MIPCOM 2023 ends today with a very good outcome. Lucy Smith, head at RX France, revealed enhancing figures at the close-up conference: 11072 total attendees, including 3567 buyers. There were 320 exhibition companies, 50 for the first time. China was the top country, with 300 delegates from 40 companies. What is the main trend to stress? If the major international distribution is back, the windows management is a hot issue. This is not linear as in the past. Especially the big players, are pushing surprising strategies.

Smith said: ‘We’ve received people from 100 different countries. 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. Also, the FAST channels sector and international co-production partnerships, are pushing the industry very much’.

The official figures represent a third year of growth for Mipcom, vs. 10800 attendees in 2022. ‘The buyer number means an increase of 10% vs. last year, mostly coming from the US, UK, France, Germany and Spain. There were 31 country pavilions. Beyond China, the Middle East has experienced a good growth with 160 buyers, 50% up from 2022. MIPJUNIOR continues as the top meeting point for the kids sector, with 1200 delegates from 63 countries’.

Next MIPCOM will take place 21-24 October 2024, with MIPJUNIOR the previous weekend. MIPTV 2024 was also announced for 8-10 April, with MIPdoc and MIPformats held together across a pre-opening weekend of 6-7 April 2024. MIPTV will have again 3 days (not 4 as Mipcom) while MIPDRAMA screenings will also return with a MIPTV jury pre-selection and CannesSeries will again run alongside the market from 5-10 April.

The Windows game changes? On one side, WBD licensed 6 of its original series to Netflix last July, some at the US domestic market and some internationally. Also, one WBD sales director said: ‘The exclusivity is just for the HBO Max originals and the WB feature films, we have our other labels -Warner, Turner, Discovery- available for anybody, after the 15 months window. About feature films, we analyze varied options per title, as TVOD (Pay per view) in aggregators (pay TV, telco, corporate platforms) few time after Theatrical. We sell too amounts of series that are not available anymore in Max’.

Amazon kicked the table acquiring MGM, and since May the new Amazon MGM is distributing now 48 Amazon originals + all MGM catalogue -see the separated article. The originals have a 18 months window, and they continue in Prime platform for ever, so never can be sold in exclusivity. Also, the online titan now is including in its platform hubs for other big SVODs, as the aggregators usually do. ‘We want to be a central hub for the entertainment, apart from our product’, an Amazon Prime acquisition executive said.

Disney? Last May for LA Screenings, the content sales screenings were reopened for different regions. While the branded content of Disney+ is still restricted, the local productions of Star+ (general entertainment) are offered after a window of 12 months. In feature films, there are big releases as ‘Cruella’, ‘Mulan’, etc., now available at Mipcom just for free TV. Progressively, the studio will free the series from ABC, 20th Century Fox, FX, Freefom, checking case by case per region.

Yesterday, Bob Bakish, president & CEO Paramount Global, was awarded as Personality of the year. He said: ‘We confirm our commitment to the direct-to-consumer streaming model. Though, partnerships with other media are more key than ever’. He announced this way, new alliances with Cosmot TV Greece, CJ E&M South Korea and Canal+ France.

Nicolás Smirnoff, Alberto Buitron and Francisco Ferryra

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