MIPTV 2018 | From Cannes with Raindrops: A Look Back

Twice a year, I get to go to Cannes to sit in the spring or late-summer sunshine for MIPTV and MIPCOM. Not this time though, as it was raining almost 24 hours a day during this edition of the largest global distribution market, and leading TV and online content development event of the season.

It’s interesting how the dynamic of a large group of people changes with a couple of raindrops. Instead of endless smiling faces with sunglasses, it’s all about the umbrella and finding places to have meetings that are close enough to the Palais des Festivals to minimize time spent with that umbrella.

(Why I thought it was a good idea to bring suede shoes while I had seen the weather forecast I’ll never know!)

But the weather didn’t deter anyone from having those many, many meetings that markets like MIPTV are known for. While the big players are still definitely the TV industry people, the whole lower floor of the Palais was filled with “digital pods” where people offer VR experiences, digital formats, and data-driven advice on the distribution of content via OTT solutions.

Outside the Palais, there was also something new called CANNESERIES, a festival which focuses on, you guessed it, series. I have to be honest here, besides the huge pink carpet outside the Palais, I did not notice anything about this new festival.

So what did I get up to? I met producers and distributors of great content for our Stingray channels Stingray DJAZZ, Stingray Classica, and Stingray Festival 4K. The great thing about a market like MIPTV is that I get to meet face-to-face with some of my contacts, whether they’re from Europe, Asia or North America.

Here’s the scoop on the great new content coming to our channels:

• The first K-Pop concerts for Stingray Festival 4K – those spectacular shows were made for the channel
• Great kids’ content for Stingray Classica
• Amazing jazz shows from the archives of the Belgian and French public broadcasters for Stingray DJAZZ
• New content from jazz festivals across the world for Stingray DJAZZ
• Sets by the world’s best DJs filmed in stunning 4K as the fireworks explode around them for Stingray Festival 4K

Two takeaways from MIPTV when looking at the industry more broadly.

First of all, it’s clear that the subscription and on-demand models are gaining traction. There are so many new players coming to the market and it’ll be interesting to follow who will survive this competition in the coming years.

Secondly, 4K is the way forward even more so with HDR – high dynamic range – changing the way we experience video content. This year, I really got the sense that 4K HDR will be the game-changer that HD was. There’s movement along the entire chain of distribution with producers switching their gear, channels changing their DNA and operators releasing new 4K HDR compatible set-top-boxes.

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