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8 months ago
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EXCLUSIVE: It’s confirmed – or will be later today – MIPTV is setting up shop in London, Deadline can reveal. The action is moving from the Palais Des Festivals to The Savoy hotel and an adjoining space in a seismic change to the international TV calendar, with the historic programming market having been situated in Cannes since the 1960s.
The new event will run concurrently with the hugely successful London Screenings.
The news that RX was hatching plans to move from the south of France to the UK have been the talk of international TV circles since Deadline broke the news in February.
At that point, plans were advanced, but RX’s refusal to be offer definitive comment meant weeks of will-they-won’t-they speculation in international TV circles. It turns out they will.
Lucy Smith, Director of the entertainment division at RX France, the organizer of MIPTV, has been on a charm offensive to persuade both potential MIP London attendees and the companies associated with the London Screenings of the benefits of relocating MIPTV to the English capital. The message has been that the new event will not just transpose the usual Palais Des Festivals proceedings to The Savoy and adjoining 1,300 capacity IET London venue, and it will be a more boutique set-up for international distributors to hold meetings with buyers, network, and screen their wares. It won’t be the classic MIPTV set-up with exhibitors and stands.
Several UK-based distributors have bristled at the notion of – as they saw it – MIPTV muscling in on the London Screenings, which have become a successful diary date for international buyers. The event, which take place in February is akin to the LA Screenings – with about 750 acquisition execs watching episodes of new shows. MIPTV, meanwhile, is more of a buyer-seller confab with distributors paying for space and execs taking half-hour meetings.
The pushback from some London Screenings distribs – there are 29 in all – came because they could not see what adding that MIPTV component could add to their event. They also balked at the idea that RX was monetizing something they had built and which requires no paid-for ticket. MIP London will, however, be free for accredited buyers, Deadline understands.
RX, meanwhile, is understood to think there is a gap for thought leadership – meaning keynotes and sessions – in London in Feb., and a need to cater to international sales outfits that want to be on the ground. Distributors based outside the UK have been more receptive than the locals to the idea of setting up in London alongside the Screenings.
A practical issue for RX was where to house MIP London. Options quickly narrow when the requirement is for a large, prime, venue in a very central location, close to the existing action. A lot of the top spots are already spoken for, but RX has secured The Savoy, on the Strand, and a neighboring venue. A welcome event is expected to take place on the Sunday before MIP London and the 2025 Screenings kick off in earnest on Monday, 24 Feb.
The news is a blow to Cannes given it has housed MIPTV since the 1960s, but RX still has a long-term deal with the city and will continue to run events there – notably MIPCOM, which remains the biggest international TV confab of the year.
No-one was in any doubt, however, that MIPTV had to change. The emergence of Content London, The London Screenings, and Series Mania all impacted MIPTV attendance, which has dwindled. Smith has grasped the nettle and is making the change that international TV folk have been gossiping about and predicting for years – often, ironically, in the restaurants and bars of Cannes during MIPTV itself.
