8 Yes, You Cannes Believe It! MIPCOM Doubles Down on Deals MIPCOM Cannes is fast approaching, and participants seem to be equal parts excited and anxious. Although the fall market has seen attendance decline — from 14,000 participants in 2016 to 10,600 in 2025 — the event remains the world’s largest and most important TV trade show. As usual, and in keeping with today’s markets, conferences, workshops, and seminars will dominate conversations, accompanied by speakers who are both well-known and lesser-known. However, VideoAge’s Monthly and Daily publications (available both online and in print) will focus on the bread-and-butter of the TV market: the exhibition floor, the hotels, and the back rooms where content buying and selling actually take place. This year, VideoAge is also prepared to cover the increasingly significant topic of gaming rights. Last year, the sector received relatively little attention at MIPCOM despite its growing importance, as evidenced by the large crowd hoping to gain entry to an already packed evening party hosted by Swiss gaming company eClutch at a restaurant on the Croisette. Therefore, considering the content available from the expected 350 exhibiting stands, the large number of announced international buyers, and even the conference’s topics, the answer to the question of whether MIPCOM can leverage its exotic locale for more content sales, has now turned from “Cannes You Believe it?” to “Yes, You Cannes Believe it!” Meanwhile, MIPCOM, which is set to take place October 12-15, 2026, in Cannes, has unveiled new program additions for this year’s edition. Lucy Smith, director of MIPCOM Cannes and its related MIPJunior, said: “We’re seeing entirely new sectors of the entertainment business mature at remarkable speed. What were emerging trends only a year ago, from vertical storytelling and creator-led businesses to AI-powered production, are now attracting investment, generating scalable business models and becoming an increasingly important part of the global content economy.” Anthony E. Zuiker, creator of the CSI TV franchise, will take the Grand Auditorium stage for the global debut of Cinemalistics, a new platform featuring AI-powered motion picture and short documentary versions of breaking true crime events. Anatolii Kasianov, co-founder and co-CEO of Holywater Tech, will take the stage in a separate MIP Headliner session. The market will also bring together many of the executives shaping the rapidly evolving market of vertical storytelling and microdrama, including Timothy Oh of COL Group; Maria Rua Aguete of Omdia; Alex Montalvo of GammaTime; Scott Brown of Second Rodeo Productions; Cassandra Yang of RJ RisingJoy; Stephen Liu of NetShort; Vivian Yin of Y+X Entertainment; and Jay Blumenfield of Jay & Tony Show Productions. MIPCOM will also partner with The Media Odyssey podcast for a special recording examining the era of premium vertical television. Moderated by Evan Shapiro and Marion Ranchet, the conversation will feature RoseBerry Media CEO and co-founder Guy Hameiri and head of Business Development and co-founder Lior Friedman. Additionally, the program will feature an invitation-only Global Microdrama & Vertical Leaders’ Summit, and a new official matchmaking platform that will introduce a dedicated Vertical Content Speed Matchmaking category. MIPCOM has also launched the MIP AI Entertainment Forum, a new international conference and marketplace that will connect AI innovators with studios, streamers, producers, creators, brands, and IP owners. Among the first confirmed partners for the Forum were Versos AI and Protege, alongside an expanding exhibition line-up, which initially included HappyClient, Lingopal.AI, LoglineAI, and Massif Network. “What we are seeing now with AI is not incremental evolution, it is a fundamental rewiring of how content will be created, financed, distributed, and monetized globally over the next decade,” said MIPCOM’s Smith. “MIPCOM Cannes 2026 will bring together the international entertainment community to engage with that transformation — not to theorize about it, but to build partnerships, strike deals, and define what comes next.” The Forum will spotlight three key areas: Creation & Storytelling, Production & Workflow, and Licensing & Distribution. YouTube will return to MIPCOM with an expanded presence building on its market debut in 2025. Pedro Pina, vice president of YouTube EMEA, will kick off the market with a main-stage keynote on opening day in the Grand Auditorium of the Palais. YouTube will also be present at MIPJunior (October 10-11) as the official sponsor of the Opening Happy Hour. According to Pina, “The media landscape is shifting rapidly, and YouTube is here to help broadcasters and studios grow.” In addition, MIPCOM 2026 has unveiled MIP BrandWorks, a new initiative connecting brands and agencies directly with studios, production companies, streamers, creators, IP rights-holders, and commissioners. This builds on last year’s introduction of “brand entertainment” into the MIPCOM program. This year, it will run across the three days of the market and will be co-produced in partnership with Doug Scott, co-founder of UNXNOWN, founder of Ogilvy Entertainment, and former Cannes Lions jury president for branded content. Lucy Smith, Entertainment division director, RX France VIDEOAGE September 2026 Market Preview
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