MIPCOM 2025 Roundup
MIPCOM 2025 was the year the TV market made room for the platforms that have been quietly eating its audience. According to organiser RX, over 10,600 ...
MIPCOM 2025 was the year the TV market made room for the platforms that have been quietly eating its audience. According to organiser RX, over 10,600 delegates from 107 countries came to Cannes on 13–16 October, including 3,340 buyers and 350 exhibitors, 88 of them first-timers. That is roughly flat on 2024's 10,500 delegates and 3,240 buyers, so the market is holding steady, not shrinking.
The headcount was stable. What changed was who was in the room. MIPCOM director Lucy Smith called it "the biggest step change in a generation", and she had a point: YouTube arrived as a headline partner, creators shared stages with studio chiefs, and the conversations in the Palais kept coming back to distribution rather than content alone.
PlumResearch was also on the programme, with Research Director Jonathan Broughton presenting data on the rise of Spanish-language content, whose viewing has grown 78% worldwide since 2018. That session gets its own write-up. Below are the four stories that defined the week.
YouTube takes the stage
YouTube's first major MIPCOM presence was the story of the market, and it came with a product. On opening day it launched YouTube Shows in the UK and Germany, a tool that packages full episodes and seasons so they look and behave like TV on the platform
The launch partners are the point. RTL, ProSieben, ARD, ITV Studios' Zoo55, Fremantle, Banijay and Little Dot signed up, alongside NBCUniversal, Paramount and Lionsgate. YouTube says TV and film already make up more than 25% of its connected-TV viewing in Germany and over 15% in the UK. EMEA VP Pedro Pina summed up the pitch: "It is not a push era any more, it is a pull era."
The industry's biggest producers showed up with deals, not just panel appearances:
The mood in the Palais wasn't all celebration. UK execs warned that YouTube threatens the discoverability of broadcasters' shows even as they use it to reach younger viewers. But the direction was clear: YouTube is now a distribution partner broadcasters have to plan around, not a rival they can ignore.
Microdramas go mainstream
Vertical microdramas moved from curiosity to agenda item. Omdia used MIPCOM to forecast $11bn in global microdrama revenue for 2025, nearly double FAST's $5.8bn. China accounts for 83% of that, and more than 60% comes from subscriptions or pay-per-episode rather than ads.
Traditional executives are starting to take the format seriously. Fox Entertainment's Rob Wade said: "For the amount of money these shows are being made for I'd challenge anybody to do it better."
PlumResearch's view is that the business model is the weak point. Most apps sell coins or token bundles to unlock episodes one at a time, with cliffhangers placed right at the paywall. Omdia puts spending at up to $20 a week per user. That gambling-style monetisation is troubling, and it leaves the sector exposed if regulators start treating it like in-app gaming.
The format itself shows more promise. Used as advertising, or as a reward for superfans of an existing show or brand, short vertical drama could be a valuable tool without the pay-to-unlock mechanics.
Streamers and broadcasters make friends
The old rivalry between streamers and free-to-air broadcasters is turning into a partnership market. Asked by Broadcast for their takeaways, ITV Studios' Ruth Berry named "the rise of partnerships between free-to-air broadcasters and big streamers, such as the TF1 and Netflix agreement."
The deals on the table:
The driver is economics. AMC Networks' Lucy Halliday noted that subscription video is plateauing in the UK while ad-supported viewing grows. That pushes everyone towards "creative revenue deals" nobody would have considered a few years ago.
AI moves from threat to revenue line
AI was less of a headline than YouTube, but the conversations were more practical than in previous years. The talk was of money and workflow, not job losses.
The most striking number came from Protege, which licenses video to AI developers for training. It said a major EMEA broadcaster earned more than $1m in six months by licensing its archive of scripted series, news, variety and sports footage. For broadcasters under pressure, the back catalogue suddenly has a new buyer.
On the production side, the uses were incremental. Dhar Mann Studios CEO Sean Atkins described AI as a workflow and efficiency tool. Dori Media pitched The Golden Egg, a gameshow that uses AI to cut production costs. Gen-AI outfit Gennie teamed with Woodcut Media on the true crime co-production Deep Blue CSI. At MIPJunior, AI entrepreneur Guy Gadney went further, arguing that AI-enabled kids' 3content could one day skip the commissioning process altogether.
The organisers have taken note. MIPCOM 2026 will launch a dedicated MIP AI Entertainment Forum covering creative uses, production workflows and library licensing. The creator economy was 2025's step change, and AI looks likely to be the next one.
What it means for the industry
The common thread through MIPCOM 2025 was distribution. Content still matters, but the harder question now is where audiences will find it and who gets paid when they do. PlumResearch sees three trends that will shape the next few years:
For the industry, the upshot is that audiences are spreading across more places than ever, and deals increasingly depend on proving where viewing actually happens. Broadcasters, distributors and producers that can show their reach across every platform, not just their own, will be in the strongest position in Cannes next year.