 The first formal meeting of the National Associates of Television Program Executives was held in May 1964 at the New York Hilton Hotel and drew 71 registrants.The majority of participants were program directors.During the first two-day meeting in New York, the topics of discussion ranged from “The Network’s Relationship to Local Programming” and “Where Do You Find Talent?” to “Government’s Influence on Programming” and “Successful Formats for Handling Politicians & Political Issues.”

NATPE has changed dramatically over the past 40 years - membership grew from 64 to 210 by 1970; up to 1,206 in 1980; 1818 in 1990 and to a peak of 3,812 by the new millennium in January 2000, although membership and conference attendance declined significantly from the "dot-com bust" of 2001.