With MIP London just over the horizon, Lucy Smith has a big challenge: to prove the need for a newbie event and convince sceptics that this will bring more of the industry’s top-tier execs to the English capital in Feb.

“Over 700 people are already registered and we’re hopeful of landing somewhere between 1,500 to 2,000,” Smith, the Director of the Entertainment Division of RX France and MIP Markets, reveals to us as we sit down in the plush Savoy hotel, one of two venues MIP London will utilize, along with the adjoining IET London. The capacity is 1,300 in each.

The new event, from MIPCOM organizer RX France, comes after the curtain came down on MIPTV last year. Since MIP London was announced, Smith has stressed this is not a simple swap of the Cote D’Azur for the banks of the River Thames. “It’s not MIPTV, let’s be clear on that. MIPTV, for many reasons, was not working at that time of year. We have no regrets; we know that was the right decision and that we had to retire it.”

She adds: “What we were listening to, and hearing, was that people wanted something different. There was a need for a meeting at the beginning of the year, and when you looked at what was going on in London, it felt like that is where the distribution business has moved to at that time.

“We decided to look at that and see what kind of format a new event would need to take. So, when I say it’s not MIPTV, I mean it’s not an exhibition. It’s a new type of market for us, it’s a new format. As opposed to companies coming in and buying space, it’s plug and play. You turn up and you’ve got a meeting space.”

Some big distribs have bought in – A+E, Beta, FilmRise, Gaumont, Global Screen, Nippon TV and PBS are among those confirmed. Of the 350 buyers signed up so far, RX says a healthy proportion are coming from outside Europe.

Less Screen Time, More Programming

The blueprint for MIP London, which runs Feb 23 through 27, has evolved since it was announced in March. Essentially, there will be more program – meaning conference sessions, keynotes, round tables, workshops – and fewer screenings than was originally envisaged.

“When we first went out, we said MIP London would be more about screenings, but over time you get market feedback and have conversations and that did not feel what people really needed,” Smith says. “What they want is something that brings in more companies, more business, and therefore more opportunities, and from much further across the value chain. We know that this industry is going through a big transformation, a reset of some sort, and companies need opportunities to meet new partners and do business differently.”

Two days will be given over to MIPDOC and MIPFORMATS. The factual and formats crowds valued having their own moments within MIPTV and this retains that flavor. The Thursday will have a kids TV focus, building on the success of MIPJUNIOR.

Wednesday and Thursday will have a Global Streaming Strategies Summit, with the likes of Evan Shapiro and Tellycast’s Justin Crosby delving into FAST, AVOD, connected TV and next-gen content. That speaks to one of the things MIPTV had been doing well. Its focus on FAST in its twilight years proved popular as content owners spied an opportunity for new business.

There will also be some seriously splashy keynotes. Netflix’s Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria will sit down with Inter Miami co-owner, Studio 99 co-founder and global star David Beckham. There will also be a Co-Production Summit and a London edition of the MIPFORMATS Pitch, which is being run in partnership with Fox Entertainment Global.

Smith is also director of MIPCOM in October, which remains the biggest international TV gathering of the year and is keen to heed lessons from that event, which explains the programming and lean into digital and co-production.

“What came out of MIPCOM and the way in which people are experiencing it, is that both co-production and innovation have become such an important part of the market,” she says. “For more than 50% of the audience, it is a really important co-production market now.”

London TV Screenings

Becks and Bajaria may be on board, but RX France’s new event has ruffled feathers. The London Screenings runs Feb. 23 through 28 and has become hugely successful, growing from its founding quartet of All3Media, Banijay, Fremantle and ITV Studios to a sprawling event that sees 36 distributors take over a host of central London cinemas. The screenings are free to attend (if you’re invited).

All of the London Screenings distribs also show up for MIPCOM so there’s a delicate relationship balance given they work with RX. Privately, however, many have reservations that a new event could be a distraction during an already hectic week, or that it is simply not needed.

Smith salutes the Screenings – “it is a great event,” she says – while acknowledging the concerns but noting that MIP London can be additive. “We’ve heard everything, we’ve heard the question; is their room? I have to always go back to bringing in more of the international market means you bring in more people, more opportunities, and more business.”

“This isn’t something that’s coming in as a competitive market, it’s coming in as a complementary central hub, offering a lot of other things,” she says. “And the [MIP London delegates] are not already here. That means you’re getting more business opportunities. And we are trying to be really thoughtful and respectful when it comes to scheduling. When you actually have a conversation about it, a lot of people have said: ‘Okay, we get it.’”

Being complementary won’t be easy, however, in a tricky market with big firms trying to keep costs, travel and expenses down. Numbers at October’s MIPCOM were down 500 on the prior year, with Smith putting this down at the time almost solely to companies sending smaller delegations.

Long-Term London

If MIP London delivers on its promise of bringing additional people to town, it will cement the city as the epicenter of the international TV biz for a week in Feb.

Smith accepts some will be on the fence and watching to see how year one plays out, but RX has dibs on its venues for 2026 and is planning for the long term: “We’re here not just for one year. We believe that this might take a bit of time, of course it will, and we’ll keep working with and listening to the industry, taking on the feedback so that we can and will try and evolve it. It’ll depend on market feedback, but we see this as a long-term investment, and somewhere we want to be, and we want to stay.”

Amid the market chatter, Smith hopes seeing becomes believing in Feb: “There’s a need to work differently, that’s what we’re reading about every day,” she says. “Of course, some are waiting to see who’s there and what’s going on, but I’m very confident we are bringing new people into this marketplace. That can only be better for everyone.”