Mipcom Bounces Back But Numbers Below Pre-Pandemic Peak
19.10.2022 - 18:47
/ variety.com
Leo Barraclough International Features Editor International TV market Mipcom came back with gusto this year, but it’s not back to the level reached at its pre-pandemic peak. A total of 10,896 delegates attended this year, which is down from the peak year of 2019, when more than 13,500 delegates came to the Cannes event. MipJunior, which ran over the weekend, had 1,311 delegates this year. In 2019, there were 1,500. There were 3,100 buyers this year, compared with more than 4,700 in 2019. The largest numbers of buyers this year came from the U.S. (442), followed by the U.K. (301), France (251), Germany (242) and Spain (140). In 2019, it was U.S. (461), U.K. (450), France (423), Germany (359) and Russia (207).
The number of company stands this year was 321, with Paramount, BBC Studios and Disney in new homes. Other major players attending included Warner Bros. Discovery, Sony Pictures Television, Paramount Global Content Distribution, NBCUniversal Intl., AMC Studios, A+E Networks, ITV Studios and Fremantle.
Lucy Smith, director of Mipcom and MipTV, told Variety Wednesday: “The main part of [the shortfall] is effectively due to the fact that some territories are not as big as they were because of the tail-end of COVID, because we are all aware that China is not really travelling again yet, and there is no Russian participation, and the war on Ukraine is affecting that. Other than that there is of course consolidation [in the industry]. I’m sure that is also there. That is the general explanation I would give for the difference in numbers.” At a press conference on Wednesday, she said: “Our ambition for Mipcom Cannes was to come back with a bang and be true to the billing as ‘The Mother of All Entertainment Content