More than 10,100 delegates from 104 countries gathered in Cannes from October 12 to 15 for MIPCOM 2026, and the defining question of the week was who actually pays for entertainment now. From creator-led studios and AI-native production to brands stepping in as financiers, this year's market sketched the outlines of a new funding order for television.
Creators take the main stage
For the first time in the market's history, MIPCOM opened its program with a creator. Dhar Mann, Forbes' #2 Top Creator for the third consecutive year and a member of TIME100's inaugural Creator list in 2025, headlined the October 11 pre-opening session alongside Dhar Mann Studios CEO Sean Atkins. With more than 170 million followers and nearly 300 million views a week, Mann has a 20-episode original order from Disney, a FAST channel and creator-led original deal on Samsung TV Plus, and a multi-year global deal with FOX Entertainment including an initial 40-title vertical video slate.
The vertical video boom was the market's other obsession. Omdia's benchmark figures, widely cited in Cannes, put global microdrama revenue at $11 billion in 2025, rising to $14 billion in 2026. ReelShort (Crazy Maple Studio) pushed telecom bundling alliances — already live with AIS in Thailand — plus branded microdramas of up to 10 two-minute episodes for clients including Crocs, Monopoly Go and Anker. ReelShort users in the US average 35.7 minutes a day, ahead of Netflix on mobile at 24.8 minutes.
Brands and AI step into the funding gap
With traditional funding tightening, brands are moving past sponsorship into ownership. MIPCOM launched MIP BrandWorks, a new initiative connecting brands and agencies with creators, studios and rights holders to develop and fund original IP, with dentsu as its headline partner.
Artificial intelligence got its own dedicated track, the inaugural MIP AI Entertainment Forum, headlined by AI-native studio Utopai Studios — valued at more than $1 billion — whose co-founder and CEO Cecilia Shen keynoted on AI-native studio models built around original IP, talent and proprietary cinematic infrastructure. Even legacy creators are on board: CSI creator Anthony E. Zuiker chose MIPCOM to launch his Cinemalistics AI app.
The data behind the shift
The numbers presented at the market's Glance keynote showed why the search for new payers is urgent. New series launches on linear TV fell 12 percent across 48 territories between January and September 2026; new content dropped 12 percent on Netflix and 41 percent on Disney+. In the US, streaming's share of total video viewing rose from 36 percent in January 2024 to 48.5 percent in June 2026, while broadcast fell to 19.8 percent and cable to 19.5 percent. Omdia expects global connected-TV advertising to grow from $44 billion in 2025 to $81 billion in 2030, with Amazon, Netflix and Google taking half.
YouTube ran workshops on distribution and monetization, while ITV Studios pointed to Love Island's US run — 19 billion minutes viewed in its first two months, with 35 percent of that audience new to the series.
Watch: the story on video
Watch MIPCOM CANNES 2026 Day 3 | That's a Wrap! — MIPCOM's official recap video, which rounds up the keynotes, deals and closing moments from the 2026 edition of the Global Entertainment Marketplace in Cannes.
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Silly Fun (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0
Sources: Forbes — "MIPCOM Cannes 2026 – Who Pays For Entertainment Now?"; Señal News — MIPCOM 2026 closing report; Prensario — ReelShort at MIPCOM 2026; FormatBiz — Utopai Studios and the MIP AI Entertainment Forum.
The answer MIPCOM 2026 gave to its own headline question is that entertainment will no longer be paid for by one business model, but by a patchwork of them: subscriptions, advertising, brand-financed IP, telecom bundles and creator-led franchises all sharing the bill. The market returns to Cannes on October 18–21, 2027 — by which time, judging by this year's momentum, the patchwork may have become the new normal.