Event Coverage
YouTube expands presence at MIPCOM Cannes 2026 with workshops and keynotes
A year after its historic market debut, the platform is shifting its message from why broadcasters should be on YouTube to exactly how they can make money from it
YouTube is back at MIPCOM Cannes — and this time it is not coming to make the case for itself. It is coming to show the global media industry how to build a business.
The platform has announced a significantly expanded presence at MIPCOM Cannes 2026, running 12 to 15 October at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, with a programme designed to move the conversation from evangelism to execution. After its historic market debut in 2025, YouTube is doubling its footprint, bringing its global leadership team, more than ten major media partners on stage and a new series of twice-daily practical workshops aimed squarely at broadcasters, studios and publishers trying to navigate digital distribution and grow revenue in the streaming era.
Pedro Pina, vice president of YouTube EMEA, will open the market with a keynote on the first day in the Grand Auditorium of the Palais des Festivals, anchoring a week-long programme that also features Justin Connolly, vice president and global head of media and sports at YouTube, alongside YouTube’s partnership teams.
The new YouTube View hub on the exhibition floor will host workshops and panels in the Hi5 Theater running Monday through Wednesday, covering advanced monetisation strategies, connected TV growth, AI-driven content formats and how to turn YouTube Studio analytics into actionable commercial decisions. Media companies will also hear how to scale creator-brand partnerships that actually generate returns.
YouTube’s expanded presence stretches beyond MIPCOM itself into the preceding MIPJUNIOR weekend on 10 and 11 October, where the platform will serve as official sponsor of the opening happy hour and host a session on how both legacy brands and digitally native creators are building fandoms, scaling premium intellectual property and winning Gen Z and teenage audiences on the platform.
The commercial logic behind the expansion is hard to argue with. Global audiences now watch over one billion hours of YouTube on television sets every single day, a statistic that has fundamentally changed how traditional broadcasters think about the platform. It is no longer a competitor to be managed. It is a distribution channel to be mastered.
Lucy Smith, director of MIPCOM Cannes and MIPJUNIOR, said YouTube’s 2025 debut had marked a generational shift for the market. “This year, they are backing that up by doubling their presence, bringing their global leadership, and offering the practical tools needed to shape the future of entertainment,” she said.
Pina was equally direct. “Our focus moves from why media companies should be on YouTube to exactly how they can build a sustainable business on the platform,” he said.
The programme will also connect to the MIP AI Entertainment Forum and MIP BrandWorks running alongside MIPCOM, placing the market at the centre of the emerging content economy.
For a media industry still scrambling to find its footing in the streaming age, YouTube has stopped asking to be taken seriously. It is now telling the room how the business works.
