Las Vegas, NV: Amidst the tumult of flashing neon lights, oxygen-pumped betting pits and garishly-garnished hotels that is Las Vegas, a record 19,834 natpe attendees logged many hours in taxi queues to get to and from the convention centre where some 870 exhibitors flashed their fruits over the course of the event, Jan. 22-25.

And while many Canadian distribs spent their nights exercising direct marketing campaigns in the form of taking international buyers and members of the press to see the hottest ticket in town - Cirque du Soleil's O - their days were spent staging an impressive presence among the world's biggest programming vendors.

With Alliance Atlantis Communications and Nelvana leading the Canadian profile, the Telefilm Canada booth along with Horizon Quebec and the new Western Canada pavilion - which together represented more than 80 Canadian companies - ensured that even some of the country's smaller distribs were seen among the uber-spectacle.

As for the new media companies at this year's market, few tv programmers were complaining about being bombarded or even confused about business models and start-up longevity.

Built-in interactive

In fact, tv makers have jumped on the dot.com bandwagon in full force, with interactive divisions branching out from everywhere and tv programming coming equipped with built-in Web components, especially in the children's genre.

However, while selling tv programming with the option to license parts or all its interactive assets can make for an appealing one-stop shopping experience, "A lot of companies are chasing a few time slots and almost all the channels are producing for themselves, like Disney and Nickelodeon," says Decode Entertainment cofounder Steven DeNure.

The revenue model for Decode, which creates a Web component for all of its shows, is to sell broadcasters the websites to live on their respective servers.

For example, The Cartoon Network, which has bought Angela Anaconda for a great part of Europe, carries the entire Angela site (ExtendMedia) on its server. "[The network] can't afford to create websites for all its shows, it doesn't make sense," says DeNure, who also counts on big support from the Bell New Media Fund for developing the sites.

To help fill the financial void created by market fragmentation, DeNure says in Europe, at least, you can sell to satellite and terrestrially, "which allows us to stack windows and increase our revenue."

Decode is in development with The Blobheads, a cutting-edge live-action/cgi series coproduced with C.O.R.E. Digital and based on the u.k. book series of the same name.

Launched at the market and looking for a u.k. partner, the 26-part, half-hour series, written by Sean Kelley, is about aliens who emerge from the toilet and think a baby is their long-lost leader.

The Hoobs, a coprod with The Jim Henson Company, is a 125 half-hour preschool package to be stripped on tvontario and Channel 4 (u.k.) in the fall.

Mixing live-action puppetry and animation (to be handled by core) based on children's drawings, the series follows four groovy and inquisitive Hoobs as they visit new worlds.

Finally, Girl Stuff/Boy Stuff, a 26-part, 11-minute series described as "an animated tween Friends," is in development for ytv and Fox Family Channel. A coproduction with Animage (u.k.) in association with Canuck Creations, the traditional cel series incorporates wild recordings with teenagers.

Teen demo hot

On the topic of the hottest audience demo, Cinegroupe launched its teen slate at the market with a big push for Ripping Friends, a coproduction with Cambium Entertainment and Spumco Canada, currently in production for Teletoon and Fox Kids, and created by John Kricfalusi (Ren & Stimpy).

The13-part, half-hour 2D series, which hit the market in search of international presales, follows the adventures of a naive and comical group of muscle-bound superheroes.

Daft Planet, created by stockbrokers-gone-scriptwriters Perry Smith and Brent Donelly, is a 26-part, half-hour animated series that follows the daily lives of two teenage boys as they venture through a world shaped by technology, pop culture and raging hormones.

CineGroupe was looking to structure a deal for Daft at the market.

The company was also looking for a European partner for The Three Pigs series, a coproduction with Dan Smith (Red Rover Studios).

The 26-part animated comedy series is about a 15-year-old country pig who crosses the tracks to live with cousins, two uptown city pigs living the charmed life in the affluent heart of Pork City.

Sagwa, which debuted at previous markets, was also a big push for CineGroupe at this year's natpe as it has recently completed production and comes equipped with impressive interactive applications.

Produced in association with Sesame Workshop and IF/X Productions, the half-hour series boasts a game quest to be used on the websites of broadcasters. "The reason we sold Sagwa to pbs was the interactive application," says Marie-Christine Dufour, CineGroupe's vp of communications. "It's not easy for buyers to integrate interactive, so we deliver a complete package."

The business model for CineGroupe Interactive is twofold: It develops the interactive compliment to tv programs, which is licensed independent of the tv component; as well as doing "third-party service production." Recently, the company produced two "webisodes" for l.a.-based pirate.net to launch next year and it's currently developing a 3D game, called Pirate 3D, for Germany.