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The National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) is a professional association of television and media executives, established in 1963.[1]
 | This article contains wording that promotes the subject in a subjective manner without imparting real information. (August 2020) |
NATPE provides its members with education, networking, professional enhancement and technological guidance through year-round activities.
It hosts an annual media conference which includes media executives and consumers.[citation needed]
As the medium of television grew, program directors at television stations in the United States felt a need for a program-specific forum to discuss and resolve the challenges faced as a result of the Prime Time Access Rule, which gave responsibility for programming between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. to local stations and program directors. Encouraged by syndicated programming salesmen, 64 program directors (NATPE’s charter members) named Stan Cohen of WDSU New Orleans temporary president and set about organizing a meeting.
The first formal meeting of the National Associates of Television Program Executives was held in May 1964 at the New York Hilton Hotel and drew 71 registrants. The majority of participants were program directors. During the first two-day meeting in New York, the topics of discussion included “The Network’s Relationship to Local Programming”, “Where Do You Find Talent?”, “Government’s Influence on Programming” and “Successful Formats for Handling Politicians & Political Issues”.
NATPE has changed dramatically over the past 40 years–membership grew from 64 to 210 by 1970; up to 1,206 in 1980; 1,818 in 1990; and to a peak of 3,812 by in January 2000, although membership and conference attendance declined significantly from the "dot-com bust" of 2001. In 2010 NATPE rebranded itself as NATPE Content First, and expanded into actively pursuing new media and technology speakers, exhibitors, and attendees in addition to their customary television members. This effort has allowed NATPE to regrow and expand much of its membership base.[according to whom?]
As an added link between the television industry, the academic community and students, the NATPE Educational Foundation, was formed in 1978. Its mission is to reach out to students by providing hands-on opportunities for them and their teachers in order to help prepare them for a future in television. NATPE’s Educational Foundation, underwritten by membership fees and the support of sponsors and special endowments, provides a number of annual fellowship, grants and prizes to the academic community. Lew Klein, one of the founders of NATPE and an early president of the organization, continues his dedication to the association as president of the Educational Foundation.
In 2019, NATPE signed a partnership deal with China International Television Corporation (CITVC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chinese state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV).[2]
NATPE announced in October 2022 that it planned to file for bankruptcy, stating that it was "optimistic that [NATPE] will emerge from the reorganization process in the same position".[3] NATPE added it still intended to hold its annual conference in January 2023 in the Bahamas,[3] though the event was later cancelled.[4]
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In 2011, NATPE acquired DISCOP EAST, which hosts an event covering and central and Eastern European media industry. The event is named NATPE Budapest.[5]
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