For Marcelo Liberini, Digital VP of Caracol and Emilio Aliaga, Chief Digital Officer (CDO) and Digital VP, TV Azteca, no digital platform has reached the value of linear TV yet. “I don’t know how long it will remain this way, but there is still the value of the number of eyes that linear TV captures for advertising, for advertisers,” Liberini commented.
Liberini and Aliaga led the panel “The future of FTA TV: FAST, SVOD and BVOD”, which also included Diego Scillama, VP of Sales of Video and Services for Latin America, Harmonic.
“TV is no longer the device, but that muscle and environment that all those open TV companies have, and that still sets us apart,” said Aliaga.
Aliaga stressed that FAST channels are good for certain content producers, “but I don’t think we’re going to join if we don’t have a way to monetize. Even so, they are indeed for a market that we do not cover, so they do make a lot of sense,” he said.
Aliaga and Liberini also agreed that they did not see the business in launching a FAST channel with new or original production being “already in the market like Mexico”. Aliaga added that perhaps it could work for a market that they have not entered yet like Colombia. “I think that the future is interactive TV, the signal will stop being aired. I think that FAST is an opportunity for territories where we are not and it will be an additional income.”
“I think FAST platforms will be more successful if they have vertical integration with AVOD, SVOD or cheap tiers. Those will have more value. The value of producing content is too high for a platform that only produces original content for a single market,” Liberini stated.
“We still believe strongly in the AVOD platform. It is not something we are going to do alone. We have an agreement with Tubi that works well for us. The AVOD scheme is very important, which entails money, is a more intelligent medium, has data, it could mean a large number of users and you already understand volume,” added Aliaga.