14 MIPCOM: The Mother of All TV Markets Can Be Charitable or Callous The fact that MIPCOM Cannes is now the biggest trade show of the year for the international TV content industry is clear from the distance that other major international markets are taking from it. NAB will take place October 22-23 in New York City, while TIFFCOM will unspool in Tokyo October 29-31. Both will happen well after the four-day Cannes market ends on October 16. Another sign of MIPCOM’s predominance is the large contingent of ancillary content-related companies it attracts. The event draws everything from dubbing studios to research firms to data gatherers and metadata generators. It even lures in independent enterprises that offer to screen content outside MIPCOM’s Palais, as well as independent matchmakers. This is a trend generated by the fact that many companies are downsizing and the fact that many once internal functions now are outsourced. There is no question that to those ancillary TV businesses, MIPCOM is becoming a launchpad for visibility. Publications like VideoAge are inundated with misplaced requests by new market participants wanting to offer recreational services (that we don’t need), or requesting meetings for obscure presentations. Clearly, these new entrants don’t do their homework properly. Being the biggest TV market of the year also brings anxiety to participants, mostly fueled by RX, the Paris, France-based market organizer, which offered up a flurry of announcements that overwhelmed the international TV sector as early as July 22, 2025, 80 days ahead of the market’s October 13 start. Those very early announcements prompted a debate: “It’s never too early to talk about MIPCOM,” said one American TV studio executive. “What’s the rush?” retorted a British colleague. Well, the rush could be that RX is anxiously waiting for exhibitors to buy “Content Credits,” a concept that was introduced last year whereby, for 70 euro (U.S. $82), companies can upload one program onto MIPCOM’s main online screening library. To post a “project,” however, it costs 185 euro ($215). In any case, no matter how you slice it, MIPCOM is clearly not only an important industry appointment, but also a reflection of the state of the TV industry, which, these days, is all about anxiety over the future, uncertainty over the economic environment, political instability that muddies the clear vision of rules and regulations, and corporate insecurity created by moody investors’ demands, mergers, corporate breakups, and fast-moving technological advances. Today, major companies are being challenged by their low-revenue cable-TV and broadcasting assets and their high-cost sports TV licenses. Streamers are facing stiff competition and reduced profits. OTT platforms are limiting new FAST channels. And medium- and small-size content distribution companies are confronting a downward spiral with low and slow sales, the high-cost of new quality content, and hard-to-find product to distribute. When medium-sized distribution companies are cutting their promotion budgets for major TV markets — where the most visibility is needed — or are confined to advertise in marginal, low-cost publications just to show their producers that they’re actively promoting their shows, the message is clear that the situation is getting critical. An example for one way to recover could come from the fashion industry, where brands like Coach and Ralph Lauren outperformed the larger European brands by increasing their promotional budgets from four percent to 10 percent of sales (in the case of Coach), and four percent to seven percent (in the case of Ralph Lauren), with sales growing each by 10 percent overall, while sales for brands like LVMH decreased overall by 10 percent, and Gucci by 25 percent. The major theme at this year’s MIPCOM is the “Global Creator Economy.” This coincides with YouTube having its first major presence at the market. The creator economy program will take place in the Palais, at the Innovation Lab, located at the P-1 level, and at the additional location of the Creative Hub (formerly the Producers Hub) on the beach. RX has also partnered with media entrepreneur Rick Parkhill to stage, at MIPCOM, his first international edition of BrandStorytelling, which is a Dana Point, California-based organization for brand-funded programming summits (which has run at Sundance for the last 10 years and is meant to unite brands, digital content creators, and TV executives). BrandStorytelling will bring 25 speakers to Cannes on October 13 and 14 at the Hi-5 level of the Palais. MIPJUNIOR is having a makeover and moving to the Palais and the Gare Maritime (the building at the entrance of the port), and will take place Saturday, October 11 and Sunday, October 12, with more emphasis on networking, matchmaking, and roundtables. World Premieres are back Sunday to Tuesday. These include Paramount’s Boston Blue and Sony Pictures TV’s The Miniature Wife. But let’s have some of the MIPCOM players themselves from various parts of the world give us a reality check on this year’s Cannes market, starting with Chevonne O’Shaughnessy, CEO of the Los Angelesbased ACI Inspire, who was asked the question: Will you have more new content, compared to last MIPCOM? “Our library has grown by more than 20 percent since last MIPCOM, and we now represent over 600 titles across a wide variety of genres,” she answered. Similarly, from Istanbul, Kerim Emrah Turna, CEO of MediaHub, said: “Our lineup has expanded significantly since the last MIPCOM.” And from Singapore, Sonia Fleck, CEO of Bomanbridge Media, commented: “[Our] library has expanded significantly. We’ll have another 160 titles compared to MIPCOM 2024 through new partnerships we will announce shortly.” Sonia Mehandjiyska, head of International Distribution for the Los Angeles-based Electric Entertainment, was very direct: “We are constantly in production.” Armin Luttenberger, head of Content Sales, International, for Austria-based ORF-Enterprise, reported: “We are in a position where we can present and offer new and captivating content each season.” And, asked VideoAge: How are you adapting to the more challenging times? “We’re meeting challenges head on with both content and marketing innovation,” responded O’Shaughnessy. “On the content Lucy Smith is the director of MIPCOM Cannes. (Continued on Page 16) VIDEOAGE October 2025 Market Preview
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