NATPE's Johansen signs off
Prexy-CEO to stay until successor is found
His departure comes as consolidation and recession combined to make this year's NATPE something of a discombobulated affair, with top domestic syndicators selling their new shows out of various hotel suites and a greatly reduced number of smaller distribs and international players exhibiting on the convention floor. The org hopes to reunite the various constituencies of the biz next year in Las Vegas under one roof.
Johansen said he would remain in his current role until a search committee created by NATPE's board of directors selects his successor. Further, he will serve as a long-term adviser to NATPE and its board of directors.
He told reporters Wednesday he intended to remain in the media business and in Los Angeles, but he did not offer specifics on his next move.
Among Johansen's contributions to the nonprofit org over the last decade was the spearheading of the association's growth across the globe and its focus on educational outreach to universities and students of media.
Conventional numbers
As for the week, delegates who worked the Crescent City convention floor numbered between 6,000 and 7,000, while an additional 1,500 execs traipsed to meetings only in hotel suites. Overall attendance was likely off by 60% from its all-time record of 20,000 delegates set in 2000.
The search committee will be chaired by NATPE co-founder Lou Klein and include: NATPE's new chairperson Peggy Kelly, a senior VP at Universal McCann; Tony Vinciquerra, NATPE's immediate past chairman and CEO of the Fox Networks Group; Lifetime prexy-CEO Carole Black; Lippin PR firm chairman Dick Lippin; Hearst-Argyle VP Emerson Coleman; Belo senior VP Dennis Williamson; and NATPE legal counsel Mickey Gardner.
Vinciquerra told journalists Wednesday that despite the downsized convention, he had only heard reports from sellers that business was brisk and efficient. "(King World chairman) Roger King was bouncing up and down at the end of the day Tuesday," Vinciquerra said, referring apparently to King's station clearance results with new firstrun strip "Living It Up With Ali and Jack."
Also on Wednesday, Kelly was elected by the board to chair NATPE's executive committee, and several new board members were tapped. They are Paramount Intl. TV prexy Gary Marenzi, Smart Jog commercial head Gilles Meunier and KTLA general manager John Reardon. All NATPE board members serve three-year terms.
