After about 45 minutes of info, all in the general theme of “Here’s what they’re doing and what they want,” one of us (name doesn’t matter, though she gets full credit from me) went contrary right off the bat:

“EVERYONE SAYS THE SAME THING,” she said. “y’know, strong characters, big stories, docusoaps, formats, blah-blah-blah.”  Rarely does anything truly new come forth or are there any secrets revealed.   Just about everyone of the 50 or so “30 Minutes With” participants had a mantra that became redundant sometime Tuesday morning.

Ya think a network is going to tell 100 or so people at a 1,000+ conference their plans?  In this marketplace?  (Or any other, for that matter.) Why leak your strategy to the competition?  As a result, rare is the candor of a speaker in these settings. Though there are exceptions. A&E’s Rob Sharenow wins our award for SUMMIT SPEAKER OF THE YEAR.  He turned up everywhere and was always smart, funny and brutally honest.

Not that we all threw away our notes last night, but it is a good thing to consider when submitting your programs to a network.  The very best way to stay up to date more than once a year is to subscribe to CableU.  We had most of this info (unadorned with conference hype) in our network needs section a full two weeks before D.C.  Count on CableU.tv to get it to you first!!

Sorry for my promo but after two weeks on the road with NATPE and Realscreen, I’m still in a sales mode.  And if we sell for you, that is a good thing.

One more thing:  CableU’s Bulls&%t Bingo at The Summit was a big hit … dozens of buzz-words, overused phrases and silly slogans arrayed like a bingo card.  We gave away some iPods to those who caught the words as they floated out from the daises in D.C. We also picked up a few new overused goodies for the list:

• DNA
• 3D
• Genre-busing
• Transactional Docusoap
• Credible-Obsessive
• New Jersey is the new Alaska
• Big Dream Shows
• Cloud

…and if you can explain this one, you’re in on the secret….

• “Bevel-edged Approach”

See you on the road, at a conference, or in your office.  Thanks for a great couple of weeks everyone!

Then you pick up the paper and read this about Haiti: “New rules of hunger etiquette are emerging: no matter what is found, it must be shared.”

Just a thought: Why could that not apply to all sectors of all businesses these days?

There’s an old story: Parents have a child who is happy, happy, happy all the time. Nothing can ever break his mood. And while the parents love his cheerful disposition, they’re concerned that he might have a warped view of life, no matter how positive he is. So one day, the kid comes downstairs to an enormous pile of horse manure in the middle of the living room and before you know it … he’s jumping into the pile, flinging manure all around and laughing with joy!

His parents are surprised that even a pile of horse manure makes their child jump around with glee and they ask him, “Why are you so happy?” The boy says, “Hey! With all this horse s**t around, I figure there’s got to be a pony here someplace!”

Clumsy metaphorical anecdote aside, it struck me yesterday as the NATPE exhibition floor opened that the compact size and closer location were pretty good for most attendees and before you knew it, the aisles were a steady stream of NATPE attendees. Most of whom said that it’s been a pretty good conference for them so far. The sessions are A-list filled, business is being written, new relationships forged and old ones rekindled. Heck, even the notoriously reclusive Sinclair Broadcasting sent their top programmer (and good guy), Bill Butler. And Miami next year is very appealing to just about everybody.

So for all those who can’t wait to bury the organization, sorry … but it looks pretty good to a lot of us, so pardon me if we ignore all the s**t and continue to dig for the good things. Time to hit the booth!

MSG’s solution: THE SUMMER BLOCK PARTY … the place “…all summer long for live sports, concerts, classics and more!” A sports network playin’ tunes!! (The sports part is a lot of repeats and wrestling, it seems.)

Last night, we stumbled upon MSG’s RENT PARTY, a little half-hour, behind-the-scenes look at an upcoming Steely Dan concert at the co-owned Beacon Theater. During the program the breaks and crawl reminded us that tickets for that upcoming run were available on the MSG website. Within 5 minutes, I had 4 tickets for the price of 3 and we’re off to see Steely Dan.

In that perfect future world, by the way, I’m pointing and clicking on something and the tix are printed in the adjacent room in seconds … all without leaving one screen (TV or laptop, take your pick). Which would have been fine, but the concert isn’t for 2 weeks. And I’m a patient man. But I digress.

The rest of the night and indeed, the stunt, is all about music … concerts (or rehearsals) by Earth Wind & Fire, Chicago, Motley Crue, Elton John from the Garden (as in Madison Square Garden … MSG, get it?)

So NICE GOIN’! GOOD MOVE!, MSG! Counter-programming that drives ticket sales to a co-owned venue! Synergy, thy name is MSG!!

• Touch Productions, Malcolm Brinkworth – ” …we were looking for ways of decoding the world; showing it in a new light.”

• ETV Media Group, James Penfold – “Instead of the time-worn approach of ‘here’s my TV format, which broadcaster can I get to fund it?’; program-makers need need to think along the lines of ‘here’s the idea: how many existing and emerging platforms can I use to find its audience and make a buck along the way?”

• Neat idea here, from Summer Films: a strand of factual entertainment docs following a British celebrity who lives with their all-time idol for awhile.

• PBS, John WIlson: Confining itself to programs that are “really vital to the schedule. We cannot afford nice-to-have programming; it has to be must-have programming.”

If you have any feedback or additional insights, leave a comment.

Our independent, totally unscientific survey of our customers and visitors to our nice, new booth (take a look online!) was pleasantly surprising, perhaps particularly to those who ditched Vegas for the no-better security of their offices.

Full disclosure: I am now a member of the NATPE Board of Directors, so you’ll not read any sniping here.  I come at these things pretty optimistically anyway.  But this is not a “What do we do about NATPE?” rant.  This is a dose of, “Hey!  It was pretty good!”

That’s not just me talking … from most everyone we interacted with, we heard that the “market”, “convention,” or whatever it is, was pretty good!  Our friend, David Fox, said that perhaps people’s expectations weren’t too high and that NATPE exceeded them.  Perhaps … but here’s the view from our time in Las Vegas this week:

Mood: Positive.  NATPE is a great place for producers to chase the dream, regardless of experience.  We’re all looking to get launched.  Companies big or small or with just one person with one idea all seemed to be pleased with the non-negative mood of most meetings.  Mr. Fox said that maybe “these economic times” (our vote for 2009 overused phrase of the year) thinned the herd, so that those there were the most positive/optimistic execs to begin with.  Even the bartenders and desk clerks said what a positive, enthusiastic and sociable crowd we were!

Floor or suites? Again, due to the board membership, this is not my place to argue the subject openly.  But the buyers, presuming they are an important element at NATPE (ya think??), are getting weary from trekking the nearly mile walk to or from the floor to THEhotel (oh, that whole “THE” thing). They seem to prefer booths … easier to get around and see more … but want just one location in the end.  There are pros and cons to each … but to me, walking down a corridor knocking on doors is not the way to reunite with old friends or look for opportunities. Having events on the floor was a great idea:  Lou and I were in the cocktail competition Tuesday evening at the LG Kitchen (try our “Scarlett Passion” someday … half mojito/half Cosmo.  Judges called it “aggressive”).  Other cooking demos and entertainment in the lounge livened up the day.  And from our POV, THEhotel was better than ever when it came to service.

Panels: Great, really great, or so we heard.  Our session, OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS: ANSWER WITH THE PERFECT PITCH, was very well received.  We took dozens of proposed program presentations, culled them down to 3, and the producers pitched the crowd of hundreds, and along the way, we all learned about the better ways to present and pitch ideas.  The crowd (comprised of nearly 100% producers) all left with useful takeaway information … and many said it was one of the most useful sessions.  Ditto the summit of reality show producers (Beers/Branton/Emerson/Gurin/Schotz???) who each took a whack at making a trailer for CELEBRITY REHAB, a program none of them produce.  It’s this sort of “How to” that is useful to anyone and everyone.

Beach Buddies: Yeah, lots of formerly working execs traipsing around.   All wondering where to go next, they came to NATPE to prospect and network.  Makes me wonder about those employees hanging by threads at the majors … would they ever pay their own money to come to NATPE to invest in (and protect) their future?  I met one NATPE ex-intern who left her TV Station job for a few days to shop her show idea in Vegas and to get known. It worked. You don’t have to be 22 years old to be smart enough to lay some pipe for the future.

Food: Amazingly great everywhere.  There was a time when a juicy steak or a disgustingly large buffet were all you could expect for dinner in Vegas … but those days are long gone.  You could remain in the Mandalay Bay for the entire week and have great meals 3x a day.  Our faves?  Pampelmousse (a real local fave that until now I kept secret), Aureole, Mix.  And the effort to put a decent eatery on the convention floor (Table X) worked well from our POV.  Easy to get to, never crowded, decent food. Again, great service.

I’m on the plane now, heading back to JFK, only to head home, change the contents of my suitcases and head to DC Sunday for the RealScreen Summit.  We’ll have 6 CABLEready/CableU/CABLEready Production-ersry along for the ride (darned near half the company!).

But I leave Las Vegas in the very important, transitional year, more than anything I feel blessed to be in the TV business, one which attracts more than its share of dreamers and optimists.   Doom sayers?  Who wants ‘em??!!

There was some bank robber guy who was asked why he robbed banks.  “That’s where the money is,” Willy Sutton replied.  Well, conferences are like that, too … it’s where the people are!

NATPE is really the only group in the biz that exists for the benefit of the entire TV business … to share, to learn, to network with each other.  Sure, it’s a place to sell programs, but that minimizes things.  CABLEready doesn’t come to NATPE with the sole purpose of selling programs … ever.  For us, it’s the one time a year to take the temperature of the biz and see old friends (and a few old enemies!), and gauge how our company has progressed in the last year.  (It’s also been a great place to introduce our CableU!)

Rolling around the convention hotels over the weekend, I found quite a few people and companies in town early for meetings (or, in our case, client golf!).   And while many expressed concern about NATPE and where they feel it’s going, none of them seemed to sound like they’d rather be anywhere but here.

There were many of us veterans wandering around … my first NATPE was in 1977, and I’ve missed only one in the ensuing 32 years.  I can safely say that every one of the companies I’ve worked for over that time treated NATPE as the one “institution” around which the year revolved.  I can also say that my career and indeed, our companies, would be in completely different shape without the contacts and camaraderie built here over 3 decades.

Like anything, NATPE is what one makes of it.  The major syndicators don’t think they need it, but that ignores the changing nature of the business: that there are a whole lot of different and new buyers out there coming to NATPE.  For the not-so-majors, it’s the time to be seen and deal in the same neighborhood as the big guys.  For the producer, it’s part of a dream to get noticed and produced. If you’re out of work, could there be a better place to see and be seen than NATPE?  While I’m afraid we’ll see too many from that camp this week, I believe that being here affirms one’s continued passion for our business.

And that’s my final point:  Isn’t it crucial that here in the U.S., where entertainment is something like the 3rd largest export, that the television industry support an organization that reaches out and speaks to all of us at one time or another … without awards, without a red carpet or any pomp to speak of.  If you’re in the TV industry, you should support NATPE, it’s that simple.  For you and for your company.

That’s what we’re doing … meeting one starts in a couple hours, so I’m back to the notes and coffee … stay tuned for our progress reports throughout the week, and if you are here in Vegas, stop by the booth and say “HI!”

The main impetus for attending was the so-called BATTLE OF THE BRANDS, starring Steve Burns and John Ford, both of whom have worked in various positions at various times at National Geographic and Discovery Channels (including the same time, sometimes).  In fact, so much have they worked together with and against each other, that moderator Richard Bradley of Lion Television had a photo history of whom was where and when … even into the future, complete with less hair and beards.

Big news out of this one didn’t come from the esteemed “battlers” (these guys like and respect each other to much to do war).  It came from the well-done survey on the streets of New York on various questions and opinions:  “On which network is ICE ROAD TRUCKERS?  Describe each network.  Which do you like?”  There were some pretty harsh answers, like “boring” or “I never watch it.”  And Discovery got a lot more credit for certain programs than perhaps it deserved.  (Sometimes the surveyed program ran on a sister or competitive channel.)

Both Burns and Ford were glib ( Ford: “For Christmas, I wish for you high quality and low ratings.”) and insightful:  one net is “immersive, high-energy with an information-takeaway,” the other, “ground-breaking with incredible imagery.”  You guess.  And a bit surprising: neither watches the competition.  Ford assumes people will watch one or the other among the usual 15-20 networks most viewers watch specifically.  “We compete against everything!” and MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL is his biggest concern.

Bradley did a helluva job … he really planned for this panel, from the videos and survey (produced by their New York office) to his well-thought out questions and topics.  He gets our vote for most prepared and sharp helmster.  His open:  The amount of re-branding, just in the US and UK this year, for instance, is well over a dozen different networks.  Bradley laid it all out.

Anywhere I can learn and network (and particularly sell) is a good place to be.  I got a few pitches from other markets and conferences, recruiting for their respective events.  And since I’m now on the NATPE board, all of them will go through the prism of our association with that organization and convention.  Plus, oh yeah, there’s that recession thing.  Every company is reviewing its attendance and sponsorship of these things.

But attendance was impressive here.  The Florence, Italy, location didn’t hurt for European attendees, or Renaissance lovers.   For those who prefer warmer climates this time of year (me, for instance), stick around for ’09 … it’s in Melbourne, Australia.  24C/75F and less than usual rain.  And only 800 miles to the Great Barrier Reef!

By the way, for the full list of Congress-reported network needs, head to CableU … they’re all there, from these nets and other insights and buzz from Florence.

The Congress has about 600 people there this year, waaaaay up from 60 about 15 years ago.   Lots of, as one client calls it, “producers talking to producers.”  Nothing wrong with that, as we should always hob-knob with those who share a common profession and passion. (Why is this such a Holy Grail in the US?  What’s NATPE for?)

As with any conference, most speakers had their own agenda … plugging their channel and/or their pet project.  It happens … we’re all guilty of this sort of thing from time to time. But the really good session today was WHAT’S THE BUZZ?  Justine Kershaw (ex-5 UK, now an indie producer like so many of us) went through a whole lot of clips and comments from attendees.  Other than the rather provocative scenes from a German doc on sex (oh, yeah … they show a lot more over there) the take-away info was how history and, now, science programming, is taking a more personal, “immersive” approach;  not just what’s going on, but how it affects people.

IE  Geneaology.  For years, thought to be a boring TV topic … until WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? brought the idea home … take a celeb, trace his/her family tree, and walk them back to the grave sites of their ancestors.   That’s what personal means.  I guess MYTHBUSTERS is sort of a personal science show (“Stand back!!”).

But a hotel full of producers walking around, begging for coffee (What?  Nothing until 11am?!) is not exactly a pretty sight.   Tomorrow is the promoted “smackdown” between Discovery’s John Ford (ex-Nat Geo, ex-DSC Health, ex-TLC) and Nat Geo’s Steve Burns (ex-DSC, ex-DSC Science).  First time together on one stage, so far as we know.  Like ‘em both … smart, good guys.  But the weirdness is the revolving door between the two nets, not just for the two of them, but a few more, too (IE Moran, Margol, Vissering, and a whole lot more).  Seems like the UK, where nets take turns hiring Dawn Airy.

Back to the chianti, if you please (“Prego!”)

That’s the weather, now here’s the news:

First, “How’s business in the wake of the financial mess?” Good news everybody: Not one channel we’ve talked to sees much of a decline, if any, in program licensing. In tougher times, TV viewing goes up, so it’s a lousy time to cut back and lose momentum.

The ad market has not seemed to have caught up with the mess … at least yet. Ad spending can often lag behind a meltdown. So most channels we spoke with said it hasn’t hit yet (though those in the U.S. and other countries with the Olympics and elections will definitely see shrinking revenues in 2009 without them.)

Local production may be hit simply because most acquisitions are less costly than original programming (except for the occasional studio show and/or a particularly competitive market). Channels and distributors both confirmed this.

There does not seem to be anything that new, program-wise. No strikingly new formats or exports are moving the buyers in any one direction. Science, as always, is the most popular genre request.

At a little past the halfway point, that’s our impression … buyers are positive, business is being done and the sun is shining.

Oh, yeah … in an informal, but fairly globally-represented survey of buyers, if they had to vote for a U.S. president, whom would it be?

Obama …. by 100%.

Let’s check in on the local and cable news stations to see how they’re covering this BIG story:

• CBS (locally, WCBS-TV) – A one-hour breast cancer special, tying in with the multi-network special the night before.
• NBC (WNBC) – New York (football) Giants game.
• ABC (WABC) – NASCAR
• Fox (WNYW) – Syndicated AT THE MOVIES
• MSNBC – HONEYMOONS FROM HELL (a one-off about, well, bad honeymoons)
• CNBC – DEAL OR NO DEAL (repeat off NBC)
• Headline News – NOT A CABLE NEWS SHOW (basically the I LOVE THE 80s of weekly news)
• CNN – Lou Dobbs (Commentator – Hates that jobs go offshore)
• Weather Channel - FORECAST EARTH (long-term look at the planet’s climate)

The only real news going on?

• FOX News – a basic newscast
• Local Cablevision News 12 (covers Fairfield County, CT, where we’re at)

So let’s get this straight … ya got 4 local stations, none of which are on the case (Are you kidding? Cancel football, or worse, NASCAR?!). Four of five national news nets are into something waaaaay different than “breaking news.” Even The Weather Channel (full disclosure: CABLEready represents some of their programs) stuck with the schedule rather than, frankly, lead with their strength, which is to be all over these severe weather stories.

So, if I’m Roger Ailes (FOX), I got a new thing with which to tweak the competition. When he reads this, you bet he will. If I’m the “hyper-local” cable channel, I’ve got the big guys, hands down.

All of us who ever took Communications 101 know about Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs … roughly translated from the pyramid to mean: “Am I safe? Is my family safe? Is my town safe? If that first hierarchy is not met, stress results. People worry about, in this order, survival needs, safety and security, love and belonging, and esteem. Play to football, race cars, prison-type shows, even a benefit, and let’s face it, you’re just telecasting noise, not anything that will form any kind of a bond with your viewers — or save them if something turns terribly wrong.

Not to mention giving a couple of worthy competitors something to talk about.

By the way, minor flooding and wind damage, but that’s this time …