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Banijay has confirmed it will not be attending MIPCOM 2020 in Cannes due to concerns about Covid-19.

The giant production and distribution outfit, fresh from its acquisition of Endemol Shine Group, joins others including ITV Studios, Fremantle, A+E Networks and Entertainment One in choosing not to have a physical presence at this year’s event.

BBC Studios was the first major company to pull out back in July.

Banijay said: “The health and wellbeing of our teams remain paramount at this time and with that, we cannot justify travelling our employees to Cannes. As ever, we continue to support Reed Midem, with many of our employees likely to register for MIPCOM ONLINE+.”

The decision is the latest blow for organisers Reed Midem, which in early July provided more details on how the 2020 edition of its normally sprawling content market would operate this year. As part of those plans, Reed Midem has focused on MIPCOM ONLINE+, a virtual service that was implemented at MIPTV earlier this year after that event was also cancelled as the pandemic spread.