After a week of meetings and conversations at MIPCOM, two things stood out to me: the growing importance of data in distribution decisions and the need to rethink YouTube’s role in the broader content ecosystem.
MIP AI Entertainment Forum: Monetize the Content Storm: How AI Can Turn Your Catalogue into Predictable Cash Flow - Presented by Emilia Ciszewska, CEO & Founder BB MEDIA GROUP
Content distribution has become increasingly complex. A single title can generate revenue across multiple platforms, territories, licensing windows and business models.
But expanding distribution does not automatically mean maximizing revenue.
Most of the people I spoke to at MIPCOM were struggling with the same four things: knowing which rights they can sell today, where their content is actually performing, which windows create the most value, and where they’re missing opportunities.
Solving these challenges requires more than collecting performance reports.
It starts with accurate, structured information about every title, its rights, availability, assets and distribution history. It continues with ongoing performance analysis and transparent revenue reporting.
Most importantly, these elements need to work together.
Knowing how much a title earned last month is useful. Understanding why it earned that amount, whether it could perform better elsewhere and what action to take next is far more valuable.
The competitive advantage is not having more data. It’s being able to turn that data into better commercial decisions.
https://plutus.ci/
For years, YouTube has often been treated as a secondary platform, a promotional channel or a potential threat to traditional distribution.
This year, at MIPCOM, I finally saw this perspective shift and align more with mine: YouTube is the future.
The platform is becoming a vital part of how audiences discover and consume professional film and television content, including on connected TVs.
For rights holders and distributors, this creates opportunities that extend well beyond promotional exposure.
With the right strategy, YouTube can generate incremental revenue, reach underserved audiences, create value in territories where traditional distribution is limited and extend the commercial life of a title.
But success requires a much more sophisticated approach than simply uploading content.
Audience behavior, territory selection, language versions, release timing, content positioning and monetization efficiency all influence the commercial outcome.
And yes, cannibalization is a legitimate concern.
Making content freely available without considering existing licensing agreements or distribution windows can undermine other revenue streams.
But this is precisely why YouTube should be integrated into the overall distribution strategy rather than managed separately.
The question should not be whether YouTube competes with traditional distribution.
The question is how to use each distribution channel to maximize the total commercial value of a title.
Throughout the market, I kept hearing different versions of the same challenge: how do we manage growing distribution complexity while making sure our content generates the value it should?
It is a challenge we know well from our own experience
That is why we created PLUTUS CI: a software bringing rights, catalogue information, performance data and commercial insights together to help content owners and distributors make better decisions about how their titles earn.
For me, its introduction at MIPCOM was particularly meaningful because the conversations throughout the week reinforced just how relevant this challenge has become for our industry.
https://plutus.ci/
The industry does not necessarily need more distribution channels. It needs to become better at managing the ones already available.
That means moving beyond platform-by-platform thinking toward a connected, data-driven approach to rights, distribution and monetization.
Ultimately, the value of a content catalogue is not determined only by how many titles it contains or how many platforms carry them.
It is determined by how effectively those titles are managed, positioned and monetized throughout their commercial lifecycle.
If you missed our presentation or didn’t have a chance to meet us in Cannes,watch the video. See what we’ve created and understand the industry challenge we’re working to address.
BY EMILIA CISZEWSKA, CEO & FOUNDER BB MEDIA GROUP
BB Media Group TEAM - MIPCOM2026, CANNES: Jakub Ciszewski, Head of Digital Rights Management || Dorota Sajewicz, COO || Emilia Ciszewska, CEO & Founder