The National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) won’t be holding its annual trade conference that was slated for early 2023, the organization announced Wednesday.
NATPE President and CEO JP Bommel disclosed canceling the 2023 NATPE Global Conference and Marketplace, which was scheduled for January 17-19 in Nassau, Bahamas.
The cancelation comes shortly after NATPE filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this month, after its events business was negatively impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. As was the case with many large in-person industry events, the Covid-19 pandemic meant NATPE didn’t hold its Conference and Marketplace event, typically in Miami, in 2021 or 2022. Cancelling its revenue-generating flagship events forced the company to operate on financial reserves.
At the time of the bankruptcy filling in early October, NATPE had said it didn’t intend to cancel next year’s event that was relocated to the Bahamas, or NATPE Budapest slated for June.
As of now, the organization hasn’t made any decisions yet regarding NATPE Budapest or other 2023 events.
In filing a Chapter 11 petition, NATPE said it’s looking at all options to restructure, including raising funds through strategic alliances.
“For almost 60 years, NATPE has been the leading global professional association for content producers, distributors, developers, streamers and buyers across all distribution platforms. NATPE is optimistic that it will emerge from the reorganization process in the same position,” NATPE stated at the time of its filing.