NATPE cancels its 2023 Bahamas Marketplace

The National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) has decided to cancel its 2023 NATPE Global Conference and Marketplace, which was scheduled to take place at the Baha Mar Resort in Nassau, Bahamas, from January 17 to 19, 2023, Señal News has learned.

Heavily impacted by the Covid pandemic, which prevented the association from holding physical events, weeks ago NATPE announced that it was filing a court petition to restructure its business affairs with the Bankruptcy Court under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. Furthermore, its decision to relocate its flagship event from Miami to the Baha Mar Resort in Nassau, Bahamas, was not well received by the industry.

●  A NEW EVENT IN MIAMI?

With NATPE being unable to celebrate its traditional January event, which is always the first big market of the year, DISCOP organizer Basic Lead might be planning to launch its own Miami-set convention, DISCOP Miami, which could take place from January 31 to February 2, 2023, at the Grand Beach Hotel in Miami Beach.

According to people familiar with the matter, the market aims to be low-cost and compact, and will focus on delivering face-to-face meetings between buyers, distributors, producers, and marketers. Reinforced executive and company-to-company matchmaking assistance could be available four weeks before the market.

At the same time, the organizer has said that a line of communication is going to be kept open with NATPE to explore the revival of the brand for future events.