NATPE 2004 scheduled for Vegas

New Orleans -- The National Association of Television Programming Executives'
annual convention will move to the Venetian Hotel and the Sands Expo Center in
Las Vegas in 2004, the association said Sunday.

NATPE president Bruce Johansen said the association had arranged a multiyear
deal with the Venetian and Sands, but he did not say how many years NATPE had
committed to.

"We understand our clients' wishes to exhibit at NATPE in hotel suites, where
they can hold meetings in an intimate environment," Johansen said.

"Other companies, however, desire to have dedicated space on an exhibition
floor during our conference. By moving NATPE to the Venetian and Sands, we
provide the best of both worlds to the television community, which, in January
2004, will be reunited in one central location."

NATPE kicked off its last scheduled conference in New Orleans Monday.

Program distributors are located in hotels all around downtown New Orleans,
making logistics tricky.

Next year, NATPE will be held Jan. 13 through 16.

Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.