year’s PromaxBDA Local Awards will be a Thursday afternoon session, as opposed to being a separate event in the evening.