Par, Warner and Sony set NATPE plate
Convention signs up 80% of the exhibitors
|
"I'm pretty happy," said Rick Feldman, prexy-CEO of the National Assn. of TV Program Executives. "We've now got agreements from about 80% of the exhibitors" to take space on the exhibition floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, site of the 2005 conference (Jan. 25-27).
But there are still some significant holdouts: Warner Bros. Domestic TV, Twentieth Domestic and Intl. TV and Buena Vista Domestic and Intl. TV. But even though these companies won't set up booths on the exhibition floor, they'll take over blocks of suites in Mandalay Bay.
"Everyone is making nice," Feldman said. "We're all playing in the same sandbox together."
The one major studio that still hasn't decided yet is NBC Universal, but Feldman said NATPE is reserving space on the floor if the company signs up for a booth. A spokesman for NBC U would say only that discussions are under way with NATPE officials.
Feldman stressed the companies that have made a commitment to the floor, such as King World, Sony Pictures Domestic TV, CBS Paramount Intl. TV, MGM and Carsey-Werner TV. The 2005 convention may be MGM's last as a separate company; it has reached an agreement in principle to merge with Sony Pictures TV.
NATPE has made it easier for the studios to go back to the floor by drastically reducing the cost of the booths and lowering the rentals on space. The studios had bolted in 2002, reserving suites in hotels that were sometimes far from the exhibition hall. The 2003 convention in New Orleans was a logistical nightmare for buyers, who spent too much time waiting for elevators as they journeyed from floor to floor to meet with distributors in hotel suites.
Last year, NATPE vacated the Las Vegas Convention Center and set up its conference and exhibition at the Venetian Hotel, where most of the distributors set up shop, either with booths or in suites.
