Few years have tested the TV business like this one. Phone-first vertical dramas are moving from experiment to mainstream, AI-generated content is edging into production pipelines and creators are claiming a growing share of viewers’ time. YouTube, now the clear winner of the video wars, is setting the terms, while commercial TV scrambles to find new models.
All this disruption will be in focus over the four days of MIPCOM, the world’s largest television trade fair that runs Oct. 12-15.
“Something feels inherently different this year,” says Fox Entertainment Global president Prentiss Fraser of the 2026 market. “We’re using the week to reconnect with international partners across all of the new businesses while still maintaining our traditional bread-and-butter TV business.”
While much of the discussion and debate this year will be on the new, conventional TV is still at the core of MIPCOM. Global buyers heading to the South of France will find their fill: franchise reboots, period dramas, spy thrillers and even a Zulu epic alongside a fresh crop of unscripted formats hoping to become the next Traitors.
Adultery
Pitch Public broadcasters and select streamers will be checking out this steamy new British drama, starring Dominic Cooper and Romola Garai as a couple whose passionate affair threatens to upend two families, including their teenage children’s own romance. Created and written by Danny Brocklehurst (Fool Me Once), the six-part drama explores class, grief and the effects of social media.
Commissioning Broadcasters ITV and STV (U.K.)
Sales ITV Studios
Date Knight
Pitch A dating format with a twist, this Scandinavian show casts singles as knights, elves, witches and warriors who meet and date entirely in character through grand balls, secret encounters and romantic quests. When the costumes come off, viewers can see if the romance can survive the shift to reality.
Commissioning Broadcaster DR (Denmark)
Sales Banijay Entertainment
The Interrogator
Pitch Stephen Fry created and stars in this spy procedural as a former MI6 agent who leads a team of outsiders to crack the minds of the world’s most dangerous criminals. Luke Kleintank and Jenna Elfman co-star. Fox’s straight-to-series order for the show should encourage international buyers that this one could run and run.
Commissioning Broadcaster Fox (U.S.)
Sales Lionsgate Television
Legacy of Spies
Pitch Matthew Macfadyen steps into the big shoes of Alec Guinness and Gary Oldman to play legendary spook George Smiley in this eight-part adaptation of several John le Carré novels, including classics The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. An all-star supporting cast, including Charlie Hunnam, Hugh Laurie, Dan Stevens, Joe Alwyn and Daniel Brühl, should ensure this is a prime pick for premium networks and streamers alike.
Commissioning Broadcasters BBC (U.K.); MGM+ (U.S.)
Sales Fifth Season
Meatballs
Pitch Robbie G.K. (Christopher “Kip” Grady of Heated Rivalry) stars alongside Maddie Phillips (The Boys) in this eight-part adaptation of the 1979 cult comedy about a failing summer camp and its horny counselors, famous for launching the careers of Bill Murray and director Ivan Reitman. The show, which goes out on Heated Rivalry network Crave in Canada, is hoping it can replicate that series’ “sweet and sexy” approach to deliver another global hit.
Commissioning Broadcaster Crave (Canada)
Sales Sphere Abacus
The Rise of the Rockstar Chef
Pitch Everyone’s favorite swearing chef is back with this new three-part reality series in which Gordon Ramsay and fellow celebrity cookers Marco Pierre White and Heston Blumenthal explore the rise of rockstar culinarians in the “Cool Britannia” era and how they’ve transformed the image of British cuisine at home and abroad.
Commissioning Broadcasters BBC One and iPlayer (U.K.)
Sales Fox Entertainment Global
The Rockford Files
Pitch From the Fox/Fremantle relaunch of Baywatch to the return of Scrubs and the upcoming Prison Break reboot, old TV is all the rage again. But it doesn’t get much older, or more nostalgic, than this update, based on the beloved 1970s dramedy series, with David Boreanaz reprising James Garner’s iconic role as ex-con turned sad-sack private investigator Jim Rockford. The Rockford Files remains a rerun staple, and online platforms have introduced the show to a new generation, which bodes well for NBC’s latest stroll down memory lane.
Commissioning Broadcaster NBC (U.S.)
Sales NBCUniversal Global TV Distribution
Shaka iLembe: Zulu King
Pitch African television has seen rapid growth over the past decades but is still searching for its global breakout. StudioCanal is betting this historical drama, the most expensive series ever made in South Africa and the highest-rated original on its newly acquired African pay network MultiChoice, will be one. Over three seasons — the final six-episode arc drops this year — the show traces Shaka’s rise from outcast to Zulu king as he forges his empire in the late 18th and early 19th century.
Commissioning Broadcaster DStv (MultiChoice Group, South Africa)
Sales StudioCanal
The Yacht
Pitch The BBC is billing The Yacht as part of a “new generation of reality formats” it’s betting will take off worldwide. Twelve cruise guests compete for cash in daily challenges aboard a luxury yacht, but they are actually part of a social experiment, with their every interaction filmed and analyzed to explore human behavior when confronted with extremes of status and luxury.
Commissioning Broadcaster NRK (Norway)
Sales BBC Studios
This story appeared in the Oct. 7 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.