Industry insiders representing both the station side and the syndication side convene today in Las Vegas for marketing organization PromaxBDA’s first Station Summit, TVNewsCheck reports.

One aim of the summit is to “reverse the exodus of budget-starved station executives from the annual Promax meeting, which, ironically, has occurred at the same time local promotion has become more critical,” the story says.

Warner Bros. and other syndicators, along with ABC and NBC, pooled resources to help foot the travel costs to bring station execs to the summit.

The story says: “Subsidizing attendees is money well-spent, according to NBC’s senior VP of affiliate marketing, Scot Chastain. ‘Sure, the networks have paid media options to advertise direct to consumers, but only the stations can give the audience reasons to care about a new show,’ says Chastain, who credits stations for creating NBC’s most conspicuous primetime hit. ‘What makes “The Voice” important to Oklahoma City? It’s because the local stations got behind it with marketing editorial about Blake Shelton and Cee Lo Green.’”

The event’s focus represents a return to roots for PromaxBDA, the story says: “By targeting the promotion priorities of TV stations, Promax reclaims its original mission when, in 1956, the Broadcast Promotion Association launched as a collaborative of local and national media mavens.”

Added Susan Kantor, executive VP of marketing for Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution: “The days of ‘consult your local listings’ are long gone. Focusing on what our stations want and need is our mantra.”