CANNES -- Tom Jones and Mariah Carey brought some musical relief to Mip TV Tuesday -- though war with Iraq and economic gloom kept the five-day market humming in a minor key.
There are 8,000 delegates, 1,000 fewer than at the same time last year and well down on the 12,000 high of three years ago, organizer Reed Midem said -- something those inside the convention center sensed.
Key last-minute defections were from the U.S., Japan and Latin America -- most of whom were put off by the war.
"A lot of people didn't even cancel, they just didn't show up," Reed Midem chief exec Paul Zilk said.
However, the topper insisted Mip wasn't doing that badly. "I think it's a good market in the context. People are saying, 'Life goes on, and we have to do business.' "
Effectively, Mip has taken a double whammy: the war in Iraq and the sluggish state of the international TV market.
Zilk revealed pre-registration had been up 2%-3% before the war kicked off two days prior to Mip Doc's opening Saturday.
Logistical limits
"Mip is too close now to NATPE (in late January). People are genuinely afraid of traveling and have seen their acquisition budgets cut," said Televisa Intl. manager Eugenio Lopez Negrete.
However, some participants were philosophical. "I wasn't worried about traveling," said Triandy Suyatman, program chief at Indonesia's National TV. "I'm a Muslim and a fatalist. You can die crossing the street."
Endemol did go ahead Tuesday night with its Euro talent-spotting finale of "Star Academy," known as "Eurobest." Special guests included Jones, Carey and Atomic Kitten.
Nixed shindigs included Hallmark's miniseries launch party,France 2's dinner and Mip's opening 40th anni fireworks. Those parties that did go ahead promoted specific product, such as Canal Plus' bash for its set-top box, Pilotime.
Echoing the views of many mart goers, Sesto Cifola, head of sales for Italy's RAI Trade, said: "It's difficult to sell programming when there's a war going. It's saddening. You watch the TV and it makes you think about what one is doing here, selling fiction during this tragedy."
Documakers demur
Three major docu players -- National Geographic, the Discovery Channel and Japan's NHK -- canceled or appeared in depleted numbers. Talked-up product focused on war and terrorism.
German United Distributors' "Das Kartell," about George W. Bush's oil industry connections, drew keen interest from -- who would have guessed? -- French broadcasters. Three Gallic webs, including TF1, acquired non-exclusive rights to the pic.
"Das Kartell" also sold to broadcasters in Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain.
Meanwhile, ZDF extended its agreement with Qatar-based news network Al-Jazeera for exclusive material.
If a war wasn't bad enough short-term, the international market faces long-term challenges.
"There are two factors at play," said one sales agent. "Normally when there are ad downturns, they occur regionally, but we've got a global downturn.
"Also, the big groups are still investing in long-term diversification from a cable buildup to Internet, 3G, interactive TV, digital satellite platforms," the agent added. "But these massive investments are not generating the revenues, which they have in their budgets, in the time frames they had expected."
Downbeat delegates
Delegates were in a pretty downbeat mood. "Since Sept. 11, all the TV markets are suffering," said Jean-Paul Connin, chief operating officer of France Televisions Distribution. "NATPE was a disaster; trade markets are very diminished."
But there were a few rays of hope. DVD dealing has reached fever pitch in Cannes, with several of the biggest programmakers in the world kicking off the market by announcing DVD pacts (see below).
"It is beyond doubt the start of a new golden age," Stuart Snaith, director of video, sponsorship and events at BBC Worldwide, told a panel discussion Tuesday on the potential growth of DVD. "DVD is the fastest-growing technology ever to be taken up in the U.K. Last year, 4 million DVDs were sold, and this year we're expecting 5 million."
China beachhead
Another, if more minor and nebulous hope, is China.
The newly amalgamated conglom Shanghai Media & Entertainment Group staged a press conference Monday at which CEO Li Ruigang stressed time and again SMEG's enthusiasm for collaborating with the West. This could take the form of project-by-project collaboration or longer-term partnerships.
Two "significant deals," which could service 3.5 million fiber optic households, could be announced this April or May, he added.
Despite tough market conditions, some deals have trickled through:
- Endemol has closed Argentina, Canada and Australia on gameshow "Deal or No Deal."
- Televisa has renewed -- and hiked the hours -- on a telenovela output deal with Romania's Acasa TV.
- BBC Worldwide's pre-teen CGI super hero "Ace Lightning" has been picked up by Nickelodeon (Spain), SIC (Portugal,) RAI 2 (Italy) and Televisa (Mexico) as well as others.
- National Geographic has inked a deal with Associated Press TV to deliver news content to its international news service.
- Granada has been appointed sole distributor for CNN's flagship current affairs specials and biography programming. Agreement covers two of CNN's major programming strands to be distributed under the banners "World in View" and "Front Page Profiles."
(John Hopewell and Ed Meza contributed to this report.)
Contact the Variety newsroom at
news@variety.com