Lots of real news, unsubstantiated rumors — and even an announcement — were swirling around the Palais during the most recent edition of MIP-TV, which ended on Thursday, April 11, after a four-day market.
The first bit of news was about next year’s MIP-TV. It was revealed that exhibitors who were housed in tents outside the Palais this year will be brought in to fill the empty spaces inside the Palais for the 2020 event.
Another news item came courtesy of Turkish exhibitors, who were told by Reed MIDEM of a possible MIP Istanbul event in February that would have a MIP Cancun format (with pre-scheduled meetings).
More news was generated by the Romanian contingent, which was at MIP-TV promoting a new “hybrid” event to be held in Bucharest next June — prior to NATPE Budapest — with Reed MIDEM pitching in with its MIP Academy program.
The announcement concerned the fact that the April market will no longer be tied to its successful sister event, October’s MIPCOM, which means that exhibitors will now be able to rent space separately.
Of relevance to the conference portion of the market was the Achievement in International Television award given to CBS’s Armando Nuñez (pictured above flanked by Reed MIDEM’s Paul Zilk and Laurine Garaude). It was celebrated with a ceremony held on Monday evening at the Palais followed by a cocktail reception at the Carlton Hotel. This was the second MIP-TV award received by the 59-years old Nuñez, who, in 2013 received MIP-TV’s Medal of Honor, together with his father, Armando Nuñez, Sr.
Another event celebrated was the 40th anniversary of VideoAge‘s Dom Serafini at MIP-TV, which was commemorated with coffee and croissants at the Croisette Corner restaurant. There, Serafini told a group of PR friends that VideoAge depended on them just as much as they depended on VideoAge.
At the event, Serafini also spoke of a call he’d received from Mike Williams in the Reed MIDEM press office, who asked which hotel he’d be staying at during the event, prompting Serafini to worry that the market was going to call the gendarme to ban him from Cannes due to his honest reporting about the market over the years. Instead, Serafini was presented with a bottle of champagne and a nice congratulatory note signed by the higher-ups at Reed MIDEM.
But there weren’t any official words from MIP-TV organizers about the disappearance of Twentieth Century Fox Studios, which was acquired by Disney just before MIP-TV began.
France was the Country of Honor at this year’s MIP-TV, but very little news came of it in any form outside the fact that a record number of French TV companies were in attendance.
Regardless of the official hype about an unlikely total of 9,500 participants, MIP-TV was productive for all companies contacted by VideoAge Daily, with reports of meetings taking place and full schedules on the calendars. And this survey included companies from several countries, such as the U.S., Turkey, Italy, France, Germany, as well as umbrellas like the E.U. and Quebec.
A complete MIP-TV review will be featured in the May (LATAM) edition of VideoAge.
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