MIPCOM Day Three Wrap Up: United Nations SDGs, vertical strategies, and what’s next for FAST? And more…
MIPCOM CANNES 2026 saw a week of major announcements, new partnerships and high-level industry conversations.
Established big media players met with the industry’s new wave of creators, brands, platforms AI and technology companies, opening up fresh sources of IP, investment and commercial opportunity.
The market welcomed 10,100 delegates, including 3,150 buyers, from 104 countries — the US, UK, France, Germany, Turkey, Canada, Spain, Italy, Japan and India leading the charge. MIPJUNIOR, held over the weekend ahead of the main market, brought together 600 participants, including 165 buyers. The next edition will take place in Cannes October, 18–21, 2027.
“Our strategy is clear: to strengthen MIPCOM’s core international content business while bringing together the companies, investment, technology and new business models driving the transformation of the global entertainment industry,” Lucy Smith, director of MIPCOM CANNES, said at a closing press conference. “We are not simply responding to change. We are actively shaping the opportunities it creates — connecting established industry leaders with new partners, new sources of IP and new routes to growth. And this year’s MIPCOM has demonstrated that strategy in action.”
Among the international business announcements, Globo unveiled new international licensing and format agreements, while BBC Studios expanded its partnership with Samsung TV Plus with four FAST channels. ITV Studios also reported international format activity — at the same time bringing an array of stars to Cannes — while Fox Entertainment and Kevin Hart’s Hartbeat announced a new partnership in vertical drama, reflecting the growing commercial activity around this new form of storytelling.
The market also hosted significant industry conversations: Jeff Zucker and Marco Bassetti delivered their first joint keynote following the Banijay Entertainment and All3Media merger, while David Decker gave his first interview as president of Skydance Content Sales to MIPCOM News.
The market also highlighted the increasingly connected nature of the global industry, with established entertainment businesses joined by platforms, brands, agencies, creators and AI companies. YouTube returned with an expanded presence, alongside companies including dentsu, Meta and TikTok, as well as creator-led businesses and AI innovators.
This reflects four areas of growth for MIPCOM: brands, AI, verticals and creators — all bringing new buyers and distribution models, new sources of IP and creativity and new commercial partnerships into the marketplace.
The introduction of MIP BrandWorks, with dentsu as its first Headline Partner, created new opportunities to connect brands and agencies with producers, studios and creators. The MIP BrandWorks CXO Summit brought leaders from media, technology, brands, agencies, creators, studios and AI companies together to explore how they can develop intellectual property, finance content and build commercial partnerships, with a focus on turning new ideas into action.
Creator-led entertainment was a particular focus this year, with Dhar Mann becoming MIPCOM’s first pre-opening MIP Headliner and receiving the inaugural The Ankler Future of Entertainment Award.
The partnership between YouTube and RTL offered another example of how broadcasters and digital platforms can work together to reach new audiences and create revenue opportunities, with Pedro Pina, VP of YouTube EMEA, and Stephan Schmitter, CEO of RTL Deutschland, discussing the opportunities for closer collaboration.
AI took centre stage at MIPCOM CANNES, with Cecilia Shen, CEO of Utopai Studios, leading the opening main stage MIP AI Headliner alongside Ken Oh of CJ ENM Studios on Monday morning; CSI creator Anthony E. Zuiker chose MIPCOM to launch his Cinemalistics AI app, demonstrating how established creative talent is embracing new technology.
Vertical storytelling and microdramas also featured prominently, with new production and distribution models attracting growing interest from both established entertainment companies and emerging specialists.
“These are not simply new communities sitting alongside the traditional market,” Smith said. “We are bringing them here to create new business opportunities for the core industry.”
Talent in town included Stephen Fry, Christie Brinkley, Luke Evans, Richard Armitage, Adrian Dunbar, Lauren Lyle, Stephen Amell and Mark-Paul Gosselaar, alongside acclaimed writer Steven Moffat.
Highlights included the World Premiere Screenings of Fifth Season’s Honey and Beta Film’s Queen Silvia, while Fox and Fremantle brought Baywatch to Cannes.
Media companies must rethink their distribution strategies to reach audiences wherever they consume content, according to media consultant Evan Shapiro, who delivered a rapid-fire assessment of changing viewing habits at MIPCOM.
Presenting new research covering 23 markets, Shapiro argued that generational change is driving the transformation of the media business. He also unveiled an updated version of his media universe map, designed to track audience behaviour.
Central to his argument is the growing importance of mobile viewing, with consumers increasingly watching video in bedrooms, on public transport and even in bathrooms. “You need to serve the whole consumer,” he said, arguing that broadcasters could no longer define their businesses solely around the TV screen.
Shapiro identified YouTube and TikTok as major beneficiaries of changing habits, particularly among younger audiences. He also warned that subscription streaming is maturing, with advertising becoming an increasingly important source of revenue.
However, he rejected the idea that social video necessarily cannibalises traditional TV. Citing RTL, BBC Studios and France Télévisions, he argued that distributing content across multiple platforms can generate additional audiences and revenues.
He urged companies to prioritise fandom and loyalty over conventional reach metrics, pointing to the success of smaller creators with highly engaged communities.
Turning to vertical video, Shapiro said broadcasters and streamers are increasingly investing in premium short-form storytelling to connect with mobile audiences.
His underlying message is that media companies should stop treating streaming, social video and traditional television as competing businesses. “This is not an either/or. This is not binary,” he said, pointing to the complementary relationship between sports consumption of traditional and social platforms.
Globo has been honoured with the 2026 MIPCOM Recognition for SDG Impact, presented in association with the United Nations, acknowledging the company’s drive to advance the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Recognition was announced at the MIP Creative Hub on Wednesday (October 14) by Caroline Petit, Deputy Director of the United Nations Regional Information Center in Brussels, after a video message from Melissa Fleming, the UN Under Secretary General for Global Communication. Fleming stressed the importance of television in the telling of stories that can influence decision makers around the world “at the highest level”.
Addressing the audience, Manuel Belmar, chief financial, legal and infrastructure officer, Globo, said: “The SDGs give us a shared framework. Our task is to turn those commitments into everyday decisions and measurable results.” Among its many SDG-related goals, Belmar said that this year Globo reached two “major environmental milestones” that the company had not expected to achieve before 2030: the use of 100% renewable energy, and zero landfill.
Belmar also spoke of the social impact of Globo content. In an episode of the telenovela Anything Goes, one of the characters used the app of the Sao Paulo State Public Defender’s office to request child support. “After the scene was aired, applications to that service rose by 50%.” In another scene, the character Helena Roitman seeks help from Alcoholics Anonymous, after which “searches for the organisation increased by 150%”.
Vertical microdramas are developing into a distinct entertainment business, driven by changing viewing habits, underserved audiences and production models that allow companies to respond rapidly to consumer demand, according to three executives leading developments in this fast-growing space.
During a session titled PIVOT! Why Every Entertainment Company Needs A Vertical Strategy, Anatolii Kasianov, co-founder and co-CEO of Holywater Tech, argued that data-driven production, rapid testing and efficient budgets were helping the sector scale. He also challenged the perception that microdramas are primarily aimed at women, saying Holywater Tech had increased its male audience to around 30% by expanding into action and thrillers.
Sammie Hao, head of talent and business development at Crazy Maple Studio, said vertical drama had initially benefited from serving female audiences overlooked by mainstream entertainment. But she warned that simply copying successful formats would not sustain growth. “We don't look at vertical as a format. We look at vertical as content,” she said, stressing the importance of emotional engagement, original stories and building fandoms.
Hao added that live-action productions could be completed in three to four months, allowing producers to apply audience data quickly to subsequent projects.
Tanya Cohen, co-CEO of Made By Us Studios, contrasted the sector's current success with the failure of Quibi a few years back, arguing that vertical dramas had developed storytelling techniques suited to mobile viewing. “You have to immediately engage the audience,” she said, emphasising the importance of strong characters, emotional stakes and narrative hooks.
Cohen highlighted growing opportunities for brands to finance vertical storytelling, with advertising integrated organically into narratives rather than imposed on finished content. She also addressed the growth of AI-generated vertical content, arguing that audiences may not engage with it as deeply as traditionally produced content. “I firmly believe the more artificial the world, the more authenticity we crave.”
UK TV AND radio presenter turned successful podcaster Fearne Cotton was in Cannes to mark the launch of the TV take on her popular wellness podcast, Happy Place.
The show started eight years ago. Five hundred or so audio editions and 120 million downloads later it debuted on Samsung’s TV Plus service on September 24. Cotton told the session From Multi-Platform Success To FAST that the evolution from audio to video was hugely exciting. “If you don’t keep up with the changes in any industry you are just going to get stuck, and get stagnant and I never, ever, want that. I want to keep ahead of the curve.
“It’s gone from just me and a roving microphone to this. Now we’ve got our own little Happy Place studio. The visuals have become really, really important.”
Happy Place comes to Samsung as part of a major international expansion of its TV Plus offering. Cotton was joined on stage by Chris Gregory, head of content development, who has been leading the launch of the company’s FAST channels.
Gregory said Happy Place was a valuable addition to Samsung’s offering. “What we love about the show is that it involves celebrities with real-people problems as well, and it brings everyone down to a level where they can relate.”
He said he didn’t hesitate when the idea was pitched to him. “When you hear it you just go ‘wow’!” he said. “We need this!”
TikTok’s global head of content Dennis Papirowski has urged broadcasters and studios to treat creators and fan communities as partners in developing entertainment IP, rather than simply using them to promote finished programmes.
Speaking at MIPCOM in the Palais des Festivals Grand Auditorium, Papirowski said the relationship between audiences and entertainment companies had fundamentally changed, with viewers increasingly expecting to participate in conversations around their favourite films and shows.
“Entertainment has really become a two-way conversation,” he said. “Audiences now don't just expect to passively consume content. They want to participate, they want to comment, they want to review and they want to co-create.”
Papirowski highlighted the commercial impact of fandom, citing Warner Bros.' Sinners as an example of how creator engagement can help sustain theatrical momentum. He said TikTok's entertainment community generates 12 million posts daily, while 69% of users have created content relating to a film or television show.
Looking ahead, he suggested microseries could become an important testing ground for new IP, allowing creators and producers to demonstrate audience interest before committing to larger productions. “We firmly believe that microseries in the future can be the litmus test of whether a certain type of IP, storyline or characters resonate with an audience,” he said.
Returning to his core theme, Papirowski concluded that traditional media companies need to become more comfortable relinquishing control — using audience feedback to help shape their projects. “Don't just think about creators as another marketing channel,” he said.
The Government of Telangana, India, launched its presence at
MIPCOM Cannes 2026, presenting Hyderabad as a destination for global content production, creative technology and entertainment investment. The occasion marked the international announcement of IndiaJoy 2026 as a flagship creative-economy platform within the Invest
Telangana Global Summit, alongside a preview of the State's forthcoming AVGC IMAGE 2.0 Policy.
Led by Sanjay Jaju IAS, Chief Secretary, Government of Telangana, the State delegation engaged with international studios, broadcasters, content producers, streaming platforms and investors at MIPCOM, extending an invitation to explore one of India's most established creative production ecosystems.
The festival will coincide with the Invest Telangana Global Summit 2026, taking place from 7–9 December, bringing together international investors, business leaders, policymakers and industry pioneers under the Telangana Rising 2047 vision.
IndiaJoy will transform Bharat Future City into a convergence point for The global media and entertainment industry, connecting film, animation, visual effects, gaming, comics, esports and emerging entertainment technologies.
The ambition is to create a platform where creative ideas meet global capital, where emerging talent connects with established studios, and where business conversations translate into long-term international partnerships.
IMAGE 2.0: A New Investment Proposition for Global StudiosAlongside IndiaJoy, Telangana presented a prelude to its forthcoming AVGC IMAGE 2.0 Policy, signalling a new chapter in the State's ambition to attract international animation, VFX, gaming, immersive media and creative technology companies. The proposed framework is being shaped around the evolving requirements of global studios and multinational enterprises exploring India as a location for production, technology development and creative operations.
With an emphasis on internationally competitive incentives, modern infrastructure, talent development and production capabilities, IMAGE 2.0 aims to make Telangana an attractive destination for both new market entrants and established global players seeking to expand their
India presence. Beyond traditional production support, the policy vision recognises emerging opportunities in virtual production, real-time rendering, artificial intelligence, cloud-based workflows, gaming
technologies and the creation and commercialisation of original intellectual property. The State also aims to support larger anchor investments, international production partnerships
and globally integrated creative operations, positioning Hyderabad as a long-term business destination rather than simply a cost-efficient outsourcing location.