This year, most of the screenings at the NATPE Budapest market took place on opening day, Monday, June 23, 2025, at the recently opened Dorothea Hotel, which is located just around the corner from the InterContinental Hotel (IC), the traditional venue for NATPE.
In total, 105 exhibiting companies (with Turkey’s ATV having both a suite and a table) and more than 400 buyers participated, for a total of 750 delegates from 65-plus countries. Different from past editions, this year, the action moved mostly from the second-floor suite level of the IC to the market floor on the first level. Only eight exhibitors remained on the second floor, while the market floor increased its occupancy.
The Latin American presence was drastically reduced, with only three exhibiting companies: Caracol, RCN, and Globo. However, the Romanian presence was increased to 10 exhibiting companies. Clearly, the market is showing a transition from a onetime Latin American domination, which was superseded by an overwhelmingly Turkish presence, to today’s Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) takeover. The increased market floor occupancy forced NATPE organizers to move their conferences, previously held on the market’s floor, to the nearby Dorothea Hotel.
In order to confront the increased competition (five TV markets during the month of June, of which three for the CEE), NATPE Budapest organizers are said to be exploring a move to the month of April, which was vacated by MIPTV (now morphed into MIP London in February). Such move seems to be favored by some NATPE exhibitors.
Registration, the market floor, and exhibition suites were still at the IC, while all conferences took place at the Dorothea on Tuesday and Wednesday. Monday also saw the opening party at the Corso Terrace of the IC hotel, and the newly introduced CEE-focused NATPE Honors celebration at the Dorothea Hotel.
Indeed, the major highlight of the week was the Monday debut of NATPE Honors Europe, a new initiative celebrating the leaders who are reshaping the CEE media landscape. The awards program for exactly 96 participants was hosted by Hungarian TV star Nóra Ördög. The inaugural recipients that took to the stage included George Levendis (Managing Director, ANT1 TV, Mak TV & Antenna Studios, Greece); Levente Málnay (Managing Director and Executive Vice President, AMC Networks International, Central and Northern Europe); Daniel Grunt (CEO, Nova Group); Magdalena Szwedkowicz (producer, MAG Entertainment); and Ukraine’s STARLIGHT Media, whose award was accepted by Yana Honcharenko, the company’s Chief Communications Officer.
Tuesday evening was reserved for the popular Boat Party. The market closed today, Thursday, June 26, at 1 p.m.
Here’s a summary of other highlights from NATPE Budapest 2025:
The Opening Keynote was from YouTube’s Andreas Briese, Country Director for Germany; Regional Director for Central and Northern Europe. Briese shared insights tailored to the CEE market, focusing on how creators and media companies can leverage YouTube to grow audiences and monetize content.
Pitch & Play LIVE! – This high-energy format competition shined a spotlight on the CEE region’s most original format concepts with international potential, in an interactive showcase.
CEE Breakout Hits – Spotlighted the top-performing new series across CEE markets, analyzed the drivers behind their success, and what they signaled for the future of programming and acquisition strategies.
Formats Track – An event for unscripted and format buyers and sellers. This session dove into the evolving world of format trans-creation, and how local success stories can be scaled for global audiences.
Pictured above, from top l.: VideoAge‘s presence; NATPE Honors Europe Award winners; Kanal D’s Sangerim Zhakhina and Onay Devrim; TRT’s Mustafa Ilbeyli, Pinar Gedikoglu, and Merve Mutluer; InterMedya’s Hasret Ozcan and Sinem Aliskan; Dubai Int’l Content Market’s Irina Deaconu, Romania Creativity’s Mihai Lupu; the Opening Keynote by YouTube’s Andreas Briese; the Boat Party on Tuesday night.
Leave A Comment