Vinciquerra, O’Brien To Headline NATPE Miami

The National Association of Television Program Executives has selected Tony Vinciquerra, chairman-CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Soledad O’Brien, host of Hearst Television’s political magazine Matter of Fact, to headline NATPE Miami with a keynote conversation on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018.

The focus of the conversation will be in keeping with NATPE’s overall theme for the conference: A Changing Industry in a Changing World. The annual marketplace and conference will take place Jan. 16-18 at the Fontainebleau and Eden Roc Miami Beach Resorts.

NATPE says registration for the yearly summit in Miami Beach is pacing ahead of last year with independent producers and international exhibitors accounting for the increase to date.

NATPE will bring together the independent production community from around the world. This year PactUK, with its stable of production companies, will join the ranks of participants. They will exhibit alongside additional international pavilions, which are seeing new exhibitors join their umbrellas. Pavilions being represented are from China (organized by Jiangsu Broadcasting Corp. International), France (organized by TV France International), Spain (organized by ICEX), Korea (organized by KOCCA), Brazil (organized by BRAVI) and Argentina (organized by Argentina Audiovisual).

Joining the programming lineup for the first time this year will be the NATPE Streaming Summit, which will take a holistic look at the OTT and streaming landscape and its outlook for the future. Facebook’s head of global and creative strategy, Ricky Van Veen, will be lending his voice to the OTT conversation at a session breaking down what is in store for Facebook Watch, its new content platform. The programming throughout the Platforms & OTT track will mirror the mission laid out by the recently formed NATPE NXTGN Advisory Board to help the industry navigate emerging media.

“NATPE has been at the forefront of new developments in the global entertainment industry,” said JP Bommel, NATPE president-CEO. “This year will focus on the future and the changing dynamics of our business around the world and how to prepare and take advantage of the changes.”

Other highlights of the conference include a planned spotlight conversation with Roma Khanna who was recently named CEO of Revolt TV, as well as multiple sessions covering the topics of diversity, inclusion and empowerment. Panels include one on how innovative creators are engaging the LGBTQ community across multiple platforms and another on the business of inclusivity.

The Station Group Forum will return and cover topics such as how ATSC 3.0 will change the business of broadcasting. An additional session titled OTT and Me: A Station Group Research Report, presented by PromaxBDA is also confirmed.

The nine tracks for this year’s Conference include Brands & Advertisers, Music+Vision, Development, Deals & Data, Platforms & OTT, Scripted, Unscripted, Station Groups, Global and Latin America.

Exhibiting will be organizations comprising independents to major studios, networks and broadcast stations.

The NATPE Opening Night Party sponsors Kanal D and Olympusat will feature a live performance by Elvis Crespo.

Additional details on the three-day NATPE Miami Marketplace & Conference will be released soon. More information on NATPE, including registration for the event, can be found at www.natpe.com.

See all of TVNewsCheck’s NATPE 2018 news here.