Mipcom Cannes went on a diet this year.
The annual content bazaar on the Croisette wrapped up on Wednesday with 10,100 delegates from 104 countries. Last year it drew around 10,600 from 107. Buyers slipped to 3,150 from 3,300, or 34 per cent of everyone who walked in with a badge.
Mipjunior, the kids’ market that runs just before the main show, fared worse. It drew 600 participants and 165 buyers, against 700 and 190 a year ago. That is a drop of about 14 per cent.
Lucy Smith, director of Mipcom Cannes and head of the entertainment division at organiser RX France, was quick to explain the drop in numbers at the wrap-up press meet. She said consolidation is squeezing the industry just as YouTubers and brands muscle in with fresh money. “I think what we have all seen here this week is the global entertainment industry experiencing extraordinary disruption,” Smith said. “Consolidation is reshaping the traditional entertainment landscape.”
When studios merge, fewer of them book hotel rooms on the Croisette. Smith wants creators and brands to take those rooms. AI and microdramas hogged the corridors this year. “Vertical storytelling and microdramas are challenging the established formats, while AI is changing how content is made,” Smith said.
The AI sessions were jam-packed. “All of our AI sessions and keynotes across the market were packed with standing room only,” she said. Utopai Studios co-founder and CEO Cecilia Shen pulled one of the biggest crowds with her keynote on AI in content creation.
Indian viewers have been bingeing on 90-second, cliffhanger-heavy microdramas on their phones for a while now. Cannes has caught on. Mipcom gave the format a bigger programme this year. Fox Entertainment used it to announce a vertical series pact with Kevin Hart’s Hartbeat, and shows that click can be spun off into film and television.
YouTube showed up with a much bigger presence and a German partner in tow. Pedro Pina, YouTube’s VP for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Stephan Schmitter, CEO of RTL Germany, walked delegates through their partnership on the action series Cobra 11. Their pitch was that a broadcaster can use YouTube to find new viewers and extra ad money. Justin Connolly, YouTube’s global head of media and sports, was on stage too.
“YouTube already has global reach,” Smith said. “Mipcom gives it access to international entertainment partners and decision makers who can turn that reach into commercial opportunity.”
Ad-funded streaming brought deals of its own. BBC Studios expanded its partnership with Samsung TV Plus to launch four free ad-supported channels in Europe.
Then there were the creators. For the first time, Mipcom opened with a creator as headliner. Dhar Mann, whose digital-first studio now makes shows for Samsung TV Plus among others, kicked off on Sunday evening. He talked about his Hollywood partnerships and the Creator City he plans to build in Los Angeles. Fox Entertainment pitched its Creator Studios, which develops creator-led IP for viewers around the world.
The brands got a club of their own as well. The newly launched Mip Brandworks paired ad agencies and advertisers with producers looking for new ways to fund shows. Dentsu came on board as headline partner, and Meta joined in.
“We are not bringing new communities to Cannes simply to sit alongside the traditional market,” Smith said. “We’re bringing them here to create new business opportunities for the core industry.”
The old guard still turned up. Banijay Entertainment chairman Jeff Zucker and CEO Marco Bassetti gave their first joint keynote since the All3Media merger made Banijay the world’s largest independent production house. Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria walked away with the Variety Vanguard Award.
Baywatch, one of the world’s most-watched shows, is coming back, and its makers came to Cannes to make waves. Fox Television Network president Michael Thorn and Jens Richter, CEO, commercial and international at Fremantle, shared the stage with actors Brooks Nader and Stephen Amell.
Other speakers included CSI creator Anthony E Zuiker, BBC Studios Global Content CEO Zai Bennett, BBC chief content officer Kate Phillips and Matt Schnaars, NBCUniversal president, platform distribution and partnerships. TikTok global head of content Dennis Papirowski headlined the closing day.
RX France is shaking up its calendar too. Mip London makes way for Mip Talks, a two-day conference on IP and fandom that will run alongside the London Book Fair in March 2027. Mipcom Cannes returns from 18 to 21 October 2027.
Smith has little time for anyone pining for the glory days. “I know the tendency is to compare Mipcom with the market of five or 10 years ago,” she said. “I think that we can all agree that is not the industry that we’re serving today.”
The headcount is down. We will find out next October in Cannes whether the new crowd signs enough cheques to make up for it.
