Stars of two lavish TV mini-series due to be broadcast later this year were in Cannes to promote their historical dramas. But with most viewers worldwide, particularly younger generations, heavily into reality television, most new shows on offer at the five-day TV extravaganza are non-scripted and sometimes whacky reality programmes.

Reality TV will have its highest moment Tuesday when this glitzy Mediterranean resort town hosts Worldbest, the international final of the hugely national TV talent shows that have pulled in record audiences.

The line-up of heavyweight pop stars scheduled to fly into Cannes to appear onstage with the aspiring pop idols include rock legend Phil Collins, Lionel Ritchie and French hit singer Patricia Kaas.

Star-studded events and heavy partying apart, the more than 2,800 TV programme buyers from 1,246 companies due at MiPTV are expected to do brisk business this year.

For the first time, the movers and shakers of the TV world this year are sharing space with the MILIA digital entertainment forum, which is expecting 1,400 top digital execs from 48. The joint holding of the two forums is a reflection of how the digital world is transforming television viewing by boosting interactive entertainment and enhanced TV.

"Terrestrial TV is still the driving force the world over, but the likes of satellite, cable or pay television are now being joined by mobile telephony and broadband content delivery," underlined Paul Johnson, Director of Television at Reed MIDEM, the show's organisers.

With so many broadcasters and new digital content producers jostling for a slice of the action, the focus is also on new markets.

Hopes at this MipTV are firmly pinned on the potentially enormous Chinese TV sector with its an estimated 1.2 billion viewers. There will be a special China day at MiPTV on Wednesday.

Asian promise is riding high with China sending 19 exhibitors to Cannes, Japan 25 and Korea (South) 12, compared with 113 from the USA, 84 from the UK, 54 from France and 20 from Italy.

This week's glamour injection includes Sarah Biasini, daughter of the late Austrian star Romy Schneider, and actress Marisa Berenson, both due to promote "Julie, Chevalier de Maupin", a sumptuous cloak-and-dagger European costume co-production.

"Star Trek" star Patrick Stewart is due to promote "The Lion in Winter" in which he stars as the ruthless King Henry II of England alongside Glenn Close, his scheming wife Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Less cultural but just as attention-grabbing is "Bay Watch" babe Carmen Electra who will be posing for photographs to push her aerobic striptease keep-fit DVD series, reportedly a somewhat saucy method of decreasing both inhibition and waist size.

SPACE.WIRE