Mipcom 2026, the main event of the content calendar worldwide, starts today in Cannes, France, with important challenges ahead: to move forward on the digital era, particularly on social media, the Creators Economy and microdramas, surpassing income and financing problems that are critical both in traditional and new businesses. This weekend, where the focus was on MIPJunior for kids and teens, the message was direct: suppliers must accompany the evolution of young audiences, generating proactive stories and environments as the ones led by games and social platforms. The ‘passive’ contents don’t run any more.

The main MIPJunior event yesterday was the Disney panel at midday --see the article apart. There, its main programmers stressed that to shift youth viewing habits, it is key to build interconnected content pipelines that evolve with the audiences. First, preschool slate as foundational gateway, creating scalable original IPs, as “SuperKitties”. Then, animation and later live-action with age-appropriate resonant follow ups, as series like “Coven Academy”. You must set up loyalty at every step, to feed the next one’.

Consultancy companies Ampere Analytics and Glance agreed that children entertainment has evolved from ‘attention economy’ to ‘meaning economy’, pushed by games and social-lead platforms. The key to succeed at these times, is to abandon generic programming to digital-native interactive codes with timeless storytelling, creating specific community-driven content that empower kids to engage with the brands they love.

Dubit’s David Keeman highlighted quite the same: Generation Alpha abandons traditional algorithm-drive social media in favor of gaming platforms, which turn to be their primary ‘third space’, after home and school. To succeed, producers must build interactive, participatory worlds to push kids to live within their narratives.

What do MIPJunior buyers look for? Stephanie Ogrodnik, Kanopy UK: ‘I’m looking for edutainment, diversity, multicultural content’. Anish Narayanan, Toonz (India): ‘The kids market needs content to get connected with, characters that represent the viewers, doing the same things and speaking the same language’. Laura Montero, RTVE, Spain: ‘We are looking for very specific animation series 6+, any origin but very engaging story’. Doris Vogelmann, V-Me, USA: ‘I look for opportunities, like new versions of successful contents we had in the past. Today, there are no origin limitations’.

About Mipcom itself, Global Agency (Turkey) and Globo Brazil showed yesterday with big events each, roads that content industry must follow to succeed. GA made an exclusive avant-premier of ‘The Greatest duo’, which was described as the next evolution in music competition formats. The company --in its 20th anniversary-- generated a mystery atmosphere that made a difference. To be fresh, to evolve… just 80 buyers were invited to take part in -- see the full article aside.

Globo has offered a screening + presentation to 200 buyers where announced alliances and co-productions with BBC --for a wildlife documentary-- with SIC Portugal, Turkish producer Ay Yapim and Alpha TV Greece for fiction adaptations, and with EndemolShine Brazil for entertainment formats. Nobody can alone in these new times… alliances, collaborations, adaptations are sure path for better times --see the article apart.

To finish… micro-dramas? Roy Ashton from Gersh Agency (USA) told in Los Angeles, a big producer has agreed to pay USD 2.5 millions for 40 minutes of micro-dramas total, with episodes from 2 to 5 minutes each. During Mipcom, its segment will get broader, too.

Nicolás Smirnoff, Alberto Buitron, Juan Pablo Morales

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