Annual Cannes-based market MipTV has confirmed its move to London, ending months of speculation.
Variety has confirmed the market will run alongside the London Screenings next February. It will be located at the five-star Savoy Hotel, as well as the IET London, a screenings venue located at Savoy Place in the West End area.
A spokesperson for RX told Variety the event will have a different format than MipTV and confirmed the Cannes confab will have its last edition this Spring. But while MipTV will relocate to the U.K., RX said it will continue to host fall event Mipcom in Cannes in October.
The London transfer will be free for buyers and will not require a flat fee for delegates. “It will be different than MipTV, so it won’t be an exhibition market but rather focused on networking, screenings and meetings,” said a rep for RX, adding that it will cater to international distributors and companies who don’t have an office or base in London. Although RX has opted to organize their event at the same time as London Screenings, there is no deal in place between the two events. The spokesperson said the Mip conference is being designed to be “complementary” to London Screenings, which just wrapped a banner edition earlier this month.
As for Cannes Series, the festival which has been running alongside MipTV, it won’t be moving to London, the spokesperson said.
The scale of the London event will be much smaller than MipTV since the Savoy Hotel and EIT venue can welcome only 1,300 people at a given time. By comparison, the market space in Cannes — the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès — can welcome up to 30,000 participants.
Variety‘s sister outlet Deadline first reported the news of MipTV’s relocation in London.
