How to design a multiplatform content management system that gives value to the brand?

José María Casaos, technical director of the Antena 3 group, answers this interesting question in this Tribune. The strategy of this broadcaster is to use technology as support for the business and encourage technology projects to bring both innovation and efficiency to the organization.

Without a doubt, technology is producing a change in the media business model, as well as in the entire audiovisual industry.

The digitization of content and its multiplatform distribution have led each of the companies to have the need to address change projects in their business and production strategies, to adapt to new consumer habits.

The way you approach this transformation is the key to the success and continuity of each business.

In this sense, Antena 3's strategy is to use technology as support for the business and encourage technology projects to bring innovation and efficiency to the organization at the same time.

When the Antena 3 group decides to design its strategy in Digital Terrestrial Television, it bets on new brands that create a family of digital channels that, with the same idea of quality general television, help the advertiser to reach the audience in the best possible way, and of course our viewers to enjoy varied entertainment and information content, with quality and credibility.

This strategy is expanded, complemented and reinforced with a clear commitment to the Internet and the multiplatform marketing of our content.

It is expected that in the next five or ten years television will continue to have a predominant role in the market. But the way in which viewers are consuming audiovisual content is changing. In addition to the traditional shared consumption scenario of television in the living room, users access content with other devices such as tablets or smartphones in a more individual and personalized way.

Although devices known as “hybrids” (connected televisions) have appeared on the receiver market that allow audiovisual content to be consumed both through “Broadcast” networks and the so-called “Broadband” networks (IP networks), broadcasting networks, especially terrestrial, are the most appropriate for linear and shared consumption of content, due to their coverage, quality and cost, for both television and radio.

The Internet, on the other hand, is appropriate for non-linear and individual consumption, and undoubtedly has additional advantages in terms of the active participation of users. Therefore, it is also expected that these services will increase in the coming years.

How to then manage to reconcile the two forms of delivery of our content, to satisfy our massive audiences, but at the same time individual and personalized consumption where users want to get involved, participate and also with the possibility of doing so, wherever and whenever they want, is the technological challenge.

This is the starting point of the development of our multiplatform content management system. The key to designing the technological platform is to have the objective and scope of what you intend to do well defined.

In this way, the human teams from the Engineering and Systems areas were launched together with the different operational areas, to implement in each case the solution that would provide the best possible service for each requirement and need of each area and business.

If we start with the area of broadcast continuity, we currently have multi-continuity, which provides the best possible quality for all our channels, but also great flexibility when programming content and its promotions, which has the highest degree of automation possible for operation, and which allows us to launch new services and channels quickly and easily.

In this context of change and commitment to new technologies, Antena 3 inaugurated a new News set, which revolutionizes the traditional formula of reporting on television. The presenters can move around it, not only to tell the news but to explain it and bring it closer to the viewer. Likewise, the editorial team has the most innovative scenic and technical means, the result of which leads to spectacular production of the network's news programs.

In accordance with its approach, the editorial office is provided with the necessary applications so that the editor can publish his news on the Internet, get closer to social networks and the opinions of our users, and therefore can collect all the information related to the news from the Internet.

In the case of the Internet, and the design of your Web page, a first objective is to focus on video, image and audiovisual quality. The next objective, and no less important, consists of the socialization of the content, with the creation of our community, Zone 3, and the connection with the main social networks. For us, the Internet is not just the Web page, but it allows us multi-platform and multi-device distribution. Continuing with the 3.0 strategy, our content is published to be seen when and where it is wanted.

The consumption figures are spectacular. There are millions of videos that are downloaded from the portal, as well as users who listen to our radios, and every week the numbers continue to grow with new records, which have made us the website that serves the most videos in Spain, only behind You Tube, with more than 70 million. The opportunity that our viewers and users have to watch the episode of their favorite series, in case they had missed it, or because they want to see it again, offers a new service highly valued by our users, and our reward is their loyalty. The connection with the main social networks also generates a new behavior phenomenon through the Internet, where you can give your opinion, participate and feel new experiences and uses of content, giving a fundamental value of engagement with the audience, and without a doubt, reinforce and promote our brands. Our Website has many attractions to satisfy our users. Own and specific content is generated for the Internet, all types of video meetings and digital meetings are held, broadcasts of events, contests, games, etc. In short, we believe we have made our Website a positive experience for our users and also for advertisers, where they have a new effective channel for their brands.

Systems architecture

To design the architecture of the systems thinking about solving both the business objectives and those of the operations, we have the systems plan that encompasses the entire model, both for the exploitation of the systems and the development of the applications.

This model consists of searching and designing a solution for each business area of the group, based on open and flexible systems, and as a key application it was decided to develop a multi-platform audiovisual content management system that serves as a link between business and operational applications. This solution, developed by I3 Televisión, allows us to manage the content between the different areas of the organization, and thus in a simple way we can program our channels, sell advertising, promote our content and brands, and finally allows the multiplatform broadcast and distribution of the content to be carried out, adapting it for each of the windows.

In order to fit into this model, it is required that the systems of other manufacturers or suppliers also be open and based on market standards of the computing and communications industry. This enables integration between applications, or even helps us in the migration that we have already begun, of certain services to “the cloud”. The development of our applications with an architecture oriented to services and integration with other platforms, in turn allows us to sell the software in service mode and gives us great flexibility when tackling new projects or innovations. An example of this was the technological development and implementation of the “Single Guideline”, a unique project in the world that was a challenge in its development and that is giving us so much joy.

Projects do not end when all the operational needs of the areas of the organization have been resolved, because implicitly, we work on continuous improvement processes. This means, on the one hand, that business processes continue to be redefined in search of this improvement, especially to adapt to new changes in the market and technology, and on the other hand, providing the entire model with a layer of “business intelligence” that allows us to obtain more with the same.
It is vitally important in this context to develop a supervision and monitoring tool for both processes and systems. In this environment that is increasingly intertwined between business processes and systems, a quality control system is necessary, which we have implemented in the organization, not only to resolve and reduce incidents, but to help in the process of continuous business improvement.

The challenge is not over and there are many aspects still to be developed. What is truly important is to have a mentality open to change, to evolve according to technology, and above all to manage projects with the best possible human team, who are still excited by a job well done and the reward of achieving it, which in some way was also recognized by professionals in the sector, in the prestigious IBC Innovation Awards last year.