Reed MIDEM Releases Preliminary MIPTV Attendance Figures

CANNES, April 11: At a
press conference in Cannes, Reed MIDEM released preliminary attendance figures
for MIPTV and revealed Spain will be the country of honor at MIPCOM this
October.

As of April 9, there were
13,285 total participants at MIPTV 2008, up slightly on the 13,224 attendees
recorded prior to the market’s end last year.

Wednesday’s numbers
indicate 528 stands, a 1-percent drop on the 536 at the end of last MIPTV’s
market. There was, however, considerably more exhibition space, with 22,068
square meters in use—reflecting a 5.5 percent rise. A total of 4,540
companies from 111 countries were in attendance.

The number of companies
participating in this year’s event so far totals 2,824, a 2-percent drop
compared to last year’s 2,869 companies reported at the end of the market. In a
press conference unveiling the figures, Paul Johnson, the director of the
television division at Reed MIDEM, attributed this drop to the wave of
consolidation across the media industry. The total number of exhibiting
companies, however, gained 2 percent to 1,716. There were also more countries
participating—106—and a 10 percent rise in the number of buyers,
with 4,414 registered as of Wednesday. Among the new countries in attendance
were Afghanistan, Cameroon, Iraq, Pakistan and Uganda. Countries that reflected
growth in attendance included Russia, South Korea, Spain and Italy, Johnson
said.

Johnson noted that the
figures for the year reflect “the stability the market has achieved,” in the
wake of the U.S. writers strike, the economic downturn in the U.S. and the host
of mergers and acquisitions in the industry.

At the press conference,
Johnson also revealed some details on the upcoming MIPCOM market this October,
announcing that Spain is set to be the country of honor. Explaining the
decision, Johnson noted the country’s growing digital industry and the strength
of its feature films and TV shows.

—By Mansha Daswani