The Week at MIPCOM

Disruption, recalibration, course correction. The profound shifts in the international media ecosystem were top of mind as more than 11,000 executives convened in Cannes last week for MIPCOM. Advertising woes, the conflict in Israel and Gaza—resulting in a large portion of the Israeli delegation not making it to the market and increased security at the Palais—inflation and escalating production costs have everyone on edge. But the mood in Cannes was less “the sky is falling” and more, as Lucy Smith, the market’s director, said at a closing press conference, “from challenges come opportunities.”

“Given the buzz from the stands, what the leaders have said on stage and the sheer volume of content deals done, it is clear that third-party sales and distribution are back,” said Smith. “MIPCOM has a unique position of bringing together 100 countries, and that concentration of activity in one place, at one time, can only be a catalyst to the international market overall.”

Bob Bakish, president and CEO of Paramount, shared his thoughts on the evolution of the content-distribution business and its continued importance to the company in his Media Mastermind keynote, where he was honored with the Personality of the Year award.

“Change brings new challenges,” Bakish said. “But it also brings new opportunities, including, importantly, in content licensing, a business that has significant strategic and financial value for Paramount. A business we have always been committed to. And while our peers were pulling back content and putting up walled gardens, we never left. Content licensing was, is and will continue to be a fundamental part of our economic model. It’s a profitable multi-billion-dollar business for Paramount. It’s a critical driver of our broader strategy to make and distribute content with mass global appeal across all genres from brands that matter, maximize this content across multiple platforms and multiple revenue streams and do it all more efficiently than ever before, all in the pursuit of long-term value.”

Bakish discussed Paramount Global Content Distribution’s expanded multiyear licensing deal with Cosmote TV in Greece, creating a Paramount+ branded area on its platform. He said the agreement with Cosmote TV reflects a new age in content licensing.

In a wide-ranging conversation with World Screen’s Anna Carugati in the Grand Auditorium at the Palais, Warner Bros. Discovery’s Gerhard Zeiler used his MIPCOM keynote to talk about the strengths of the “one-company” mindset, the crucial importance of third-party distribution and windowing and investments in local content.

“We are not a one-trick pony,” Zeiler said. “We don’t believe that putting everything into one window is the right business model or good for the consumer. We are committed to theatrical releases. We believe in the transactional ways of distribution. We believe in streaming. We believe in linear. We are not religious about having everything for our networks. Our goal is to maximize reach and monetization. Our North Star is the consumer… I’m more convinced than ever that with the IP, strategy and culture we have, we will be one of the three to five leading global suppliers who, together with the local champions, will deliver the content the consumers want to watch.”

Warner Bros. Discovery also used that keynote to announce the European expansion of Max when Zeiler was joined on stage by Leah Hooper Rosa, head of streaming for EMEA. The streamer launches in LatAm in Q1 of 2024. After that comes the European expansion, “starting with the first 20 countries of our HBO Max footprint,” she said. That includes the Nordics, Iberia, CEE and the Netherlands in the spring of 2024. Rosa noted that Max will be the home of the Olympics coverage in Europe next year. She also revealed that launches are slated for France and Belgium in 2024.

I had the great pleasure of moderating a fireside chat with BBC Studios’ Rebecca Glashow and Ralph Lee on how the company is positioned to manage the disruption in the content business today. “We have peaks and troughs in this industry,” said Glashow, CEO of global distribution. “This is not the first one. There will be challenges, but that ultimately becomes the moment we push ourselves to do what we do well. We’re making decisions and investing in content, not for this year, but for the long term. A large part of what we have done is look to the partners around the world who sustain us. How are we serving our audiences in the longer term? How are we creating partnerships that work for them and work for us? A large part of our global presence and strength is those long-term partnerships. We brace ourselves and go on!”

Lee, CEO of BBC Studios Productions, stressed the breadth of the company’s offering. “In the last couple of years, you’ve seen the proving out of a model created when the BBC’s production capability was merged with BBC Worldwide to create BBC Studios. We’ve seen real, organic growth from all of our different genres. They’re able to continue to make this brilliant range of work that we do for the BBC. We’ve also added new clients like Apple, Netflix and Amazon. Our diverse range of talent can work in different business models. And we have global diversity, which is a real strength because the turbulence in the industry isn’t felt equally around the world.”

Bolstering the Joyn streaming service and refocusing some of its content investments are vital strategies for ProSiebenSat.1 as the company navigates challenging economic headwinds, Bert Habets, CEO, and Henrik Pabst, chief content officer at Seven.One Entertainment Group, told reporters at a press round table.

Investing in content is a priority going forward, Habets said, to “stop the audience share erosion that we’ve seen over the last periods… We want to be the home of the best entertainment and information offering in the German-speaking region. That’s also where we want to play with our channels and streaming video offering.”

Pabst pointed out that “the advantage we have with our content is being able to play within a triangle of AVOD, SVOD and free-to-air linear exploitation.”

Pabst told me that the Hollywood studios are becoming “more cooperative” regarding multiplatform deals. “We have a fantastic deal with a U.S. studio partner that gives us within the term that we have the rights to play within the triangle: AVOD, SVOD, free TV. Are there still restrictions? Yes. But I think we are getting there because the studios understand that we can only help them finance their content if they help us maximize our reach. Our reach is platform-agnostic.”

Laura Fernández Espeso, CEO of The Mediapro Studio, showcased the company’s expanding slate of content investments in her Media Mastermind keynote and stressed the importance of partnerships today. “We have always grown with alliances. They allow us to grow quicker and better and bring in new talent.”

Last week also saw the return of the Diversify TV Awards. Following submissions from 27 countries, eight winners were announced from 24 nominees.

Bringing some star power into the Palais, Eva Longoria was on-site with Cris Abrego to announce the launch of Hyphenate Media Group, which will invest in creator-led enterprises and develop and produce original programming. Banijay, where Abrego has served as chairman of the Americas since 2020, has invested in the new business to accelerate its growth.

Abrego, co-founder and CEO of Hyphenate Media Group, said: “With Hyphenate Media Group, Eva and I are building an engine for culture-defining content by investing in visionary multi-hyphenate artists and providing these extraordinary creative leaders with the resources and infrastructure they need to scale their businesses.”

“With Hyphenate Media Group, Cris and I are leveraging the power of the creative industry’s greatest resource, the multi-hyphenate, to help meet audiences and the industry where they are,” Longoria said. “We are answering the industry’s call for premium, inclusive content with broad appeal and an undeniable point of view. Given the multiple transformations that our business is undergoing, I cannot think of a better time to lean into makers, who are the essential drivers of the creative enterprise.”

You can see all of our MIPCOM news here and catch up on our deal recaps for formats, factual and drama. Stay tuned for my recap of MIPJunior and MIPCOM kids’ news tomorrow.