The National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) announced Monday that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as it plans to restructure its organization. The organization says it has exhausted its financial reserves and has been unable to generate revenue after being forced to cancel several of its planned events due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
NATPE traditionally holds its flagship convention in Miami in January, attended by producers, station owners, syndicators and other prominent executives from the TV industry. But over the past two years, the world has seen a surge in COVID-19 cases in January, thanks to new forms of the virus that increase transmission, forcing NATPE to cancel those events.
“These cancellations forced NATPE to work on its financial reserves, which now requires reorganizing the NATPE business structure,” read a statement from the organization.
NATPE says its bankruptcy filing will not affect its plans to hold the event in 2023. Its January conference program is currently scheduled to take place in Nassau, Bahamas, along with a summer market in Budapest, Hungary, in June. NATPE was able to hold its own Marketplace event last summer.
more to come…