MIPCOM 2026 Highlights: A Tour of Television's New Wave with YouTube, "Baywatch," Skydance, Banijay and More

MIPCOM is the world's largest international television gathering. This year it drew 10,000 participants and more than 3,000 buyers. Organizers have opened the doors to the broader world of content and distribution, and today YouTube's executives and creator-driven businesses are engaging with television buyers and sellers. The deadline had passed, and here […]

By Max Goldbart, Jesse Wittok, Stuart Clark

MIPCOM is the largest international television gathering. This year there were 10,000 participants and over 3,000 buyers. Organizers have opened the door to a wider world of content and distribution - and today YouTube developers and businesses are engaging with TV buyers and sellers. The deadline has passed and here are the highlights of the team.

Sales operations for Skydance's various programs were placed under the existing Paramount and WB brands on the Cote d'Azur. Some higher-ups in other distributions questioned how open the combined operation would be for business. David Dekker, new Skydance content sales manager, was smiling in the WBD booth and could look over and see his new Paramount colleagues right along the beach. Despite the massive debt pile, parts of Skydance's business that generate revenue - such as program sales - are under pressure to deliver. With big broadcasters to nurture, does some content stay in the family and not make it to market? Disney and others went through periods where they shelved shows to bolster their SVOD. But, according to Disney's big booth at this year's Palace of Festivals, they're fully back on the sales side of the show. Let's see how Skydance will appear at MIPCOM 2027. Watch on Deadline

The inextricable relationship between YouTube and television was clear for all to see at MIPCOM Cannes, but serious concerns remain on the part of the latter. Traditional TV people, who drew lines of separation a lot on the YouTube board, both privately when we chatted with sources and on stage. Keith Phillips, the BBC's head of content, drew cheers from a packed auditorium when he said algorithms couldn't create great content, noting: "If you order based on algorithms, you're literally a creative wreck." The head of YouTube Europe, Pedro Pina, one of the participants of the events, reminded producers that the platform will not take work away from them by getting into the production game. At times, though, it felt like traditional players were looking to remind the world that YouTube has its limits.

There was a new and bigger banija in town. The glamorous All3Media-Banijay wedding took place at the iconic Carlton Cannes Hotel, with Jeff Zucker and Marco Basti taking to the MIPCOM stage. Banijay used to be huge and after merging with All3Media, it has a library of 265,000 hours and it's huge. In Europe, it is considered read in industry circles. Internally, the company thinks it has the weight of a Lionsgate or even a Sony. However, this is not the perception of the government. Fremantle, ITV Studios and others have sunk cash into US scripted dramas with varying degrees of success. How Banija beats the script there is a big agenda for Basti, Gene Turton and Banija America leader Ben Samek. Stay tuned for news

Many AI startups were at MIPCOM to convince content buyers and sellers that they could help streamline or monetize what they do. The focus was on how to integrate AI and optimize the existing business - rather than the noisy (and controversial) screens of AI TV shows and movies. The reality of such optimization is likely to be fewer jobs. But another fact was also accepted - artificial intelligence is not going away. It is currently a part of television production and distribution. MIPCOM is a great example of how and why humans want and need to meet, talk, network and socialize, but the question now is how, not if, AI will come into the picture.

This year's MIPCOM was a conduit for the burgeoning maker economy, focusing on those YouTube and digital stars who are actually building businesses. Dar Mann's (pre)opening keynote was full of passion and promise, but more impressive was how he went from making iPhones in his bedroom to owning a four-acre manufacturing campus called Creator City. It will feature A-list productions, manufacturers and brands. "Five years ago, no one would have taken me seriously," he said. Creator deals unveiled at the market included Endemol Shine Brasil's deal with Latin creative house Grupo Podpah.

A lot of people are skeptical or the drama is small, but this week proved that there's no doubt that it's here for the long haul. Representatives from pioneers like ReelShort were in town to address the issue, while a global summit of microdrama leaders brought together the likes of COL Group, Roseberry, RJ RisingJoy and NetShort. The room was packed, suggesting the players are seriously considering it – and traditional players such as Germany's ZDF, Chile's TVN and Turkey's Channel One later took part in a vertical video courting session. First-time entrant TikTok secured arguably the largest vertical deal for microdramas from US production house Made By Us.

Although MIPCOM is still the domain of the distribution business, the number of players outside of television and meetings in branded content and other adjacent video spaces has grown again. Companies like TikTok, ad giant WPP and live-streaming business Upstream kicked off their first event, eager to speak to a growing number of producers, sellers and financiers expanding their horizons in a tough landscape for independent players. Jason Hughes of Sky Media, Sky's advertising arm, told us: "I've been very impressed with the amount of drive there is in co-driving from across the disciplines on and off the Croisette."

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