12 MIPCOM Cannes was not just about buying and selling — if that were the case, everyone would have gone home happy — but it was a time and a place where participants saw the industry evolving before their very eyes, and where rumors became news. This was the case for MediaFor Europe (MFE), a pan-European project from Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi, started by the Mediaset patriarch back in 1986 with La Cinq in France, then Tele 5 in Germany in 1988 (both ended in 1992), and continued in 2005 by his son Pier Silvio by combining Mediaset’s Canale 5, Mediaset España’s Telecinco, and Germany’s ProSiebenSat1 (also covering Austria and Switzerland). He’s currently negotiating to buy a stake in Portugal’s SIC, as well. MFE was a hot topic in Cannes, even though few details emerged from the companies involved with the deal. Other big MIPCOM topics included the role of YouTube for terrestrial broadcast TV stations (as a big Netflix presence is still a chimera for MIPCOM) and sports on television (especially since the Sportel Monaco TV market took place October 20-22, just a few kilometers east of Cannes). Another topic du jour was the large number of small new companies, all of which were in Cannes to get some visibility, while some established companies that have exhibited with their own stands in the past now shared desks at various pavilions. There were also a good number of firsttime buyers attending MIPCOM, including the Canadian David Van Poppel of Knowledge Network and Jani Mikkonen of Finnish Broadcasting, who both managed to get 40 meetings each. Buyers from Germany’s RTL also reported a good market. One of the biggest MIPCOM splashes this year was from Radial Entertainment, in Cannes for the first time as the new brand of recently combined companies FilmRise (based in New York) and Shout! (based in Los Angeles). Under the MIPCOM media radar, but an important part of the market nonetheless, was the gaming sector, as demonstrated by a large crowd hoping to gain entry into an already packed evening party hosted by Swiss-based gaming company eClutch that was taking place at a Croisette beach restaurant on the second day of the market. The large number of LatAm participants (both buyers and sellers) was unusual. Why? Because MIP Cancun unspools in Mexico just a few short weeks after the Cannes market, and almost all LatAm buyers gather there. This time around, spotting LatAm executives was easy since they were all attending the numerous parties hosted by Turkish companies. But it was troublesome that some would-be MIPCOM participants who reside in the U.S. with a visa were reluctant to leave the country for fear of having problems at re-entry since the U.S. is currently reviewing the records of more than 55 million U.S. visa holders to assess if they have broken conditions for entry or stay in the U.S. “It’s a generational shift.” That was how Lucy Smith, MIPCOM’s director, summarized this year’s edition of the Cannes market during an early-morning press conference on Wednesday, October 15, the third day of the four-day event. Indeed, there were lots of changes, basically because the content economy of last year is now being replaced by a “creator” economy that is still somewhat undefined. MIPCOM’s Creator Economy Caused a Generational Shift markets, schedules fill up so quickly with existing partners that there’s little room left for discovery. MIP Cancun changes that dynamic. The matchmaking process gives both new and established companies equal visibility, opening the door to producers and distributors we might never have met otherwise.” And to Jimmy Arteaga Grustein, CCO of Puerto Rico’s Hemisphere Media Group, and president of Programming, Promotion & Production of WAPA-TV, “markets like MIPCOM Cannes and MIP Cancun are not just about acquisition lists; they are about building trust, pressuretesting ideas in real time, and aligning creative ambition with commercial clarity.” Regardless of the drama in the LatAm region, reps for MIP Cancun — like every other market of late — seem to be focused more on conference topics ahead of the event rather than on market floor figures. The 2025 edition will spotlight the tried-and-true branded content, the creator economy, and new digital platforms, including vertical content. In effect, MIP Cancun 2025’s program replicates past years’ models, and will start on Tuesday, November 18 with a 3:30 p.m. summit (this time about streaming) and a 7 p.m. opening drinks party. The next day, the market floor will open at 9:30 a.m. for four meetings before a lunch break, followed by six meetings in the afternoon (until 5:30 p.m.). The day will also feature two conferences in the morning and two in the afternoon (that will end well before the 9 p.m. opening party). On Thursday, the market floor will be similar to the previous day, but there will be three conferences in the morning and three in the afternoon. On the last day, Friday, there will be five meetings in the morning and two conferences before this edition of the event closes. Maria Perez-Belliere, MIP Cancun’s director for the organizer RX, also reported that the number of buyers at this upcoming market will increase by six percent from last year’s total of 221. As far as costs, she explained, “We have kept the core co-production and content market costs to a rise of just under three percent.” In terms of changes, this year there will not be a “buyers’ breakfast,” and the Worldwide Audiovisual Women’s Association will not be hosting an event. Finally, Radial’s Alejandro Veciana reported that at his second time at MIP Cancun he will have a table (among the 120 exhibiting companies) and that he submitted a list of buyers that he’s interested in meeting with. In addition to LatAm in general and U.S. Hispanic markets, he’s prioritizing Brazil’s buyers. In terms of new Spanish-language content, Verciana said he’d be taking a few recent titles to MIP Cancun. Calinos Entertainment’s Goryana Vasileva, Onur Sozener, Gulfem Bilgic. Inter Medya’s Can Okan and Beatriz Cea Okan. (Continued on Page 14) (Continued from Page 10) MIP Cancun VIDEOAGE November 2025 Market Report
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