VS Next’s “Free TV in Latin America: alive and kicking” described how local, leading broadcasters from Mexico to Argentina continued transforming the media environment, especially during the pandemic.
Speakers from Televisa (Mexico), Caracol TV (Colombia), Telefe (Argentina), and Globo (Brazil) confirmed Free TV’s strong transformations that boosted new productions, gaining the audience attention.
Angela Mandel, director of programming at Telefe (Argentina), referred to the transformation that ViacomCBS’ company underwent during 2020, mainly driven by the growth of audiences as a result of the pandemic: ‘The context has pushed the demand for content and we can say that we had not had such good numbers for a few years. All this movement made us rethink our programming strategy with original content and with relevant content acquired. On the other hand, we are having a better relationship with the platforms, and we can say that in some way they are our partners, since for some broadcasters in the region, they serve as distributors of our titles. ‘
Leonora Bardini, programming director at Globo (Brazil): ‘During the pandemic there was a significant growth of free TV consumption, and in parallel, a digital acceleration, which was accompanied by a great social problem, which made us to revalue as the main screen for programming consumption, mainly informative and entertaining ‘.
Dago García, VP of production at Caracol TV (Colombia): ‘Last year, broadcast TV understood that platforms, beyond being competition, can be very interesting partners. Although it is true that advertising revenues fell, there is a greater demand for content on TV and also on platforms, and our role transformed to be a provider to meet both demands. Caracol has a very good relationship with the most popular platforms, Netflix, Amazon, Claro Video, and they have become fundamental partners in our production strategy’.
Rosy Ocampo, producer of Vencer at Mexican Televisa concluded: ‘Broadcast television in Mexico had a record of turning on screens, and our flagship channel Las Estrellas experienced the best of results. This boosted our original content production factory, that implied our fictions, informative spaces, live coverage and even children’s content’.
The full panel can be seen here: https://virtualscreenings.com/vs-next-panel-11/
