Studios have the screenings, but for indies, MIP-TV is it.

It seems that this year, MIP-TV is providing solace for anyone suffering from even the slightest case of Attention Deficit Disorder. The Cannes market, held from April 11-15 at the Palais des Festivals, will cover everything from documentaries to new media, with a lot of TV business thrown in. The market traditionally attracts over 10,000 participants from some 3,000 companies in 91 countries, 60 percent of whom hail from Europe, with North Americans representing the second largest group.

Before the MIP-TV games begin, acquisitions execs will be given an opportunity to screen fully digitalized documentaries and factual programming at MipDoc, held April 9-10 at the Noga Hilton. Michael Katz, president, A&E International's program sales, who attends MipDoc, said "It has gotten to be pretty important for us. We realized when we started to sell programs to other channels that [MipDoc] is a great showcase for varied kinds of programming." Mark Gray, vice president, co-productions & acquisitions at FremantleMedia said, "MipDoc is useful as it's one of those times when the business as a whole focuses on factual programming."

On the other hand, Scott Hanock, whose company, TvFilmBiz, also specializes in non-fiction series, will not attend MipDoc. "Spending money to be at a pre-convention doesn't make any sense budget-wise. It just dilutes the overall week of the convention and takes away from what we should be focusing on." Hanock suggested MipDoc take a different direction: "It should either be held at a different time of year or it should be an ongoing thing--there should be a library which can be accessed on a database all year long, in order for buyers of non-fiction to see what's out there."

Once again, MIP-TV will feature MILIA, an interactive content forum for TV, mobile and broadband, bringing the focus onto emerging technologies. The five-day market will be filled with conferences, with over 40 sessions and 150 speakers planned. Four keynote speakers during MIP-TV will focus on the impact of digital technology on the audiovisual business. Dawn Airey, Sky Networks' managing director, will present the opening keynote speech, "Fast Forward to TV 2015." Intel's vp and CTO of the Digital Home Group, Kevin Corbett, will discuss how digital homes and broadband technology can bring new opportunities to the TV industry. Joe Belfiore, general manager of Microsoft Windows eHome Division, will focus on the delivery of consumer entertainment services into the home and away from it. The keynote speech delivered by Anssi Vanjoki, Nokia's evp and general manager of Multimedia, will kick-off the Mobile Multimedia Conferences, which will take place during the second half of the market. A major mobile concentration will include the Mobile Content Buyers' Program, featuring the leading mobile operators and a designated area for mobile exhibitors.

In response to the focus on wireless, TvFilmBiz's Hanock showed doubts that it will be as ubiquitous as everyone seems to expect. "Though we have programming in clip form that would work with wireless, and I'm happy to license my programs to go mobile, the world is not ready for that," he said. "People are certainly not going to want to pay what it's going to take to have access to mobile channels." He explained: "There are some demographics that are going to work, like tweens and people who want their sports and weather on their mobile phones. But, there has to be the hardware to go along with the software."

The focus to this year's market will be on Korea. Reed Midem has partnered with the Korean Broadcasting Company (KBC) and will bring Korea onto center stage with a series of conferences focusing on the territory (including "Korean Wave," and "Korean Digital," which highlight recent advances made in Korea in regards to new technology), and a Korean Pavilion on the floor. According to Reed Midem, South Korea fits into the theme of MIP-TV featuring MILIA as a global leader in the field of new technology.

This year's Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Peter Orton, founder and chairman of British children's television company, HIT Entertainment.

In looking forward to MIP-TV, Dominic Hayes of WWE predicted, "MIP will be great. MIP is hard work, you have to prepare properly and be on your game. You are basically going from 8 a.m. to midnight." Sam Ewing, Cookie Jar's svp of sales and distribution, worldwide, concurred: "You have to go to the market with a clear idea of your schedule. Because buyers are always pressed for time, you have to plan it out months in advance."

CABLEready's Sabrina Sanchez is equally enthusiastic: "We always feel good about MIP-TV, it drives our international business." Sanchez pointed to the upswing of the market, with the expansion of Asian business and the value of a high European currency. She added, "[for us] MIP-TV is probably more successful than MIPCOM."

Similarly, Cookie Jar's Ewing explained that his company applies to a different strategy to MIP-TV than MIPCOM. "We usually present new shows at MIPCOM, but it's not until MIP-TV that we are able to show buyers real episodes, which are what they want to see. For that reason, we often find that MIP-TV is even stronger in regards to dealmaking than MIPCOM." AETN's Michael Katz stressed the importance of both markets, "In some ways MIPCOM is better for us because of the fall season, but then MIP-TV is important because of MipDoc. They each have their own personality, and having two is helpful."

Scott Hanock pointed out, however, that both MIPCOM and MIP-TV remain vital for independents. He said, "Because the markets have been falling at the waistline, an independent convention of secondary and tertiary buyers is extremely important to us. The studios have the L.A. Screenings, but for us ... this is it."

Though traditionally this market is more Euro-centric than Latin American, telenovelero RCTV (formerly Coral) will attend, along with others. "There are several telenovela buyers in Europe and Asia, so it [is] an important market for us. We have seen a tendency for the Latin Americans to attend MIPCOM, but I don't know how many of them will attend MIP-TV since most Latin Americans attended NATPE just two months ago," said RCTV's Jose Escalante.

Michael Jacobs, president, production and distribution at MarVista Entertainment, an 18-month-old company that focuses on kids and family programming, had positive expectations for companies of that genre at MIP. "This is only the second MIP for MarVista but it is my 13th one ... and it's really a great place to close deals." His company is working hard to fulfill the demand for live-action kids series.