Turmoil and disruption in the traditional television business, from the new dominance of YouTube and streaming platforms to the rise of AI, will dominate conversations at the international TV confab MIPCOM Cannes. Indie production giant Banijay on Monday unveiled it was acquiring the Dutch-based creator outfit Werktitel, with the company taking a majority stake in the group, which works with online creators to develop and produce live events and stage shows. But there are still plenty of old-school TV deals getting done.
Cineflix Rights closed a new round of deals on two crime series. Darkly comic caper Sunny Nights — from Jungle Entertainment and Echo Lake Entertainment — sold to Bell Media in Canada, ProSieben in Germany, Canal+ in the Netherlands, TVNZ in New Zealand, TG4 in Ireland and Yes in Israel, following ITV’s earlier pickup. The eight-part series, directed and executive produced by Trent O’Donnell, stars Will Forte and D’Arcy Carden and premieres December 26 on Australian channel Stan. Cineflix also notched further sales on Virdee (6×60’) to Canal+ in the Netherlands, SVT in Sweden, Filmin in Spain, BritBox in Norway, Finland and Denmark, and BBC Studios for BBC First/BBC Player across Asia, adding to earlier deals with SBS Australia and Media4Fun in Poland. Based on A.A. Dhand’s novels and produced by Magical Society for BBC One/BBC iPlayer, the series stars Staz Nair as a Bradford detective forced into an uneasy alliance with his criminal brother-in-law.
Meanwhile, Sky picked up Friday the 13th prequel series Crystal Lake for the U.K. and Ireland, with the series, produced by A24 for Peacock in the U.S., and starring Linda Cardellini, launching in 2026.
Among new projects launching at MIPCOM, Miraculous Corp., the French animation joint venture set up between Mediawan and ZAG named John Cohen and Matt Roller as producer and writer, respectively, for a global theatrical feature based on their hit children’s animation series Miraculous – Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir, withJeremy Zag also producing. Germany’s Beta Film confirmed production has begun on Rex – Vienna Calling, a six-part, feature-length revival of Beta’s iconic cop-and-dog series Rex, which will bring the titular German shepherd back to his original beat in Austria’s capital. Beta, MR Film, Seven.One and ORF are teaming on the series, with Maximilian Brückner as Detective Max Steiner and Ferdinand Seebacher as colleague Felix Burger. ORF and Germany’s Sat.1, as well as streaming service Joyn, will air the show in 2026. Beta is handling worldwide sales.
In unscripted news, ITV Studios unveiled a slate of sales and catalog moves, led by a Spanish adaptation of murder-mystery guessing game A Party to Die For at Atresmedia, produced by ITV Studios Iberia for a 2026 launch. Come Dine With Me notched its 50th local version with Canal+Magic ordering Come Dine With Me Africa (French-speaking) — a 40-episode run produced by Mediawan’s 909 Productions—while TVNZ commissioned a New Zealand version of The Chase, to be produced by ITV Studios Australia and set to premiere November 3 on TVNZ1 and TVNZ+. In Brazil, Globoplay renewed relationship format My Mum Your Dad for a second season, with Formata returning as producer. ITV Studios also acquired Solitary, the isolation-pod competition format created for Fox Reality Channel, aiming to revive the IP following past remakes in Germany and Brazil.
Talpa Studios also marked a milestone, with its quiz franchise The Floor getting its 30th international commission with new versions for MBC in the MENA region and a first Asian sale to Nippon TV in Japan.
