Mipcom Cannes Draws 10,100 Delegates, Down 500 on Last Year

Mipcom closed its 2024 edition in Cannes on Wednesday with 10,100 delegates, roughly 500 fewer than last year, event director Lucy Smith announced at a press conference.

The buyer count fell too: 3,150 buyers attended, 34% of the total delegate number, down approximately 150 year on year. Delegates came from 104 countries, against 107 in 2023. MipJunior, the children's programming market that precedes the main event, drew 600 attendees, including 165 buyers — down from 700 attendees and 190 buyers last year.

Every one of those numbers points down. None of them, on Smith's telling, points to decline.

What does the falling headcount mean?

Smith framed the shrinkage against a backdrop of industry upheaval rather than market weakness. "I think what we have all seen here this week is the global entertainment industry experiencing extraordinary disruption," she said. "Consolidation is reshaping the traditional entertainment landscape, and at the same time, though, we're seeing creators, brands, technology companies and digital platforms becoming key actors of the content economy, bringing new sources of entertainment, new sources of investment, new audiences and new ways of doing business."

She named the pressure points directly: "Vertical storytelling and microdramas are challenging the established formats, while AI is changing how content is made."

The pivot, in Smith's account, is deliberate. "Our strategy is clear: It is to strengthen Mipcom's position as the leading international marketplace for content, while bringing in the companies, investment, technologies and business models transforming entertainment," she said. "We're not moving away from our core business; quite the opposite. We're expanding the opportunities around it."

She listed three expansion routes: "delivering brands, AI, verticals and creators, which is bringing in new buyers and distribution models into the market, as well as connecting the industry with new sources of IP and creativity, and creating opportunities for new business partners."

Note what is missing: no forecast of a return to pre-2023 attendance, and no breakdown of how many of the new-look participants — creators, brands, platforms — replace the traditional buyers whose numbers fell. The promise of transformation carries no target figures attached.

Who spoke, and about what

The programme itself demonstrated the strategy. Proceedings opened Sunday evening with creator Dhar Mann, who discussed partnering with Hollywood studios and his vision for Creator City in Los Angeles.

Monday's headliners included Banijay Entertainment chairman Jeff Zucker and CEO Marco Bassetti, who discussed the future of the company following its merger with All3Media — a deal that created the world's largest independent production group. Also on Monday, Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria received the Variety Vanguard Award.

Earlier that day, Pedro Pina, VP of YouTube for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Stephan Schmitter, CEO of RTL in Germany, discussed their partnership around the action series "Cobra 11."

Tuesday's bill ran from legacy IP to platform executives:

• A session on the return of "Baywatch" with Fox Television Network president Michael Thorn, Fremantle's CEO commercial and international Jens Richter, and actors Brooks Nader and Stephen Amell
• Anthony E. Zuiker, creator of the "CSI" franchise
• Zai Bennett, CEO and chief creative officer of BBC Studios Global Content
• Kate Phillips, chief content officer at the BBC
• Justin Connolly, YouTube's VP and global head of media and sports
• Matt Schnaars, president of platform distribution and partnerships at NBCUniversal

Wednesday's headliners included Dennis Papirowski, TikTok's global head of content.

The speaker mix tells the story Smith wants told: studios and broadcasters still anchor the market, but YouTube, TikTok and a creator-economy entrepreneur now share top billing.

What changes for the market?

For exhibitors and sellers, the practical question is whether fewer traditional buyers offset against more platform and brand money. Smith's answer is that the market is widening, not contracting — "This week has shown that strategy in action," she said. The attendance figures, down across every measure, will test that claim again next October in Cannes.