The Cannes market ended Thursday after four days of sales, screenings and meetings, with established franchises still carrying weight as distributors looked to FAST, YouTube and newer short-form businesses for additional outlets.
CANNES — MIPCOM 2026 ended Thursday after four days of dealmaking, screenings and meetings across the international television business, bringing 10,100 delegates from 104 countries to Cannes.
The market included 3,150 buyers. MIPJunior, held ahead of the main event, attracted more than 600 participants, including 165 buyers.
Beyond those numbers, the week produced a mixed picture of the international content business. Broadcasters and distributors continued to buy and sell finished programmes and formats, while FAST services, YouTube, creator-led production and vertical drama occupied a larger part of the conversation around how content can reach audiences.
One of the clearest signals came from the formats business.
Research firm The WIT reported that the number of new formats securing at least one international option within 12 months of their premiere has fallen 62% from its 2013-14 peak. The figure dropped from 84 new formats in 2013-14 to 32 in the 2024-25 season.
The decline has coincided with greater reliance on returning formats. The WIT also found that the number of formats securing at least three adaptations fell from 64 in 2015 to nine in 2025.
That backdrop helps explain the continued prominence of established franchises in Cannes.
Banijay Entertainment arrived at MIPCOM following the completion of its merger with All3Media in July. The combined company operates in 25 countries and has a content catalogue of more than 265,000 hours.
Its newly combined Banijay Rights distribution operation brings together a catalogue that includes MasterChef, The Traitors, Big Brother, Survivor and Deal or No Deal, alongside scripted, factual and other programming.
Chairman Jeff Zucker and CEO Marco Bassetti appeared together in Cannes for their first joint MIPCOM keynote following the merger.
The market also produced conventional programme sales across several genres.
Blue Ant Media announced deals covering 325 hours of programming with five Spanish buyers: Atresmedia, 3Cat, AMC Global Media, Warner Bros. Discovery and Movistar Plus+. The packages included factual entertainment, true crime, history, science, natural history and lifestyle programming.
Turkish drama remained active in the international market. Kanal D International arrived in Cannes with Sins & Roses, now in its second season in Turkey, and the newer titles Torn Apart and Dignity. The distributor said it was moving ahead with Latin American agreements for Sins & Roses that had begun to take shape after the series was presented at MIPCOM a year earlier.
Spanish production also had fresh data behind it.
A report produced by GECA for ICEX and presented at MIPCOM found that annual Spanish fiction releases increased from 40 in 2021 to 73 in 2025, a rise of 83%. Spain ranked seventh among 44 markets examined for scripted series premieres.
The report also found that Atresplayer and Movistar Plus+ each had four Spanish fiction premieres in the first half of 2026, matching Netflix and Prime Video over the same period.
Alongside those traditional areas of international trade, companies were looking at additional ways to distribute and exploit programming.
YouTube expanded its presence at MIPCOM this year. Executives from the platform appeared with established media companies including RTL Deutschland and NBCUniversal, with discussions covering audience reach, distribution and monetisation.
Creator-led entertainment was another part of the programme.
Dhar Mann appeared as MIPCOM’s first pre-opening creator Headliner. During the market, Samsung TV Plus announced Unlikely Families, a four-part scripted series created and produced by Dhar Mann Studios and scheduled to premiere on the service in 2027.
The project follows Unlikely Romances, the first instalment in the anthology partnership between Samsung TV Plus and Dhar Mann Studios.
Vertical drama also had a more visible place in Cannes.
MIPCOM scheduled dedicated discussions around vertical and microdrama production and distribution, while FOX Entertainment and Kevin Hart’s Hartbeat announced a partnership to develop vertical series.
The presence of these companies did not change the basic function of MIPCOM. Finished programmes were still being licensed territory by territory, formats were being pitched for local adaptation and distributors were presenting new scripted and factual catalogues.
What changed was the range of businesses operating alongside that trade.
MIPCOM’s closing summary identified brands, artificial intelligence, vertical content and creators as four areas the market is seeking to develop. YouTube returned with an expanded presence, while Meta, TikTok and dentsu were among the companies represented during the week.
The first MIP AI Entertainment Forum also took place this year, with sessions focused on the use of AI across content production and other parts of the entertainment business.
For all the attention around new technology and distribution models, some of the most concrete numbers to emerge from Cannes concerned the pressure on the established business.
The WIT’s format data showed fewer new concepts travelling internationally. MIPCOM itself drew 10,100 delegates, compared with around 10,600 in 2025. The number of buyers stood at 3,150, down from roughly 3,300 last year.
At the same time, the deals announced during the week showed continued demand for finished programming and established intellectual property across multiple territories.
The result was a market in which older and newer models were operating alongside each other: international programme sales and format licensing on one side, and FAST, creator partnerships, YouTube and mobile-first production on the other.
For distributors and rights holders, that means a programme no longer has only one obvious route through the international market. The same catalogue can be licensed to broadcasters and streaming services while also being used across advertising-supported channels and digital platforms where the rights allow.
That was one of the practical themes running through MIPCOM 2026, even as the underlying business remained centred on buying, selling and financing content.
MIPCOM will return to Cannes from October 18 to 21, 2027.
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