MipTV‘s 61st and final edition in Cannes saw a year-on drop of more than 40% in participation, organizers said on Tuesday. During the presser, organizers also outlined plans for MipLondon which will run alongside the London Screenings next February.
This year’s MipTV welcomed 3,537 delegates from 84 countries, including 1,133 buyers, compared with 5,510 participants in 2023.
While unveiling the figures, RX’s entertainment division director Lucy Smith explained the drop in attendance was due to “global market” conditions. “Continued consolidation, reduced budgets have all inevitably affected participation numbers here in the spring, as has the increase in the number of industry events in the first half of the year, and that has been going on for a long time. Change is needed, and that’s why we’ve taken action,” Smith continued. She said the participation level still underscored MipTV’s profile as the “biggest international multi-genre market in the first half of the year and the biggest outside of Mipcom.” The October-set market will continue beyond 2024 in Cannes and will take place Oct. 21-24 in 2025.
MipLondon will be located at the five-star Savoy Hotel, as well as the IET London, a screenings venue located at Savoy Place in the West End area. The London transfer will be free for buyers.
MipLondon will run Feb. 24-27 with a pre-opening on the 23rd. “This is what we believe will meet the market needs. I want to be very clear that MipLondon is not about competing with, but it’s about complementing the existing screening set up,” Smith said, adding that MipLondon is “complementary because there are more international companies wanting to go to London in February.”
Smith said the event will also provide “a one-stop solution” for many industry executives who “do not have a base or event support in London.”
MipLondon will give companies the opportunity to “stage separate events” and will allow buyers to attend free of charge and just need to get themselves there to London.”
As she was questioned by skeptical journalists, Smith sounded optimistic about the relocation prospects.
She said MipLondon will ultimately give buyers and sellers a chance to get together. “That does not exist in the present set-up in London,” Smith said, adding that London Screenings had 750 buyers in attending this year. “When you look at here, we have nearly 1,200 buyers here in town across this market.”
While buyers will have free access to MipLondon, organizers will be asking distributors to pay to take lounge areas in the Savoy and the IET London which will boast two screening venues.
“We pay a lot because we are hiring out amazingly prestigious high-level and premium venues in the heart of London. So yes, we will be asking distributors to pay,” said the executive.
MipLondon will also charge a delegate fee to companies who want to register for the event. MipTV in Cannes wraps April 10. Smith did not address the fate of Canneseries Festival which has been running alongside MipTV and has already confirmed it will remain in Cannes in 2025.
