NATPE 2014

After this week’s annual programming marketplace in Miami Beach, the fates of a number of shows are still up in the air. “We’ll know in mid February” was a common refrain. But deals were certainly being done, by syndicators both large and small.

With the 2014 NATPE market and conference wrapping up on Wednesday, the organization’s president and CEO Rod Perth and chairman Jordan Levin touted growth in attendance and buyers — though they declined to give any specific numbers. Perth also laid out plans for the 2015 market, which moves to earlier in January.

Phil Alvidrez, executive in charge of production for the syndicated Right This Minute, sees the growing success of his social media-themed show — produced with station group partners — as the start of a new genre.

Jon Feltheimer, Lauren Zalaznick, Emilio Azcarraga Jean, and James L. Brooks get tribute treatment at the 11th annual Tartikoff Awards, recognizing industry figures who have made an impact on the business in the spirit of the late NBC master programmer.

Dick Smothers, at NATPE promoting his A Minute with Dickie Smothers, took time Tuesday to pay tribute to the late Pete Seeger. The Smothers Brothers ended 12 years of blacklisting of the folk singer when they bravely booked Seeger on their CBS show in 1967. Smothers’ A Minute with Dickie Smothers is described as “an informative, wellâ€Âresearched, fun and entertaining message/segment with easy-to-follow tips and strategies for TV news viewers to use when tackling everyday life.”

TBS President David Levy at NATPE: “We produce content for digital and television. The one area we are concerned about is mobile. Impressions are skyrocketing. Penetration is huge. But we have to get to a point with advertisers where we figure out how to monetize it.”

Valari Staab, president of NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations, says it’s developing an app called “NBC Now” that it’s “looking to launch on the Owned Television Stations in May or June, then the affiliates would launch in September.” Her enthusiasm for TV Everywhere was shared by the other TV station group members of a NATPE panel who outlined their plans to let viewers watch local TV no matter where they are.

TV station CEOs at a NATPE panel in Miami Beach, Fla., said Monday that TV Everywhere is making serious headway. “Like everything else in this business, it’s evolutionary, not revolutionary,” said Perry Sook, CEO of Nexstar Broadcasting Group. And Jordan Wertlieb, president of Hearst Television, said there’s plenty of evidence that TV viewers want to watch local TV no matter where they are.

TV station consolidation is partly to explain recent partnerships such as CBS Television Distribution working with Tribune on syndicated shows Arsenio Hall, The Test and the recently concluded trial run of conflict-resolution show Serch with MC Serch on eight Tribune Stations. “It has helped companies like ours,” said Hilary Estey McLoughlin, president of creative affairs at CTD. “It’s good for long-term brand building.”

NATPE continues to operate as a marketplace for linear programming, but it’s also evolved into an opportunity for digital producers and content creation companies to plant the seeds for future programming and marketing partnerships.

The association announces that top Twitter executives will be showcased at a keynote session focused on harnessing Twitter’s power to unlock new business opportunities

“We think that by bringing great people together in the same tent, we have regained relevancy to an important constituent who, frankly, we had lost a lot of — local TV stations,” says the group’s CEO Rod Perth as the association’s annual gathering in Miami Beach nears.