MIPCOM 2026: The Business of Storytelling Enters a New Era

Every October, Cannes becomes much more than a glamorous meeting place for the television industry. For a few intense days, MIPCOM turns the Croisette into one of the world’s most important marketplaces for content, ideas, rights and increasingly, capital.

MIPCOM 2026 arrives at a particularly interesting moment.

Television is not disappearing. Streaming is not collapsing. Hollywood is not finished. What we are witnessing instead is a restructuring of the entertainment economy.

And restructuring creates opportunities.

For Billions, Cannes is therefore an obvious place to be. We are investigating the finance of entertainment: who is financing tomorrow’s content, where investors see value, which business models are changing and how technology is altering the economics of producing and distributing stories.

From the Streaming Wars to the Entertainment Economy

For more than a decade, the industry was dominated by one objective: subscribers.

Streaming platforms spent enormous amounts of money building libraries, commissioning original productions and expanding internationally. Scale mattered enormously, and profitability could often wait.

That period is evolving.

The next phase is likely to be more financially disciplined. Streaming companies, broadcasters and studios increasingly have to ask the questions that every mature industry eventually asks: What does this content cost? How long can it generate revenue? In how many countries can it be sold? Can the intellectual property be extended? And, ultimately, what is the return on investment?

This does not mean less entertainment. It could mean smarter entertainment.

The winners may increasingly be companies capable of combining several sources of revenue: subscriptions, advertising, licensing, international distribution, sponsorship, product placement, merchandising, live experiences and intellectual-property exploitation.

The future may therefore be less about television versus streaming and more about an interconnected entertainment economy.

Content Is Becoming an Asset Class

A successful programme is no longer simply something that fills a broadcasting schedule.

A powerful story can become an intellectual-property ecosystem.

A television series can generate international adaptations. A character can become merchandise. A documentary can become a podcast. A format can be licensed around the world. A successful production can move from television to social media, games, live events or cinema.

This changes the financial conversation.

Investors are not necessarily financing only a programme. They may be financing rights capable of producing revenues over many years, across multiple platforms and territories.

That makes ownership increasingly important.

In the coming years, one of the most important negotiations in entertainment may not simply be about the production budget. It may be about who owns the underlying intellectual property.

The Return of Advertising — in a New Form

Another major market shift is already visible.

For years, streaming promised consumers an escape from traditional advertising. Today, advertising is becoming part of streaming itself.

But this is not simply a return to the television model of the past.

Digital platforms know considerably more about their audiences. Advertising can become more targeted, measurable and interactive. Brands can participate directly in entertainment, while producers can increasingly consider brand partnerships as part of the financing structure of a production.

The distinction between advertiser, sponsor, distributor and producer may therefore become less rigid.

Brands themselves may become entertainment financiers.

For producers, that potentially opens new pools of capital.

Global Stories, Local Audiences

Streaming also demonstrated something extremely important: audiences are willing to watch stories originating far beyond their own borders.

A successful programme no longer necessarily needs to originate in Los Angeles or London to become international.

Korean, Spanish, French, Israeli, Scandinavian, Turkish and other productions have demonstrated the potential of local stories to travel globally.

That trend should continue.

It creates opportunities for independent producers and smaller markets because distribution is no longer constrained by geography in the way it once was.

The paradox is that the more global entertainment becomes, the more valuable authenticity may become.

Audiences do not necessarily want stories designed to please everyone. They often respond to stories that feel real somewhere.

The Screen Is Changing Again

Another transformation is taking place in the definition of television itself.

For younger audiences, the distinction between television, YouTube, TikTok and other video platforms is becoming increasingly artificial.

A television screen is simply one screen among many.

Vertical video, creator-led entertainment, microdramas and short-form scripted productions are developing their own economics. Some formats are inexpensive to produce, quick to test and capable of reaching enormous audiences.

Traditional television will remain important, particularly for premium drama, sport, news and major entertainment formats. But the industry is likely to become increasingly format-neutral.

The important question will not be: Is this television?

It will be: Will people watch it?

And if they watch it, can it make money?

Then Comes AI

No discussion about the future of entertainment in 2026 can avoid artificial intelligence.

AI is entering almost every stage of the entertainment value chain: research, translation, subtitling, dubbing, visual effects, localisation, editing, marketing, audience analysis, recommendation systems and increasingly parts of production itself.

Understandably, this creates anxiety.

Creative industries are built around human talent, and questions surrounding copyright, employment, authenticity and ownership must be taken seriously.

But economically, another reality is becoming difficult to ignore.

AI can dramatically reduce certain production costs.

It can allow smaller companies to achieve things that previously required much larger teams and budgets. It can make localisation faster. It can help producers test concepts. It can make archives searchable and potentially monetisable. It can allow content to reach audiences in dozens of languages.

That represents not only disruption, but opportunity.

There is an old expression in business: if you cannot beat them, join them.

For the entertainment industry, perhaps it should now be:

If you cannot beat AI, join it — and make money.

The companies that learn how to use AI intelligently, legally and creatively may gain a significant competitive advantage over those that simply resist it.

AI should not necessarily replace creativity. It can make creativity more productive.

The Economics May Change. The Fundamental Product Does Not.

This is perhaps the most optimistic message coming into MIPCOM 2026.

Entertainment has survived every technological revolution.

Cinema did not kill theatre. Television did not kill cinema. Cable did not kill television. Streaming did not eliminate broadcasters. YouTube did not eliminate professional production.

Instead, every technological change created new formats, new audiences, new stars and new businesses.

AI will almost certainly do the same.

Production may become cheaper. Distribution may become almost instantaneous. Translation may become automatic. Audiences may become increasingly fragmented. Financing structures may change dramatically.

But technology cannot change the fundamental reason people consume entertainment.

People want to laugh.

They want to be surprised.

They want suspense.

They want characters they love and characters they hate.

They want to recognise themselves in stories — and sometimes they want stories that allow them to escape completely from their own lives.

That is why MIPCOM remains important.

Behind the screens, platforms, algorithms and billion-dollar companies is an extraordinarily simple business.

Someone has a story.

Someone believes in it enough to finance it.

Someone finds a way to bring it to an audience.

And if the audience loves it, value is created.

At Billions, we will continue investigating the money behind that process: the investors, deals, technologies and new business models shaping the future of entertainment.

Because AI can lower the cost. Finance can increase the scale. Distribution can make a project global.

But at the end, it is the story that counts.