Lucy Smith Offers Preview of MIP LONDON 2026

Lucy Smith, the director of MIP LONDON and MIPCOM CANNES, provides a preview of MIP LONDON, which will take place in the IET and The Savoy from February 22 to 24. She outlines the program’s highlights, an updated format, a more fluid layout and the event’s main goals: attracting more delegates, facilitating meetings, matchmaking, networking and keeping attendees up to date on the ever-changing media landscape.

WS: Setting up a new market must be challenging. What were your goals when you launched MIP LONDON last year, and how close did you get to reaching them?
SMITH: The biggest week in the calendar in the earlier part of the year had become London in February, so we launched MIP LONDON with the goal of being additive, to bring in more people, more business and more opportunities for the industry in what had become such a big week of content.

And by that, we mean more delegates from more countries and from different parts of the business, such as the more transformative areas that weren’t part of the existing London Screenings. Last year, we had representatives from 74 countries, many from Europe and North America but also delegations from Latin America, Turkey, Korea and Japan. We’ll see that again this year.

And in addition to the buyers and sellers, there were digital-first companies, brands, agencies, all things streaming and, of course, AI. We’ll see this also continue in February. And we are doubling down on brands and agencies this year as branded entertainment continues to grow. We saw that at MIPCOM with the first partnership with BrandStorytelling, who have run their summit at Sundance for a decade and who are also working with us on the program in London.

As well as attracting over 2,500 delegates from the industry, what was also encouraging last year was that a third of the buyers who came to MIP LONDON said they were coming in that week for the first time. And we already have over 300 buyers confirmed for this year. The goal was to bring in more people, more business and more opportunities, and we can say we did and will continue to.

WS: What are the goals for this year?
SMITH: Simply, to build on what worked well last year and focus on how to deliver even more value. Firstly, we have adjusted the market days to be more complementary to everything else going on that week, and this year, there will be three full days early in the week—Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

We’re kicking off with a Buyers’ Day on Sunday by offering market intel, data and trends to help with their acquisition strategies for the week ahead, and doubling our matchmaking and structured networking offer.

You’ll also see more of what we are known for, with a signature MIP quality conference program featuring new cultural trends such as micro-dramas, vodcasting, the creator economy and streaming, alongside the multi-genre screenings, sessions and showcases from companies (such as Talpa Studios or Global Agency), and countries (like a dedicated one for K-content). And, of course, AI, which was prominent in the program last year, will be even more so in February.

WS: Is the format and/or layout being changed?
SMITH: As I mentioned, Sunday now starts first thing with the Buyers’ Day and exclusive presentations from analysis and trend companies, including Luminate, Ampere Analysis and Glance, and the London edition of the super popular MIP staple, Fresh TV from The WIT. And, just as a reminder, MIP LONDON is free to attend for qualified buyers, so they have access to all of it, and again, our goal is to bring more into the city that week.

Also, once you’ve staged a market for the first time, you can see practically how to evolve it: this year the flow will be smoother, with much more meeting space on every floor, and we have doubled the size for matchmaking (which had an overwhelming pick-up last year).

We have two venues, the IET London and The Savoy. This year, the market’s main center will be the IET. That’s where the theaters are, and we’ll host the main program and marketplace with spaces for companies to host meetings, interspersed with networking lounges on every floor and events from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

And next door, The Savoy becomes the destination for matchmaking, roundtable summits and some select premium spaces for companies taking private suites.

WS: You mentioned kids. You’re reaching out to that community again.
SMITH: Absolutely, kids is crucial to the mix, and we’re staging a summit on Tuesday. Based on feedback from the community and our advisory board, we’re focusing this on monetizing and diversifying the reach of IP. It will be relevant from startup to studio and feature key players from commissioning as well as experts from adjacent fields like gaming.

And as well as the summit, much of our program will be of great interest to the kids’ community with subjects like creator-led showcases, AI and streaming, and there’ll be matchmaking, which underpins every part of the market.

WS: And you’re also serving the documentary and factual communities?
SMITH: Yes, similarly, the communities around docs, factual and formats are really important and the most popular elements of MIPDOC and MIPFORMATS will feature within the new three-day format for MIP LONDON.

So, we have a two-day track on Sunday and Monday for documentary and factual communities, with speed matchmaking, a dedicated co-production summit and a pitch session with ZDF Studios, SVT and Nat Geo as part of the jury, and specialist trend sessions.

And there will be a global unscripted formats track running in parallel on Sunday and Monday. We’re working with FRAPA and the new co-chairs, Nick Smith and Andre Renaud and format industry expert Nathalie Wogue. Plus, we’ll have Fresh TV with The WIT and the screening and country showcases as mentioned.

WS: In a constantly evolving media landscape, what are the advantages of attending MIP LONDON? How can it help executives, producers, distributors and content creators navigate so much change?
SMITH: The feedback we get all the time is that people need to meet each other, hear the latest on what’s going on, the market intelligence and data analysis. Those are the moments that we create to help them understand the industry and what’s happening. That will always be important, even more so currently.

Another key element is finding opportunities for collaboration between the mainstream media with the creator economy. As anyone who came last year to London and recently to MIPCOM in Cannes will have experienced, our program is 100 percent geared to this and will be even more so in 2026.

Times are challenging, we get that, and we are even more focused on delivering value and ROI, whatever size of company. Accessing high level data analysis, content discovery and networking opportunities, and such a comprehensive conference program, is valuable, and we’re able to offer all of that for £500.