Mipcom 2009 – Cannes. It’s all in the game – in its final Mipcom press release, Reed Midem announced an increase in the number of visitors – 12,000 as compared to 11,500 during Mip-TV last April. But the figure is down compared with the 13,500 record number of Mipcom visitors in 2008.
This is the usual numbers game – and if the figures are really down, it is the “quality rather than quantity” of the number of visitors. We are not surprised that the show’s organisers are putting out upbeat press releases. Indeed, we noticed an urgency from many visitors to put an end to the doom and gloom of the industry.
There is no question broadcasters have been hit worldwide by the slump in advertising and the question is now – will we see a quick recovery? Marcel Fenez, from PriceWaterhouseCoopers, was not so optimistic in his keynote presentation – the U-shape he predicted is for the worldwide entertainment market, not the Western markets, where the shape is more likely to be an L.
