On With the 2003 Show!
Your Unofficial Guide in New Orleans
Staff -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/19/2003 7:00:00 PM
NATPE this week in New Orleans has shrunk from crowds of 18,000 or so just a few years ago. But it's almost as if it has returned to its origins of 40 years ago: as a convention held in hotel suites.
| What's New in Weeklies for Fall '03 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Upcoming offerings of from syndicators | |||
| Show | Description | Distributor | Deal |
| *Playground Earth can be sold on a barter or barter/cash basis Source: Broadcasting & Cable |
|||
| America's Moving To… | Half-hour | Mansfield | Barter |
| CosmoGirl! | Half-hour | Hearst Entertainment | Barter |
| Missing | Half-hour | Telco Productions | Barter |
| Playground Earth | Half-hour | Zoom Culture | Barter* |
| The Talent Agency | Hour | Western International | Barter |
| Unexplained Mysteries | Hour | Paramount | Barter |
| Angel | Hour | Twentieth | Barter |
| Walker, Texas Ranger | Hour | Sony | Barter |
There will still be exhibitors and seminars at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, and a thing called the Hollywood Plaza where the major studios can hang with clients. But most of their major business will be conducted in those suites (for a full list of hotels, see page 20).
Next year, NATPE will return to its new permanent home in Las Vegas, which syndicators find an easier trek.
Consolidation has reduced the convention. Now buyer and seller are often from different branches of the same company. And, now that station groups can own more stations, those larger groups make group buys, often long before NATPE (for a look at what buys the top 25 groups are considering, see page 21).
Still, a lot of business gets done at NATPE, and this year, largely because of some arm-twisting by NATPE Chairman Tony Vinciquerra, president of Fox TV Stations, three broadcast networks (CBS, NBC and Fox) will either hold affiliate meetings or meet with their boards of governors in New Orleans this week.
In fact, some show-buying does get done, which is what everybody is there for, and there's buzz about a handful of new shows this year (see charts, this page). And, although the bulk of the transactions at NATPE involve syndicators' making deals with stations, some advertisers use the show to buy into shows.
This year, though, just about a month from now, on Feb. 25-26, these same syndicators will be in New York for the first annual conference of the Syndicated Network Television Association, an organization funded by the major studios. In essence, the SNTA conference is a syndication upfront, and distributors plan to use the event to meet with ad agencies and buyers.
| Shopping for a First-Run Show or Two? | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Here are the major strips available this year | ||||
| Program | Distributor | Type | Terms | Launch |
| *Show has had limited regional or station-group run, is now being offered nationally. Source: Broadcasting & Cable |
||||
| Ask Rita | Litton Syndications | Half-hour relationship | cash + barter | Jan. 2003 |
| eBay TV | Sony Pictures | Hour reality | barter only | Fall 2003 |
| Ellen DeGeneres | Warner Bros. | Hour talk/variety | cash + barter | Fall 2003 |
| Ex-Treme Dating | Twentieth | Half-hour relationship | barter only | June 2003* |
| Fergie | Universal | Hour talk | cash + barter | Fall 2003 |
| Good Day Live | Twentieth | Hour news/talk | cash + barter | Jan. 2003* |
| Living it Up! | King World | Hour talk | cash + barter | Fall 2003 |
| Sharon Osbourne | Warner Bros. | Hour talk | cash + barter | Fall 2003 |
| Starting Over | NBC Enterprises | Hour reality | cash + barter | Fall 2003 |
| Wayne Brady | Buena Vista | Hour talk/variety | cash + barter | Fall 2003* |
| How About an Off-Net Program? | ||
|---|---|---|
| Here's what the major studios are offering for 2003 | ||
| Show | Distributor | Type |
| Source: Broadcasting & Cable |
||
| Angel | Twentieth | Weekend hour |
| Becker | Paramount | Sitcom |
| The Parkers | Paramount | Sitcom |
| Walker, Texas Ranger | Sony | Weekend hour |
| Ripley's Believe It Or Not | Sony | Half-hour reality |
| King of Queens | Sony | Sitcom |
| My Wife and Kids | Buena Vista | Sitcom |
| America's Funniest Home Videos | Buena Vista | One-hour strip |
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