A miracle NATPE struggles with TV violence, hi-tech.

This year's NATPE lived more in the future than in the present. The new technologies and their potential impact on the industry as a whole provided the core of endless debates. It certainly dominated the keynote address given by Time Warner's Gerald M. Levin, who delivered a fervent sales pitch for the Electronic Superhighway which he perceived as a reality rather than a dream.

Other key themes at NATPE included the issue of violence on television, which took up virtually the entire address of Reed Hundt, the new chairman of the FCC; interactivity; infomercials, which are beginning to creep into prime time; the looming arrival of a 500-channel universe and its broad implications, and the need for improved, FCC-friendly children's shows.

Also very obvious at NATPE was the rapid growth in the number of talk shows, with many of their hosts in attendance.

Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Assn. of America made his seemingly only appearance at a TV trade event.

Bruce Johansen, president of NATPE. reported a record attendance of over 11,000, including the largest contingent ever from abroad. In fact, the impression was that, for the first time in its history, NATPE had been truIy internationalized and was on its way to becoming the world's premiere trade fair. The international crowd grew by 25 per cent by most estimates.

Staged were some 30 parties and 30 seminars, including eight at the Independent TV association (INTV) two days prior. A total of 392 exhibitors, compared to 256 of last year, participated.

Still, foreign TV executives complained that the U.S. TV market remained essentially closed to them. The main advantage of coming to NATPE, they said, was the personal contacts they were able to make with top American executives.

Apart from the quite thorough discussions of industry issues, it was clear that the industry was burgeoning and, essentially, in a healthy state. The vast NATPE exhibition floor sparkled with the most elaborate displays ever, and sales talk resounded everywhere.

One of the obvious NATPE themes was the emergence of the Para mount and Warner networks with their broad implications overall. Neil Braun, president of Viacom told Video Age that the new prime time providers would create more aggressive competition for day parts, along with more station money to pay for that programming.

In terms of programming, NATPE brought no great surprises, nor did it reflect a desire for either change or experimentation. NATPE did feature a host of smaller producer/distributors with offbeat programs, and they did brisk business.

Although neither the devastating earthquake in Los Angeles, nor the "deep freeze" up East cooled the NATPE spirit, the bi-coastal disasters did have an impact on NATPE '94 in Miami.

For starters, 12 hotels received cancellations from some industry people affected by the earthquake. Easterners were slowed by the sub-freezing temperatures. but almost all of them made the trip down.

More problematic though, were the computer breakdowns at NATPE headquarters -- the first caused by the earthquake, the second due to the cold, since on its way to Miami, the equipment had to be routed to the freezing zone.

Overall, more than $32 million were spent at NATPE, with major studios like Fox spending a reported $2.5 million for the three-day event. In Miami, conventioneers were scattered among 36 hotels interconnected by a free shuttle bus service provided by NATPE. This compared to 12 official hotels at last year's NATPE in San Francisco and next year's in Las Vegas (Jan. 23-26).

When all was said and done, this NATPE was pronounced one of the most successful ever.