Javier Nuche of Atresmedia in #PRODUprimetime: Diversification contributes 20% of the group’s income

Javier Nuche, general director of Diversification at Atresmedia, with 15 years in the group, assured Ríchard Izarra on #PRODUprimetime, that the growth rates of subscribers in the midst of the pandemic were significant, but now the growth has slowed down. “We have consolidated the great boom that we had in new subscribers on those dates of 2020, and we continue to grow, although at a slower rate. Capturing is easy, retaining is difficult, but the truth is that we are doing very well in retaining our subscribers.”

Nuche mentioned some important and recent results of the media conglomerate. For instance, he reported that diversification contributes 20% of the group’s income; and that its linear channels reached 60 million subscribers. He also addressed topics such as their Media for Equity initiative and made some announcements including a possible entry in the NFTs business and the upcoming launch of Atrescine in the Hispanic USA.

FLEXIBILITY
Nuche, who has already returned to work in his office, more than talking about teleworking, he likes to talk about flexibility. “I think we have all realized two things: how important it is to have face-to-face contact in the workplace, because it is what gives the team soul, and also combine it with certain flexibility. I don’t like to talk about teleworking so much, but flexibility is for me one of the benefits that the pandemic left behind,” he pointed out.

MEDIA FOR EQUITY
“Media for Equity – which basically is identifying startups with high growth potential and giving them support/sponsorship in exchange for equity- has continued to give us a lot of joy. We have continued to invest, even in times of pandemic, and recently there was news in the press that one of our sponsored startups, one of the most important due to the significant percentage of shares we hold, was included in the category of a unicorn, which recognizes those foreign companies that capture more than US$1,000 million. As for new projects, we continue exploring projects constantly because we believe they have a great capacity to generate value for the group,” he indicated.

DIVERSIFICATION CONTRIBUTES 20%
“Applying the group’s philosophy of diversifying income and not only producing for ourselves, and using all the know-how we have to produce for Atresmedia and extending it to the rest of the platforms or channels, we are identifying collaboration models where we produce for HBO or Amazon, we sell the content. I think it has been a great success to put all those resources and knowledge of content production in Spanish, to produce and generate resources and income beyond Atresmedia. It is a very good project led by a genius like Ignacio Corrales. More or less 20% of the group’s profit is being contributed by diversification. So we are really already relevant for the group and we have not stopped growing and even in a pandemic, 2020 was our best year, what happens is that in 2021 we have overcome it”, he pointed out.

DIVERSIFICATION CONTRIBUTES 20%
“The philosophy of diversifying the group’s income and not just producing for ourselves implies using all the know-how we have to produce for Atresmedia and extending it to the rest of the platforms or channels. Here you realize that although Amazon or HBO may be our competition, however, we are finding collaboration models where we produce for them, we sell content to them, with which the ecosystem is quite complex and, since not everything is black and white and I think it has been a super success to put all those resources and knowledge about content production in Spanish to produce and generate resources and income beyond Atresmedia. Which I think is a very good project, led by a genius like Ignacio Corrales. Diversification has contributed -more or less- with 20% of the group’s profit. So we are really already relevant for the group and we have continued growing and even in a pandemic, 2020 was our best year, but 2021 we have overcome it,” he pointed out.

ATRESCINE IN THE US HISPANIC
Among the announcements that Nuche mentioned, an upcoming launch for Atrescine in the Hispanic US stands out. “Atrescine, the youngest of our channels, which is experiencing outstanding growth and acceptance, will have a very important launch in the US in the coming weeks. And we are very happy in this regard,” he mentioned.

60 MILLION SUBSCRIBERS
Nuche referred to the work they are doing to be side by side the cable operators “in that transition that they will also have to go through, and in changing or reinforcing their value proposition”. While doing this, he predicts that they will reach more and more agreements of integration of ATRESplayer within the cable TV platforms “as if it were just another channel”. “If we look at it as a series of linear channels that continue to do very well and get bigger and bigger, we’re talking about almost 60 million subscribers,” he said.

INTERNATIONAL
He highlighted the work of Mar Martínez-Raposo in Atresmedia international and indicated that all the credit for Atreseries belongs to her. “When diversification and the international area were created, she reported to me and presented me some projects, one of them was Atreseries, and I thought it was great. Atreseries is a 100% success story,” he said. In the case of HOLA! TV, Nuche recognized the fundamental work that Martinez made in its distribution.

NFT’s
Nuche admitted that they are evaluating the area of NFTs. “I think a very important path was opened. I think there will be a possibility of interaction and of collecting with the fans of the series and of being able to give them content that until now we were not able to give them, that indeed has a value. I think that regarding this we will have to find a balance between themes that are more for collecting, where people can pay a little more, themes that are more like marketing tools or of engagement with the series. It remains to be seen, but clearly, it is an area where things are certainly going to happen. It is very likely that in 2022, Atresmedia will be able to issue its first NFTs,” he assured.

CORPORATION STRATEGY
The strategy of the entire group intersects in two points: the defense of the main business, which is attracting more audiences and their monetization through advertising; and then diversification, the generation of new income. “Regarding the defense of the traditional business, we have a very powerful plan to invest in content. We have made two or three very interesting investments in the field of digital advertising: last year we acquired the company H2H (Human to Human) specialized in influencer marketing, and is seeing exponential growth. And with regard to business diversification, Atresmedia transcends what we do in our department because it is present in all scope of all areas. The development of ATRESPlayer and the investment in content is also an important part from a strategic point of view. And then the search for new businesses,” he concluded.

View interview here