How could this 39th annual MIPCOM be characterized? Looking at the plethora of new trade publications that are being distributed here on top of the large number of already existing ones, one could say that the international TV industry had high hopes for a successful market. Traditionally, this kind of response is not found at less successful events.
Then, there was the large number of parties: both at the exhibitors’ stands and at outside venues. The long lines at the market’s entrances couldn’t be attributed to an increased number of attendees, but was instead due to heightened security following the Hamas terrorist attack in Israel.
In terms of attendance, according to official figures, there were 320 exhibiting companies with stands and 11,072 participants from 100 countries, including 5,630 participants registered as buyers.
As indicated in VideoAge‘s report on Monday, October 16, the first day of the four-day market saw an explosion of companies peddling AI technology, dubbing, subtitling services, and content offerings for FAST channels.
In terms of business, the indies at MIPCOM had a field day(s) since the actors’ strike that is continuing in the U.S. (following a prolonged writers’ strike that was recently settled), has drastically reduced the content output from the U.S. studios.
Nonetheless, all the major studios in the U.S. were back exhibiting in a big way and getting lots of attention, with a keynote speech delivered by Gerhard Zeiler, president of Warner Bros. International, and Bob Bakish, CEO of Paramount, receiving the MIPCOM Personality of the Year Award.
The elusive Latin American buyers –– who are expected to be at MIP Cancun next month –– also made appearances, with Argentina’s Telefe and Mexico’s Azteca and Televisa in attendance in Cannes. And the U.S. studios had their LatAm divisions readily on hand, with Disney LatAm in particular, out in full force.
In his speech, Zeiler explained that even though Warner Bros. is committed to streaming, “if it makes sense to license content to third parties, we will.”
Similarly, Bakish said that the streaming business is central to Paramount Global’s vision, but content licensing is still “a fundamental part of our economic model.”
Moving on to controversies — because there are always some at a big market such as this — during a press conference at the Majestic Hotel, when asked about the joint Media For Europe project with Italy’s Mediaset, Bert Habets, CEO of Germany’s ProSiebenSat.1, limited his comments to: “Italian TV and German TV cannot be more different.” Habets was joined by Henrik Pabst, CCO of Seven One Entertainment Group, which is part of the ProSieben company.
Finally, in terms of next year’s dates, MIPCOM 2024 is scheduled very late in October, from the 21st to the 24th, while MIP-TV, on the other hand, will be held very early, April 8-10, 2024.
Pictured above, scenes from the MIPCOM floor. Paramount Global (l. to r.) Dan Cohen, Lisa Kramer, and Bob Bakish; ProSiebenSat.1 (l. to. r.) Stefanie Rupp-Menedetter, Bert Habets, and Henrik Pabst of Seven.One Entertainment Group; Inter Medya’s Can Okan with the stars of The Ivy; RAI’s Adriano De Maio and Guido Pugnetti; Fox Entertainment Global’s Fernando Szew with Neshama’s Arnie Zipursky; Lionsgate’s Agapy Kapouranis and Jim Packer.
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