INTERNATIONAL www.VideoAge.org It’s no secret that animation production — and children’s content in general — is facing a difficult period worldwide, particularly in Europe. The reasons are known: the declining appeal of linear TV channels among younger audiences; the drop in investment from streaming platforms, which, amid corporate reorganizations, are deprioritizing kids’ content; the growing competition from social media and gaming in the “media diet” of young people, and so on. In Italy, the situation has been further complicated in 2025 by the By Luca Milano By Yuri Serafini By Max Einhorn simultaneous redefinition of the public broadcaster RAI’s strategies and the pausing of tax credits — the two primary funding sources for the sector in recent years. Globally, we have fewer international co-productions, a nearThe most revealing AI conversation I’ve had recently wasn’t with a director. It was with a film producer who needed helicopters. In the old world, that request triggered a familiar chain. You budgeted My 2¢: The tumultuous history of NATPE Budapest in the CEE Series Mania becomes a magnet for int’l TV buyers MIP London: A decisive year for the TV market TV in Venezuela after Maduro. How will it fare? Page 26 Page 18 Page 16 Page 4 THE BUSINESS JOURNAL OF FILM, BROADCASTING, STREAMING, PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION February/March 2026 - VOL. 46 NO. 2 - $9.75 Children’s TV Business Going Through a Phase, Not Ruined FIFA World Cup: Live Attendance, TV Rights Are Key AI Misreadings Create False Expectations (Continued on Page 20) (Continued on Page 23) (Continued on Page 22) For the 2026 FIFA World Cup, slated to be co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, FIFA (football’s world governing body) has sold territorial broadcast packages widely. In the U.S., the 2026 tournament is already locked in with FOX in English and Telemundo in Spanish, as well as on Peacock streaming services. Streaming and broadcast coverage in Canada will be provided by Bell Media, while TelevisaUnivi-
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MAIN OFFICES 216 EAST 75TH STREET NEW YORK, NY 10021 TEL: (212) 288-3933 WWW.VIDEOAGEINTERNATIONAL.COM WWW.VIDEOAGE.ORG VIALE ABRUZZI 30 20131 MILAN, ITALY EDITOR-in-CHIEF DOM SERAFINI EDITORIAL TEAM SARA ALESSI (NY) BILL BRIOUX (CANADA) ENZO CHIARULLO (ITALY) LEAH HOCHBAUM ROSNER (NY) SUSAN HORNIK (L.A.) CAROLINE INTERTAGLIA (FRANCE) OMAR MENDEZ (ARGENTINA) LUIS POLANCO (NY) MIKE REYNOLDS (L.A.) MARIA ZUPPELLO (BRAZIL) PUBLISHER MONICA GORGHETTO BUSINESS OFFICE LEN FINKEL LEGAL OFFICE STEVE SCHIFFMAN WEB MANAGER BRUNO MARRACINO DESIGN/LAYOUT CLAUDIO MATTIONI, CARMINE RASPAOLO VIDEO AGE INTERNATIONAL (ISSN 0278-5013 USPS 601-230) IS PUBLISHED SEVEN TIMES A YEAR,. PLUS DAILIES, BY TV TRADE MEDIA, INC. © TV TRADE MEDIA INC. 2026. THE ENTIRE CONTENTS OF VIDEO AGE INTERNATIONAL ARE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT IN THE U.S., U.K., AND ALL COUNTRIES SIGNATORY TO THE BERNE CONVENTIO AND THE PAN-AMERICAN CONVENTION. SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO VIDEO AGE INTERNATIONAL, 216 EAST 75TH STREET, SUITE 1W, NEW YORK, NY 10021, U.S.A. PURSUANT TO THE U.S. COPYRIGHTS ACT OF 1976, THE RIGHTS OF ALL CONTENT DONE ON ASSIGNMENT FOR ALL VIDEOAGE PUBLICATIONS ARE HELD BY THE PUBLISHER OF VIDEOAGE, WHICH COMMISSIONED THEM The tumultuous history of a CEE content mart that bounced from Warsaw to Prague to Budapest under three separate ownerships until it finally ended in Dubrovnik, Croatia with a completely new organization and name, NEM. Page 26 Cover Stories News Children’s TV business going through a phase, not in terminal decline FIFA World Cup in the U.S.: Live attendance and television rights are key Misconceptions about AI create false expectations 8. Book Review: A book about Saturday Night Fever explains the film’s lasting appeal 10. Miami content markets under the microscope: Two markets vie for buyers’ attention 16. MIP London Preview: Strong seminar line-up as U.K. event faces a decisive year 18. Series Mania has grown steadily and is now exploding, but it’s not yet a fully mature market 24. Cosmic rays hit a CancunNewark Airbus A320. Plus, international TV events’ dates Features 4. World: Venezuelan TV — Not yet top priority, but still in the picture 6. World: The evolution of April as a European TV market date 12. L.A. Screenings 2026 shaping up nicely. Short, but intense
4 (Continued on Page 6) Even though the media is an important tool needed to restore democracy in Venezuela, it is not yet high on the list of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, which is giving priority to oil and gold-mining. However, the mere fact that television in Venezuela has come up in discussions indicates that the topic remains crucial for the country. “Regarding the future of RCTV,” said Tinoco, “it is my personal opinion that in the near future — once the first phase of stabilization in Venezuela has been achieved and the transition to the newly elected government has taken place — the owners of RCTV will request the reinstatement of their license, and I believe it will be granted.” He continued: “RCTV already has its production facilities ready, and with new technologies — including internet connectivity for signal transmission — RCTV will be back on air rather quickly. I know for a fact that former RCTV ex-executives, producers, directors, and employees are already talking about this.” An article in the January 7, 2026 edition of The Wall Street Journal stated that “Marcel Granier, the heroic media executive whose popular RCTV was expropriated in 2007 amid nationwide student protests, hopes to re-launch radio and TV stations.” A U.S. intelligence assessment determined that members of the just deposed (and unelected) Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro’s regime would be best positioned to lead a temporary government to maintain stability, and the current government caretaker, Delcy Rodriguez, is supported by a number of U.S. oil companies and Florida-based industrialists. There has even been talk of a possible reopening of the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, which has been closed since 2019. Banking on the resurgence of Venezuelan TV and film production, Tinoco is working on two related projects. One is a documentary titled Journey into The recently concluded Content Americas at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Miami drew many native Venezuelans who now live in Miami, both as exhibitors and participants. However, most of them were timorous to talk about the current and future state of Venezuelan television, once a prolific producer and exporter of telenovelas, mainly from such TV networks as Venevision and RCTV. Two TV executives who were willing to talk to VideoAge were Cesar Diaz (pictured at right in the above photo), a former Content Sales executive at the Miami-based Venevision (now Cisneros Media), and current founding president of distributor 7A Media, and Pedro R. Tinoco (pictured at left), a former producer for Venevision who currently serves as CEO of Miami-based production company FonoLibro. Venezuelan TV: Not Yet a High Priority, But Still in the Picture VIDEOAGE February 2026 World content 21-23 April 2026 Marriott Hotel • Lisbon A three-day market, conference and screenings connecting buyers and sellers around formats, factual, drama and kids www.contenteurope.net
6 (Continued From Page 4) But the fact that C21 was the first to move to an April date in Lisbon for its Content Europe took the wind out of NATPE Budapest’s sails, and on December 18, 2025, Brunico announced the “pausing” of NATPE Budapest due to a poor response. In a press release, C21’s managing director David Jenkinson said: “Scores of companies have told us there is a need for a traditional sales and acquisitions market in April following the closure of MIPTV. Content Europe will be a cost-effective response to that demand, providing affordable exhibition and screening facilities for distributors who would like to connect with buyers from all over the world.” Content Europe will take place at the Marriott Hotel in Lisbon, some 5.4 kilometers from the city center. The three-day event will consist of a Marketplace, Screenings, and a Format Pitch, plus a three-track conference program: The Future Formats Forum, The Content Acquisitions Summit, and The Kids Content Summit. Jenkinson has been quoted as saying that “the organizers will host key international buyers free of charge, and will also engage them through a series of Buyer Briefings, offering insights into their acquisitions and co-production needs.” Content Europe, a new TV market, set for April 21-23, 2026, in Lisbon, Portugal, was announced on August 22, 2025, by British market organizer C21. Eleven days later, on September 2, 2025, Brunico, the Canadian publishing group that organizes NATPE Budapest, announced that the Hungarian TV market would move from the month of June to April 27-29, but will stay at the InterContinental Hotel in Budapest. Clearly, the month of April has become a hotly contested month for TV markets after the closing of MIPTV in Cannes, France. Reps for Brunico began considering the April 2026 move after its June 23-26, 2025 Budapest market was overshadowed by C21’s Content Warsaw, held June 3-6, and the New Europe Market in Dubrovnik, held June 9-12. The Evolution of April as a European TV Market Date the Lost World, about the Venezuelan Guiana Shield, a unique geographic area in southern Venezuela. The other is a series based on the novel Angel Falls by Fausto Grisi, an Italian writerdirector and producer who lived in Venezuela and now resides in Rome. The series combines historical realism, high-stakes adventure, and emotional depth — a cinematic journey inspired by the true story of the pilot who discovered the highest waterfall on the planet. Both projects will be distributed by Cesar Diaz’s 7A Media. Venezuelan TV (Continued from Page 4) VIDEOAGE February 2026 World
1964 “Screenings” 1978 “May Screenings” The L.A. Screenings Evolution In the beginning... 1983... a new name! www.videoageinternational.net/l-a-screenings-2020/history-of-l-a-screenings/ 2002
8 Writer and content creator Margo Donohue revisits the drama behind the making of Saturday Night Fever. Stayin’ Alive: A Book About Saturday Night Fever Explains the Film’s Lasting Appeal By Luis Polanco Since Saturday Night Fever’s release in 1977, the American dance drama has become a cult phenomenon. The movie made disco music and culture a national and global sensation. The movie catapulted John Travolta, who played a hardware store clerk by day and a dance king by night, into the spotlight. The Bee Gees, the British musical group, won five Grammy awards with their soundtrack for the film, with hits such as “Stayin’ Alive” and “How Deep Is Your Love.” And Travolta’s dance sequences upon a multi-colored dance floor have become cultural touchstones for that decade. Documentaries such as Saturday Night Fever: The Ultimate Disco Movie and Inside Story: Saturday Night Fever have provided fans with different access points into the story behind the movie. More recently, HBO’s Mr. Saturday Night has emphasized the role that Australian producer Robert Stigwood had in shaping the movie’s distinct look and sound. Now, from the late Margaret (Margo) Donohue, an American writer, content creator, and podcast producer, comes a new, comprehensive account of the movie with Fever: The Complete History of Saturday Night Fever (272 pgs., Citadel, 2025, $29), which provides fans with an all-encompassing understanding of what made the movie so memorable. Almost 50 years after Saturday Night Fever’s original release, Donohue obtained exclusive interviews and conducted extensive research to highlight the movie’s lasting appeal and dig up some little-known stories about its making. While the dancing, the music, and Travolta are some of the first things that come to mind with Saturday Night Fever, there was more, Donohue claimed. Filmed in Brooklyn, New York (where Donohue lived), the movie told the story of Tony Manero, played by Travolta, who found love and freedom in the discotheque. The movie also touched on more difficult topics, such as cultural conflicts, sexual violence, and suicide. Behind this filmed story are a host of little-known stories that Donohue set out to chronicle in her book: “The mafia shakedowns, on-set romances, the shooting of the club sequences that sometimes required camera sleight of hand (and dance doubles) to enhance performances, on-set drug use, fights between the star and director, stunt scenes gone awry, and a dance instructor who takes the credit for the film’s choreography, though he never spends one day on the set.” The chapters of the book are ordered chronologically, and several chapters are devoted to exploring the roles of some of the important people behind the making of the film: Stigwood, who in his career transitioned from music talent manager to Hollywood producer; Travolta, who at this point in his career was best known as a TV star on the sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter; director John Badham; Norman Wexler, the screenwriter who adapted Nik Cohn’s Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night; Donna Pescow, who played Annette, the young woman infatuated with Travolta’s character; and choreographer Lester Wilson, among others. Donohue reserved one chapter for the business of the movie, in which the suits at Paramount entered the scene. Apparently, Barry Diller and Michael Eisner agreed to produce the movie with the expectation that it wouldn’t be as successful as it would turn out to be. This was a good thing, as it meant little corporate meddling in the dayto-day making of the movie. However, the Paramount execs were most upset about the amount of cursing in the film. They were “worried about attracting a teen audience with a film that had an R [restricted] rating, at a time when parents were more vigilant about these things,” explained Donohue. Stigwood ended up renegotiating the deal with Diller, so that Stigwood’s RSO (Robert Stigwood Organization) would cover more of the costs. In the end, the official number of f-bombs in the movie is around 77. Donohue wanted to clear up two controversies she saw misrepresented in discussions of the movie. The first dealt with whether John Travolta had a double for the opening scene. Because of Travolta’s fame, the powers that be had to be careful about shooting the scenes that were set in public as they were nervous that he’d be swarmed by fans. Director Badham needed shots on the street, and considered using Travolta’s body double, Jeff Zinn, for part of the opening walk. In the end, however, Donohue reported that Travolta actually did the entire walk himself, sans body double. The other issue Donohue wanted to straighten out was whether choreographer and TV host Deney Terrio should be credited as a choreographer for the film. In 2012, Terrio was quoted in the Financial Times as claiming, “Every dance move that John Travolta did in Saturday Night Fever came from me.” In the book’s breakdown, it notes that the narrative that Terrio should have been credited as a choreographer came from Terrio himself, as he had more media connections than Lester Wilson, who is actually credited as the film’s choreographer. Saturday Night Fever will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2027. Its critical and cultural success is unequivocal — box office earnings of $237 million in 1977 dollars and a soundtrack that sold over 40 million copies, not to mention the fact that the Library of Congress selected it to be preserved in the National Film Registry. With Fever: The Complete History of Saturday Night Fever, Margo Donohue has conveyed what made the film so special to viewers then and why it’s still so special now. VIDEOAGE February 2026 Book Review
10 Content Americas, Realscreen, NATPE Global Attract Top Execs, Mitigate Industry’s Woes with Parties The first bit of good news: The wait time for the elevators at the Hilton Miami, the traditional venue for the fourth annual Content Americas, was no longer a problem. And this was despite a very busy TV market in which many suites’ doors had been shut, indicating meetings taking place. Another bit of good news: The market floor was also busy, with top-level executives seen strolling around. One such exec was Gustavo Scaglione, the subject of a front-cover story in VideoAge’s January Issue. Scaglione is the president of the TVL Group that recently acquired Telefe, Argentina’s major TV network. Eleven days later, while participating in the combined Realscreen Summit/NATPE Global events in Miami, one couldn’t help but be reminded of the strategy behind MIP London… but with one marked difference. While the NATPE Global TV market took advantage of the popularity of Realscreen’s program of conferences, the MIP London conferences are taking advantage of the popularity of the London Screenings TV market (see VideoAge’s Mip London story on page 16). Argentina and Venezuela both received lots of attention at Content Americas. The former because of Telefe’s new ownership by TVL (Telefe CEO Darío Turovelzky was on hand), and the latter due to the upheaval caused by the capture of the Venezuelan dictator, Nicolás Maduro, by the Americans. On the market’s second day, VideoAge met with two TV executives familiar with the Venezuelan TV sector: Cesar Diaz and Peter R. Tinoco, who is confident that by next year, RCTV (a major Venezuelan network), will regain its TV license. In terms of seminars, on Tuesday, January 20, participants in a panel titled “State of the Nation: What Will Drive the Future of LatAm and Hispanic Content?” included Secuoya Studios’ Brendan Fitzgerald, Banijay Iberia’s Pilar Blasco, Owl and Co.’s Herman López, and production expert Cecilia Mendonça, all of whom discussed the inevitable dominance of streaming media and the value of libraries. However, market organizers did not follow the suggestions proposed by VideoAge in its Wednesday printed Daily, which listed a number of seminar topics that are rarely, if ever, presented. Also held on Tuesday, the Rose d’Or Latinos was a major attraction, awarding prizes for Best Latin content in several categories. Telefe’s Turovelzky presented the Rose d’Or Lifetime Achievement Award to Argentine screenwriter, director, and producer Juan José Campanella. On the following day, during a presentation, Turovelzky defined the new Telefe strategy as Elasticidad, Experienza y Eficiencia (Elasticity, Experience, and Efficiency). Content Americas ended on Thursday, January 22, 2026, after a three-day run, with a total of 2,102 participants, 851 buyers, and 132 exhibitors. On the market’s last day, WAWA (Worldwide Audiovisual Women’s Association) hosted the WAWA Woman of the Year Awards Ceremony, bringing together more than 200 industry professionals. For the first time the winner was selected live during the event through an on-site voting process. A total of 172 votes were cast and counted by an independent press committee. This year, Beatriz Cea Okan, vice president and head of Sales and Acquisitions at Turkey’s InterMedya, was named WAWA Woman of the Year. NATPE Global began on February 4, at the conclusion of Realscreen Summit, which started on February 2 (both at the InterContinental Hotel in Miami). The event started with a busy schedule for both buyers and sellers (with some exhibitors recording up to 15 meetings), but it drastically slowed down on the second NATPE-only day, and further trickled down on its third and final day on February 6. The official combined figures were 110 exhibitors, over 600 content buyers, and a total of 1,900 delegates across 55 countries. The number of participants who returned or stayed in Miami for NATPE following the conclusion of Content Americas wasn’t provided, but VideoAge’s reporters noted several participants from Los Angeles and even (Continued on Page 12) Multicom Entertainment’s Ryne Dillon (r.) and Daniel Clutter OGM’s Ekin Koyuncu InterMedya’s Beatriz Cea Okan, winner of the WAWA Woman of the Year Award Telefe’s Gustavo Scaglione Kanal D International’s Duda Perman and Elif Tatoglu VIDEOAGE February 2026 Miami Markets Review
12 (Continued From Page 10) Scandinavians who made appearances at both events. Even though the Realscreen event was billed as a “Summit,” there were a good number of content distribution companies scattered around meeting tables. One case in point was the Los Angeles-based ACI, whose executives, while waiting for their NATPE stand to open, kept busy at a table located in the foyer on the second floor. Canada and Romania both received special attention at these events. Highlighted conferences included events featuring public TV stations, All3Media, and Global Agency. Issues with public broadcasting were discussed by the BBC’s Fiona Campbell and Channel 4’s Shaminder Nahal, both from the U.K.; SBS’s Bernadine Lim from Australia; and WGBH’s Chris Schmidt from Boston. Before her presentation, Jane Turton, CEO of London-based All3Media, met with VideoAge, but declined to comment on the company’s acknowledged talks about a possible merger with Banijay. Incidentally, just after Turton’s talk, VideoAge had a videoconference with Cathy Payne, CEO of Banijay Rights, who was similarly mum about the potential merger. Later on, during the second day of the Summit, Turton was inducted into the Realscreen Hall of Fame. Also on Tuesday, the Summit’s second day, there was the Realscreen Awards ceremony honoring a seemingly endless list of non-fiction and unscripted shows (for a total of 27 winning shows). NATPE’s portion, on Wednesday, February 4, started with a keynote delivered by Sean Cohan, president of Canada’s Bell Media, and a luncheon/seminar devoted to Romania, which was billed as a shooting location offering generous rebates. NATPE also had its own celebrations in the form of a cocktail held outside the InterContinental compound, and the NATPE Honors VIP Gala, held in the pool area at the InterContinental. Both took place on Wednesday, February 4. Toronto-based Blink49 Studios brought the old NATPE vibe back by organizing an extravagant party at the Miami Pool House to celebrate the third season of its Queen of the Castle, a documentary reality TV series that follows socialite Ann Kaplan Mulholland and her husband Dr. Stephen Mulholland as they renovate their 944-year-old castle in Kent, England. The following day, the NATPE Honors Awards saw the participation of Lionsgate Television’s chairman, Kevin Beggs. The Content Americas’ market floor The Romanian Creativity team at the Discover Romania luncheon-presentation Ann Kaplan Mulholland of Queen of the Castle Global Agency’s Izzet Pinto at the launch of new music format The Mashup The L.A. Screenings 2026 The dates for the L.A. Screenings 2026 are taking shape. The U.S. studios’ schedules are tentatively set, with screenings planned on their respective lots throughout the event. Paramount is unofficially slated for Saturday, May 16. NBCUniversal will screen from May 16–18, with the Latin American contingent at NBC on May 17. Sony Pictures TV will hold its event on May 19. Warner Bros. Discovery will screen on May 18 and 19. Disney is considering holding screenings on May 18, 19, and 20, with Wednesday reserved for Latin American buyers. Independent distribution companies will have their screening days on May 14 and 15, while Fifth Season is inviting buyers to screen on May 17. VIDEOAGE February 2026 Miami Markets Review
16 MIP London: Strong Panels in a Pivotal Year for Its TV Market As the newest incarnation of MIPTV, MIP London will most likely continue its February run, but it’ll probably evolve into more of a conference-focused event than a TV market. RX France, the market’s organizer, is positioning MIP London as a not-to-be-missed conference with a line-up of interesting topics, but it has thus far avoided highlighting the TV market and its exhibiting companies in its press releases and on its website. The strategy might actually make sense, especially considering that the event, scheduled for February 22-24, 2026, is running parallel to the established London Screenings and the BBC Showcase’s TV markets. Although technically separate events, those screenings provide the market portion, while MIP London brings in the conference portion that seems to be a fixture of all modern TV events (as it tends to increase participation). As indicated in the Miami TV markets review on page 10, while the NATPE Global TV market took advantage of the popularity of Realscreen’s TV conference, the MIP London TV conference is taking advantage of the popularity of the London Screenings TV market. MIP London will pull in some 500 buyers, while the combined concurrent London Screenings and the BBC Showcase traditionally draw 700 buyers. And some of those London Screenings and BBC Showcase buyers will surely be able to carve some time out of their busy schedules to take a peek at MIP London. Like one European buyer confided: “I’ll be at MIP London but just on Sunday afternoon. I am actually registered and I am meeting several companies at the IET,” he said, referencing the Institute of Engineering and Technology, which is adjacent to the Savoy Hotel, where most of the MIP London exhibitors will be. “After that I’ll be at the London Screenings and BBC Showcase for the rest of the week,” he added. In terms of participation at MIP London, the largest contingent (376 people) is from the U.K. Other large contingents include Spain with 43 delegates, Italy with 33, and Turkey with 28. To James Burstall, CEO of the Londonbased Independent global production company Argonon, “MIP London is a welcome addition to the calendar. It also has the benefit of aligning with the London Screenings, [which are] attracting international buyers across the week. Whilst the [MIP London] event in general is of more relevance to distributors than independent producers, it still provides an opportunity for valuable face-to-face time with our network and streaming partners, as well as potentially new clients in the digital and FAST channel space.” He continued: “Last year’s deal-making successes across genres clearly demonstrated [MIP London’s] value, and aligned with the London Screenings, feels like a natural place for a London market meet with a strong European contingent attending.” For the point of view of a participating London Screenings company, VideoAge spoke with Cathy Payne, CEO of Banijay Rights. While she wouldn’t comment on the rumored merger between Banijay and All3Media, she was willing to discuss Mip London and the London Screenings. Payne noted that in 2022, Banijay was one of the co-founders of the first physical London Screenings event (together with ITV Studios, Fremantle, and All3Media), and that it has now become Payne’s “major market of the year.” She continued: “With the success of MIPCOM [in Cannes in October], the April MIP in Cannes became less relevant.” For this year’s London Screenings, Banijay will be hawking its wares on February 25 at the BAFTA location on Piccadilly. There will be a morning session for scripted and nonscripted and an afternoon session for formats. She said she expected each session to draw in 400 buyers, who, she stressed, are personally invited. “We license directly, and don’t invite middlemen/agents,” Payne explained. Because she’s aware of how busy the buyers are during the February 22-27 London Screenings days, Banijay won’t be throwing a party. “But we offer drinks at the end of the day, for those who can remain. It’s more practical,” she said. Also, she is careful not to create scheduling conflicts with the 26 other companies that are also screening. Payne couldn’t confirm how many shows Banijay will be screening, but noted that it “could be up to 20 between new and returning series, some with full episodes, others just promos. We’ll know the exact number the day before our screenings.” Darrin Holender, president of Los Angelesbased Multicom Entertainment Group, which is exhibiting at MIP London, said: “[MIP] Cannes was always worth the trip as a destination. That said, I am hopeful MIP London will be more compact and effective in getting decision-makers together, especially in a central city like London.” Added Ryne Dillon, Multicom’s senior manager, Acquisitions, Programming and Development: “MIP London should add another marketplace option in the MIP catalog for global buyers and sellers to connect at different times of the year. I’m excited for Multicom to have a presence there.” However, at the same time, Daniel Clutter, Multicom’s senior manager, Sales and Distribution, said: “From what I’ve heard from people attending, there are simply too many markets overall, and everyone is spread thin across them. That makes it harder to meet with everyone you would like.” Cathy Payne, CEO of Banijay Rights One of the conferences at the 2025 edition. VIDEOAGE February 2026 London TV Markets Preview
18 The Lille, France event won’t start until March 20, 2026, but organizers of the 16th annual Series Mania were so anxious to get word out about it that they began sending out information as early as November. The international press was informed four months ago that, while the “Festival” portion of the TV series screenings and competition will take place March 20-27, the 13th annual “Forum,” the industry segment that separates the public event from the business portion of the entertainment gathering, will be held March 24-26. The Forum will also welcome 83 exhibitors, which will be housed in two areas of the Lille Convention Center, the Lille Grand Palais — stands and tables on Level One and business lounges on Level Three. Among the exhibiting companies are All3Media, Banijay, Bell Media, Cineflix, Fox, and InterMedya. From her Paris headquarters, Laurence Herszberg, founder and general director of Series Mania, announced late last year that the Series Mania Forum will be hosting the second edition of its Series Mania Buyers Upfront, a prelude to the Forum designed to provide buyers with exclusive access to new series and facilitate networking opportunities with the leading distributors behind these series. The Series Mania Buyers Upfront is an invitation-only event for buyers, showcasing excerpts of up to 12 new series with global appeal. Curated by the festival’s artistic team, the selection will include series about to be released or still in post-production. The Buyers Upfront is also designed to provide the industry’s top buyers with access to series in the Forum’s Co-Pro Pitching Sessions, where a jury of international industry executives award a new series in development 50,000 euro (U.S. $59,500). The Buyers Upfront is set for March 23, 2026 at the Chamber of Commerce, the Festival’s headquarters, which is located in Lille’s historic city center. The event will kick off with an invitation-only brunch from Germany’s BETA, followed by the series presentation. In addition, a jury of buyers will present the Buyers Choice Award for the Most Promising Series and announce the winner at the Series Mania Forum Welcome Drinks that evening. The jury includes Fredrik Luihn, head of Acquisitions, NRK (Norway); Haruka Jorgensen, Content Acquisition manager, WOWOW (Japan); Morad Koufane, head of International and Young Adult Drama, France Télévisions (France); Margarida Pereira, director of International Acquisitions and Sales, TVI (Portugal); and Nick Lee, head of Acquisitions, BBC (U.K.). Oliver Jones, senior commissioner, Apple TV+ (U.S.) is the 2026 jury president. Plus, to mark its 25th anniversary, Fremantle’s Jennifer Mullin, Group CEO, and Andrea Scrosati, Group COO and CEO, Continental Europe, will share their strategic vision and reflect on 25 years of creative storytelling and IP development, from creation to distribution and monetization, at a special keynote event on March 25. Two additional keynotes — also set for March 25 — will see Angela Jain, head of Content, Disney+, The Walt Disney Company Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and Monty Sarhan, CEO of SkyShowtime, take the stage and outline the EMEA originals strategy for Disney+, and the journey of the Comcast and Paramount-backed joint venture, respectively. Welsh showrunner Russell Davies and English producer Nicola Shindler will lead a Talent Masterclass, also on March 25. Davies and Shindler’s joint credits include Tip Toe, Years & Years, It’s a Sin, Nolly and Queer as Folk. They will discuss their new five-part drama series, Tip Toe, and unveil first-look clips from the Channel 4 series, exploring the creative ambition behind the show. Tip Toe, starring Alan Cumming and David Morrissey, explores the most corrosive forces facing the LGBTQ+ community today. For the Co Pro Pitching Sessions’ 2026 edition, 15 projects were selected from nearly 400 applications received from 65 countries, including six new territories (Palestine, Kyrgyzstan, Cyprus, Uruguay, Panama, and Malaysia). The Forum has selected Korea as its first Country of Honor. The Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), a government organization that oversees the promotion of the Korean content industry, along with eight Korean companies — Channel A Corporation, CJ ENM, EO Content Group, KBS Media, MBC, SLL Joongang, Studio S, and Whynot Media — will be in attendance at this year’s Forum. “This will be the first time we have highlighted a country at our event, and we are thrilled that it is Korea, whose excellence and creativity in film and audiovisual production are widely recognized,” said Herszberg. As of 2024, the size of the Korean content market was estimated at $43.169 billion per year, ranking eighth globally in terms of content market size. Last year, Series Mania Forum welcomed about 5,000 industry professionals from 75 countries. Buyers are the Secret to Series Mania Forum’s International Success The Lille Chamber of Commerce is the headquarters of the Buyers Upfront. One of the panels at last year’s Forum. The Lille Grand Palais will house more than 80 exhibitors. The busy market floor at the Grand Palais. VIDEOAGE February 2026 Series Festival Preview
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20 (Continued from Cover) ly stagnant acquisitions market, and a fragile licensing and merchandising sector. Meanwhile, a vast number of authors and creatives, trained during the growth years, now face dwindling professional opportunities as competition from AI begins to take hold. While animation is not a medium aimed solely at children and kids — with sectors like adult animation and manga showing signs of a counter-trend — the overall situation for both animation and other premium content for young audiences remains critical. It may seem that top management at large corporations — busy with big strategies, mergers and acquisitions or simply culturally disconnected from the kids’ genre — are less interested in prioritizing quality in new productions, assuming that cost containment is what now matters most and that, eventually, everything will just work itself out. Despite that, I believe there are underlying shifts and opportunities for a new phase of recovery and growth, provided the sector can interpret and seize them. A key factor is the rising awareness of the harm caused to children and adolescents by the widespread use of smartphones and social media. Whether the solution will be the Australian model of banning social media until age 16 or other measures currently under discussion remains to be seen. However, even though smartphones are a relatively recent phenomenon and long-term medical and sociological research is still catching up, one thing is now certain — the current use of smartphones by children and social media by teens is detrimental to their personal and social development. It is an addiction that weakens social bonds and paves the way for other forms of youth distress. The audiovisual industry must be ready to respond to this growing awareness and the coming regulatory changes with a new line of offerings. This is not just a “let’s ban social media and go back to the past” sentiment. Many shifts in taste and consumption are here to stay. The success of “micro-dramas,” for instance, stems from the rise of reels (i.e., vertical videos) as a mainstream audiovisual pastime. The demand for a coordinated approach across linear and nonlinear platforms, publishing, podcasts, gaming, and live theatrical events is the new reality. The debate on kids and social media will rekindle a focus on the importance of quality audiovisual offerings for children. Simultaneously, following the 2024-2025 adjustment period, the catalog of older product housed in platforms and broadcasters’ libraries will start looking less lustrous, driving a clear need for renewal. Major nostalgia-fueled ventures in animation and drama will undoubtedly persist. This is partly due to caution and a lack of risk assumption, but also reflects the audience’s genuine aspiration for products that address a shared vision — something that can stimulate an unmet need for intergenerational communication. This strategy is a priority for major platforms and is widespread everywhere. In Italy alone the Sandokan TV series (a remake of a 1976 RAI show) was recently a huge success, and a major project on Corto Maltese has been announced. Meanwhile, for children and families, the world of the Papallas — protagonists of a hugely popular TV commercial during the ’60s — will be revived with a new colorful animated series. The space for new original series has been severely compressed recently, but it will now likely start growing again. National broadcasters, especially — but not limited to — public service broadcasters, can once again play a key role in developing original properties. They can do so emphasizing the educational aspect of content, especially in this specific historical and cultural moment. From entertainment to edutainment to purely educational content, there are many nuances and possibilities, including crosspollination with school publishing and the gaming world. This commitment, for which there are strong marketing and cultural policy expectations, goes hand in hand with the essential need to maintain, consolidate, and strengthen the network of independent production companies. In these turbulent times, defending a decentralized and polycentric network of creativity and audiovisual production is a priority for national broadcasters and for the countries themselves. We must focus, especially in Europe, on an extraordinary and coordinated effort to support the animation and children’s production sectors. It’s not rhetoric, but a clear and measurable objective to immerse children in the culture, history, language, and the artistic, recreational, and even nutritional settings of their own countries. The current news about youth distress, particularly among those aged nine to 15 (the generation that has suffered most from the post-coronavirus social crisis), are impossible to ignore. The inability to manage emotions, and especially aggression (it’s no coincidence that “rage bait” is the word of the year), is a serious issue. The greatest challenge lies in offerings for children aged seven to 12 — an age group that risks being neglected by the audiovisual industry. After preschool, which has its own established business model, publishers are tempted to target teens directly, prematurely adultizing a crucial developmental age group that requires dedicated attention. It is a challenge that demands extraordinary action. Over the next two to three years, operators — and national broadcasters in particular — should increase their investment share in individual animation and high-end kids’ drama projects to break the current impasse, even if it means commissioning fewer titles. In recent years, the investment per project from commissioners has declined. However, no commissioner will take such a counterintuitive step alone unless it is part of a collective cultural policy effort. This requires recognizing the strategic value that children’s audiovisual content holds for the well-being of both the youth and society at large in every country. Tightly weaving together the educational and business aspects of the sector is key to strengthening it in these current times. Based in Rome, Italy, Luca Milano, now an independent consultant, is a former director of RAI Kids and a former deputy director of RAI Fiction, RAI’s department in charge of TV drama production. “The audience has a genuine aspiration for products that address a shared vision — something that can stimulate an unmet need for intergenerational communication.” VIDEOAGE February 2026 Children's Televison
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(Continued From Cover) 22 for aerial plates, planned safety, scheduled a unit, or pushed it to post and let VFX (visual effects) carry the weight. What made this request different was timing. They hadn’t even started principal photography. They were solving a high-risk, high-cost sequence before the show even existed in the physical world. For broadcasters, streamers, and distributors, that shift matters. It changes when costs hit the budget, where lives are at risk, and what “deliverable” means when a shot is generated rather than photographed. Over the last year, Gennie Studio (the Los Angeles-based AI-powered production company where I work) has delivered fully AIgenerated reenactments for multiple broadcast and streaming doc series, which forced us to confront deliverables, quality control (QC), and risk the hard way. Running this company day to day has demystified a lot for me. The productivity gains are real, including in production, but they arrive through process and iteration, not a magic button. Here is the core misunderstanding. Executives treat AI like a camera or a crew. In practice, it is an options engine. It generates plausible versions quickly, then demands discipline to turn a promising version into something repeatable, spec compliant, and defensible from a provenance and liability standpoint. Below are the misconceptions I hear most often, and what the work looks like when you actually have to ship. Misconception number 1: “AI makes anything cheaper.” AI can be cheaper, sometimes dramatically. But “cheaper” is not the same thing as “production ready.” The first pass is often fast. The hidden cost shows up later in iteration, QC, and compliance. It is also not always true that AI wins on price. Many international factual producers already deliver broadcast-acceptable scenes on a shoestring with clever minimalism, like abstract, out-of-focus reenactments or stylized coverage. In those cases, generative AI can be slower and more expensive because refinement time eats the savings. We learned the expensive version of that lesson working on a historical project. We were overconfident that we could deliver meticulous period detail and keep it consistent from shot to shot, including the right weapons, footwear, facial hair, and geographic cues. Because we promised that level of accuracy, getting there was costly. The poorest assumption was misjudging the models’ ability to reliably generate period-appropriate, location-specific detail on demand. These systems recreate patterns from training data, and the data is not always labeled the way production needs. Ask for Revolutionary War soldiers and you can get pirates. Where AI does win is when you want higher production value, more scale, or shots you simply cannot afford to shoot. Going back in time (if you have the budget to refine for detail accuracy), visualizing fantasy worlds, and building sequences before principal photography can flip the economics quickly. Misconception number 2: “You can direct AI and get what you want.” Prompting is not directing. The practical reality today looks like prompt and pray, then iterate toward intent. The craft involves constraints and workflow. References, composition, timing, negative controls, style controls, and hands-on human intervention matter more than clever wording. Misconception number 3: “There’s a virtual camera.” In many generative systems, camera language is an instruction, not a real camera moving through 3D space. That shows up the moment someone asks for precision. We once got a note on a car shot: move the camera higher above the car so we are looking down at the roof, not across it. The request was closer to a 70 degree angle, and the shot was closer to 25 or 30 degrees. That level of angular specificity is hard to hit with pure generative video without a lot of revisions. You can bring in 3D tools and use AI as part of a hybrid pipeline, but costs start creeping upward. Even with strong process guiding style and consistency, outputs stay unpredictable. A director with 80 percent of their vision is often better served by AI than one with 100 percent because you need room for flexibility and surprises, similar to what you allow on a real set. Misconception number 4: “Upscaling will fix it.” Upscaling can make an image sharper. It can’t manufacture coherence. On the six-episode documentary series Killer Kings (produced by FirstLookTV and commissioned by Sky History), more than 80 percent of our AI deliverables for episode one were rejected by the online facility conducting QC ahead of network delivery. It also exposed the limitations and misleading promises of AI-powered upscalers. Upscalers routinely invent detail that was never there, making assumptions about what is in frame. A person in the background wearing a silk dress near a window can suddenly be transformed into a curtain. We built a pre-QC refinement process and learned to favor closeups and medium shots over dense wides, crowds, and complex background motion. Misconception number 5: “No Generative AI was used in the making of this show.” From my point of view, and this is subjective, this statement often functions as a values message dressed up as a supply chain message. AI already shows up across the process, whether decision makers realize it or not, including marketing and promo workflows, pitch materials, audio cleanup, localization, trailer versioning, and tools inside post. If a company wants to make a sweeping claim that appeals to consumers and press, the responsible move is specificity. Put the boundary in writing, in agreements, delivery notes, and marketing approvals, so it is auditable and defensible. What’s actually true: AI is a gift for creators and small teams, especially those who lack formal training in design, animation, VFX, or post. It lowers the floor. I call this upward technical mobility. It also pushes the industry toward leaner teams. The same output can increasingly come from fewer people, as long as the pipeline is disciplined. AI is neither a camera nor a crew. It is a probability engine that produces options quickly. The advantage goes to teams that can convert those options into deliverables without blowing schedule, budget, or brand trust. From l. to r.: Chelsea Durgin, Tejas Shah, and Max Einhorn, co-founders of the Los Angeles-based Gennie Studio. Einhorn is also pictured on the cover. Even with strong process guiding style and consistency, outputs stay unpredictable. VIDEOAGE February 2026 AI at Crossroad
23 (Continued From Cover) sion and TV Azteca have reached an agreement to broadcast the tournament in Mexico. Fan participation at the stadiums is estimated by FIFA to reach more than six million in-person attendees, with aggregates expected to exceed previous editions. There are nonetheless questions being asked of how many foreign fans (of the 1.2 million expected) will be able to travel to the United States amid stories of visa denials and diplomatic tensions, as well as worries that the tournament might become politicized. There is a credible risk that some individuals, or even entire delegations from some countries of the 48 teams (expanded from 32 for the occasion) divided into 12 groups, with five first-timers competing in the tournament, may face entry obstacles to the United States (like Haiti and Iran). One of the first-timers is the nation of Curaçao, which has 156,000 inhabitants. There is a promised fast-track visa entry system, which will be implemented to ease travel by fans, with the U.S. Department of State and FIFA working together to unveil a program branded FIFA PASS (or “FIFA Priority Appointment Scheduling System”) to give World Cup ticket-holders earlier access to U.S. visa interview appointments. In practice it is a scheduling fast lane: people who bought FIFA tickets (through FIFA) will be eligible to request prioritized interview slots at participating U.S. consulates rather than waiting in the normal, often long, queue for a standard appointment. However, outlets and analysts emphasize that the program only expedites appointment scheduling; and consular officers retain full authority to deny visas. Wired and The Guardian have reported that official statements affirm that FIFA PASS “does not guarantee admission” and normal security and eligibility guidelines set by the administration remain in place. While the plan in the United States is to expand free-to-air exposure (with more matches on network TV than the previous World Cup in 2022), throughout broadcast deal negotiations, rights packages have prominently included streaming. FOX will be streaming every match on FOX One (the FOX Sports app) alongside the record number of matches planned to be broadcast on FOX networks (principally FS1, although many matches will air directly on FOX’s primary channels), and NBCUniversal plans to pair the Peacock streaming services with broadcasts on Telemundo. In Canada, Bell Media will carry matches across CTV/TSN linear channels plus TSN/CTV/RS streaming apps, with multi-platform programming scheduled combining studio segments and preview specials. In Mexico, TelevisaUnivision will pair broadcasts with content on their ViX and TUDN streaming outlets. Broadcasters expect large, simultaneous linear broadcasts of marquee matches such as finals, or matches involving large nations, while more niche time zones will be watching on streaming services. Streaming service platforms such as fubo, YouTube TV, Sling, and Peacock, along with Comcast/Xfinity services, are all preparing packaged offers to provide combined linear and streaming coverage. FIFA, the event organizers, expect record viewership in this 2026 tournament to be driven by the tournament’s expansion to 48 teams, and being hosted across North America’s largest and most lucrative markets. While individual viewership is expected to vary widely from match to match, cumulative viewers might be measurable in the billions, and the final itself might draw in over a billion viewers. However, analysts, as well as human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, have warned that U.S. government policies enacted since 2020 which have included targeted travel bans, stricter vetting, “integrity” fees, and expanded discretionary powers at passport control, could still lead to exclusion for particular groups of fans, especially nationals from sanctioned countries, people with marginal records, people with records of protesting, or people who identify as LGBTQ+ or other vulnerable groups. Political questions have also emerged from domestic affairs. U.S. president Donald Trump has publicly signaled he might seek to relocate matches out of some U.S. host cities he describes as unsafe or poorly governed. However, it is unclear as to how much of this rhetoric is merely political posturing, especially as matches cannot be unilaterally moved as a web of contractual obligations have already been stipulated between FIFA, the U.S. Soccer Federation, and host cities and venues. Threatening to move games from certain cities does however allow the president to present a “law and order” argument, which appeals to his base, positioning himself as protecting the marquee event. Further, by way of the prospect of stripping World Cup events from some cities, the White House can garner rhetorical leverage against local governments, typically in cities run by Democrats, on policing, homelessness, or other policy points. Trump, who played what in the U.S. and Canada is called football, soccer, in high school, has said, “This is football. We have to come up with another name for the NFL stuff.” He has also held high-profile meetings and public photo ops with FIFA leadership as the tournament approaches. It is undeniable that hosting a successful 2026 World Cup will be a major softpower moment for the United States, and any association that allows the president to take credit for a smooth, successful tournament will be politically valuable. The last time the World Cup (which was created in 1930) went to the U.S. was in 1994. Broadcasters expect large, simultaneous linear broadcasts of marquee matches such as finals, or matches involving large nations, while more niche time zones will be watching on streaming services. VIDEOAGE February 2026 The Sports Page
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