NATPE COO JP Bommel Named President

JP Bommel, who has been the top executive of NATPE for the better part of the past year, was officially named president and CEO today.

Bommel joined NATPE in August 2015 as managing director and COO, titles he held until his elevation to president and CEO this week. For the better part of the past year, leading up to NATPE’s 2017 conference last month in Miami, he had been transitioning to the chief executive’s role, replacing longtime NATPE CEO Rod Perth.

The announcement from NATPE on Tuesday represented a vote of confidence for Bommel following the annual conference just a few weeks ago in January.

“NATPE Miami 2017, the first with JP at the helm, was a huge success with compelling new tracks and record numbers of international attendees,” said Andy Kaplan, NATPE chairman and president, Worldwide Networks at Sony Pictures Television. “JP has a strong track record and I’m excited to continue working with him on our shared vision for NATPE, building on its substantial reach and relevance as the industry continues to evolve around the world and across platforms.”

NATPE’s January conference featured three new programming “tracks” — NATPE Music, NATPE Scripted and the NATPE Station Group Summit. The latter was created to address complaints from broadcast station group executives and station general managers that the 2016 conference gave broadcast TV short shrift.

Going forward, Bommel’s priorities will include “the establishment of new membership tiers; the creation of new 365-day-a-year experiences for members; and the expansion of its 2017 NATPE Budapest Market and Content Summit [scheduled for June 19-22],” NATPE’s announcement said.