A red-carpet world premiere for Hugo Blick’s Western drama series The English, starring Emily Blunt and Chaske Spencer, raised the curtain for this year’s Mipcom TV market.
The screening heralded the start of a TV market that also saw keynotes from senior BBC, Fremantle, Banijay, Amazon Prime Video and Fox Entertainment Global executives – and three days of brisk deal making. Screen summarises the key talking points from Cannes.
A comeback market
Appropriately, the sun shone for Mipcom’s comeback edition, which only added to a general sense of positivity about this year’s event. As at so many festivals and markets which have returned this year, people seemed genuinely pleased to be at Mipcom to reconnect with contacts and colleagues in person. Distributors reported packed diaries and busy schedules, and plenty of deal making. There was none of the grumbling about the size and quality of the event that is so often the background mood music of a market. Ahead of the market, all the talk was that it would be a ‘supersized’ Mipcom, packed full of people. However, it didn’t feel crowded – numbers were good but not overwhelming, with Mipcom reporting 10,896 delegates from 108 countries. Chinese and Russian delegates were notable by their absence. Most said, however, that they were meeting with decision makers and the right kind of buyers, making it an effective market for business. Stars such as Cara Delevingne and Emily Blunt added some glitz to proceedings. ”So much of the talk has been about everybody seeing ‘each other’ again…But what’s been interesting, and come up again and again in talking to people, has been about how refreshing and exciting it’s been to meet so many new people,” said Mipcom director Lucy Smith, pointing out 50 companies took stands for the first time.
Iceberg ahead?
Mipcom was buoyant this year because it captured the pent-up energy of an international TV industry that has hardly been able to meet for a few years, and that has been producing record amounts of content. Given that many countries are now entering a recession, one buyer wondered aloud to Screen if there was something of the doomed voyage of the Titanic about this year’s Mipcom – the orchestra is playing loudly, the passengers are enjoying themselves, but a very big iceberg lies clearly ahead. Inflation, said Fremantle COO Andrea Scrosati in keynote, is a “real issue” for the industry, noting that rising costs are hitting both Fremantle and its clients. Consumers would become more cautious about subscribing to streaming services amid rising energy bills, he said. Others expressed concerns about the advertising market in 2023. If subscriptions and advertising do go into reverse, it’s unlikely that the mood at next year’s Mipcom will be quite so jolly.
France arrives en force
French companies made their presence known with a huge physical presence at the market. The major French-founded international groups Banijay, Mediawan and Newen have been acquiring multiple companies in recent weeks and swept into town with giant stands and massive market catalogues. Mediawan took over a top floor of the Palais and Banijay’s giant 500m2 stand across from the Palais steps and main entrance was unmissable, not to mention its 200-plus staffers in town for the event. Newen Connect came onto the scene just two years ago with two French IPs and this week unveiled a slate of more than 17 new shows including four returning series and several high-end prestige drama titles with international appeal. Even French film promotion agency Unifrance brought together several local sales companies under one very large roof on the Palais’ Riviera side and expanded onto a giant terrace. The message: France isn’t just a host country for Mipcom, but is a fierce content competitor on the international scene and only growing.
We need to talk about rights
One of the big talking points of Mipcom was rights – specifically the desire of producers to hold on to them and to wrestle back more control of the content they create from streaming platforms. Banijay CEO Marco Bassetti stressed the importance of producers and talent retaining a share of ownership of projects, and criticised global streamers’ approach to rights. In a Mipcom keynote, Bassetti said: “It’s not fair to ask a talent or creative and say ‘give me everything’ and when it’s successful, he isn’t part of it.” Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade said there were three tenets driving its business, among them IP ownership. Expect more pushback in the coming year on streamers and their ambitions to hold on to rights.
Big is beautiful?
Bassetti pitched companies of scale like Banijay – which has 120 labels spanning 22 countries – as having the “leverage” to negotiate with streamers for rights. Against this background, it was little wonder the ongoing round of mergers and acquisitions in the TV industry was one of the big talking points. Banijay entered the market having just announced its proposed acquisition of producer and distributor Beyond International, and during Mipcom revealed it had purchased Mam Tor Productions, the UK producer behind hit BBC series Chloe. BBC Studios also announced during Mipcom that it had taken full ownership of Killing Eve producer Sid Gentle. But tongues were really set wagging by a ’Financial Times’ report on Saturday that UK broadcaster ITV was examining options for its sizeable production and distribution division ITV Studios, with Fremantle and Banijay cited as possible buyers. Not all think such scale is a good idea though. Some producers expressed fears their shows would get lost amid the vast catalogues now repped by the big distributors. Meanwhile, mid-size and smaller distributors at Mipcom pitched themselves as able to offer a more personal, hands-on service for programme makers than the big giants.
AVOD and FAST bonanza
Mipcom kicked off just days after Netflix had announced the imminent launch of its ad tier, setting the tone for plenty of conversations about the rise of AVoD services and the rapid growth of FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV) channels. Samsung TV Plus had a large beachside stand, highlighting its push into the burgeoning FAST space. Distributors were doing brisk business licencing content to new FAST channels, or seeking to generate revenue by launching their own FAST services, like All3Media’s Midsomer Murders channel that debuted this year. Many of the big distributors see FAST channels as an effective way to sweat their back catalogue, generating revenues from content that might otherwise sit on the shelf.
But who is watching?
Audience measurement is proving to be more and more difficult as platforms expand globally and traditional ratings models become obsolete. Quantifying success was a hot topic at the market as determining whether or not a show is successful in different territories has become increasingly complex. Just days before market kickoff, Netflix announced it will sign up with UK audience measurement panel Barb to publish independently audited viewing figures that can be compared with traditional channels. Prime Video still remains mum on its figures and even industry insiders are unsure as to how to compare viewing hours to traditional ratings systems. Solutions – mostly localsed - have been popping up, but so far there is no definitive source of ratings comparison. In France for example, BetaSeries offers a pro service that tracks not only OTT channels, but has also signed up platforms like Netflix, Paramount+ and Disney+ who have made a home in Franc
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