The Week at MIPTV

NEW YORK: Amid heightened security around the Palais, a reported 11,000 media executives from across the entertainment ecosystem convened in Cannes last week to network, screen, sell and buy.

According to Reed MIDEM, attendance was on par with last year (although many delegates noticed the areas of unoccupied exhibition space within the Palais), with some 3,900 buyers on site, including about 1,000 from nonlinear services.

One company that made a lot of news throughout the week was Vivendi, beginning MIPTV with news that its STUDIOCANAL division had acquired interests in three production ventures. A day later it announced a new content venture, STUDIO+, to create short-form series for mobile devices. After the market wrapped, the French media conglomerate revealed it was aligning with Mediaset in Italy and taking over the company’s pay-TV business.

The STUDIO+ announcement came as an array of digital-content companies were presenting their slates in Cannes as part of the third annual MIPDigital Fronts. VICE Media also used its time at MIPTV to announce a pact with CANALSAT to bring VICELAND to France this fall. Machinima, also taking part at the MIPDigital Fronts, announced a pact with Critical Content to develop programming that will be platform-agnostic.

Another key highlight at the market was the Focus on Germany strand. Among the sessions was one on the global appeal of German dramas, moderated by World Screen’s Anna Carugati. Our group editorial director also convened the discussion on two hit dating formats from Munich-based Red Arrow International: Married at First Sight and Kiss Bang Love.

Carugati also led the Monday morning Channels Talk, where programmers from CBC, Telewizja Polska, Mediaset, TV2 Denmark and Radiodiffusion Télévision Ivoirienne discussed their scripted-content needs.

Following the MIPDrama Screenings on the weekend, scripted remained a hot topic throughout the week, with deals aplenty and a number of high-profile launches, among them BBC Worldwide’s The Collection and A+E Networks’s Roots reboot, which was the World Premiere Screening on Monday night.

And speaking of successful drama, the woman behind some of the hottest shows on U.S. network TV today, Shonda Rhimes, was announced as the recipient of the 2016 International Emmy Founders Award.

This year marked the first time that the International Emmy Kids Awards were held in Cannes. The winners were announced at a ceremony at the Carlton on Tuesday night. Look out for a full recap of all the kids’ news from MIPTV in TV Kids Weekly tomorrow.

You can also catch up on our recaps of all the formats, drama and factual news from MIPTV on WorldScreen.com.