MIPCOM 2026 Closes in Cannes With Baywatch, Skydance and YouTube Centre Stage
Stephen Amell and Brooks Nader brought red swimsuits to the Croisette to sell the Baywatch reboot as MIPCOM 2026 wrapped in Cannes.
The four-day programme market, where channels, streamers and producers buy and sell shows, ran 12 to 15 October at the Palais des Festivals. It drew 10,000 attendees including more than 3,000 buyers, according to Deadline.
Amell and Nader, the reboot's co-stars, were shepherded through the market by executives from Fox and Fremantle. The message was simple. Broadcast networks still want big, recognisable titles that can travel.
They were not the only familiar faces. Stephen Fry attended to promote Fox's The Interrogator. Christie Brinkley was there to promote her new docuseries. Rafe Spall, Robbie GK and Luke Evans also attended and spoke to press.
Skydance provided one of the week's talking points. Programme sales operations turned up under the pre-existing Paramount and Warner Bros. brands. Content sales chief David Decker, now president at Skydance, appeared at the Warner Bros. Discovery stand and gave his first interview in the role.
Banijay used the week to show its new scale. After merging with All3Media, the group now holds a 265,000-hour library, meaning a catalogue of past shows it can license to channels and streamers. It marked the moment with a post-merger party at the Carlton Hotel in Cannes.
YouTube loomed large without buying the lunch. Executives and creator businesses, meaning online video makers turning channels into commercial operations, mingled with TV buyers and sellers throughout the market. YouTube told attendees it wants to work with traditional TV, not replace it, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
YouTube Europe boss Pedro Pina said YouTube will not enter the production game and take work away from producers. Banijay, BBC Studios and Fremantle were among the studios to strike YouTube-related creator-economy deals around the market, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The BBC pushed back on data-led commissioning. Content boss Kate Phillips told the market that algorithms cannot create great content. "If you commission based on algorithms you are literally a creative carcass," she said.
What was actually selling? Spy thrillers, royal romances and a Zulu epic dominated the scripted conversation, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Baywatch, Murder, Cupertino and a Princess Diana project were among the buzz titles singled out by Variety.
Jeff Zucker and Marco Bassetti also took the MIPCOM stage during the week. For fans, this means a long wait. Markets are where shows are financed and sold. What gets cheered in Cannes is what gets made next.
