CANNES: Digitisation of the programmes showcased at MIPDOC this year helped the number of screenings made onsite shoot up by 2.5 times over that of last year.

While MIPDOC 2004 saw 8,857 screenings, the number went up to 22,650, enabled by the smart cards that helped potential buyers watch the shows on monitors set up at convenient locations at the Noga Hilton, where MIPDOC concluded on Sunday night.

MIPDOC this year roped in more companies than last year, registering a five per cent increase, with 386 companies registering. Sixty-one countries, as against 53 last year, were represented, according to the final figures released by the Reed MIDEM officials. 619 participants, as against 539 in 2004, registered their presence. The number of programmes presented too went up from 1,031 to 1,057.

Top 10 companies at MIPDOC by country included France with 63 companies, USA with 47 companies, Canada with 37, Germany with 28 companies and Italy with 22 companies.

Among the programmes that were screened the most were Fremantle's The Story of 1, Channel 4's The Real Da Vinci Code, AETN International's Beyond the Da Vinci Code, Tele Images International's Miracle Planet II and Parthenon Entertainment's 5th Dimension.