Adriana Naves, head of content distribution, Latin America, Roku, Kok Yin Wah, acquisitions manager, HTV Television, Ruediger Boess, producer at Constantine Films, and Sandra Smester, EVP & CCO, TV Azteca
LA Virtual Screenings kicked off and, in addition to panels and sessions, VS Next is offering an important number of Testimonials from key global executives highlighting different topics and themes. This portion of the event will premier new conferences and Testimonials during the 10 days of the show.
The first four “Testimonials of the Industry” corresponded to large companies that stand out for their performance in the market, including Roku, HTV Television (Malaysia), Constantin Film (Germany) and TV Azteca (Mexico).
Adriana Naves, head of content distribution, Latin America at Roku underlined that the company currently provides +500 channels in the region, welcoming more than 20 streaming services added recently: ‘Last year, +20 OTTs entered to our platform, not only large global brands, but we also gave space to the favorite regional brands of our users’, she commented. Among them are Paramount +, Disney +, Tubi, Free TV, Vix, DirecTv Go, Telecine, Globoplay, among others. ‘We embrace all platforms and business models’, she concluded.
From Asia, Kok Yin Wah (Malaysia), buyer for the OTT TV channel and platform HTV Television, said that during this 2021 the company is ‘strengthening their content catalog’, which is aimed at users in Southeast Asia.
On the production side, Ruediger Boess, producer at Constantine Films (Germany), remarked that one of the most complex things at the moment is carrying out productions: ‘This has become very complex for companies like us, but not impossible’. The changes the industry is experiencing, due to Covid, will eventually ‘remain forever’, he commented. ‘Little by little, streaming is taking control of the industry: we see it every time more series are launched on platforms and linear TV is left aside. These changes are not only generated in the final product, but also in content markets like LA Virtual Screenings’, he finalized.
Lastly, Sandra Smester, recently appointed as EVP and Chief Content Officer, TV Azteca (Mexico), spoke about the great moment that the company is going through: the first 3 months of 2021 the group surpassed the 40% rating level, wining Televisa’s networks in the competitive Mexican prime time, according to Nilsen-IBOPE Mexico. ‘Our strategy is based on the importance we gave to entertainment content and live programming, which covers more than 70% of the program schedule’, she completed.
