Movistar+ pop-up channels: The definitive editorialization of the platform

Movistar Crimen, Movistar Oscars, Movistar Star Wars or the recent Movistar Tolkien. The television offer of Telefónica It has found in pop-up channels important lines of loyalty with its audiences, as well as dynamization of its content. How is this content created? What teams are part of your development? What is the technology that makes them possible? Íñigo Trojaola, Head of Content, Premium Film and Series Channels, at Movistar+, reveals in this interview the keys to these initiatives.

Movistar+ is the single video platform in Spain that has launched to create some ephemeral, independent and heavily editorialized channels focused on a specific topic. It is not a unique dynamic in the world, but it is an exclusive development in our country thanks to the Telefónica division.

Movistar+'s first adventure in this unexplored terrain was Movistar Star Wars. The proposal managed to place itself at that time, for 15 days, in the top 5 of your most viewed channels. Just as he tells us Trojan, the development was born from an agreement with Disney: “They offered us the opportunity and that's how we entered the world of pop-ups in a big way.” It was a transversal initiative in the structure of Movistar+: "Not only did the editorial area participate, but also the entire marketing department. Even the Movistar stores were dressed in Star Wars! It helped us a lot to promote the television service and was an action both editorially and as part of the company's global strategy."

What is a pop-up channel? What definition would you give to this proposal?

"For me, its concept is based on personal recommendations. They are editorial selections aimed at subscribers, but in a big way. In them, we greatly believe in the strength and power of linear channels. Although Movistar+ offers the best of both worlds, linear and VOD, we are aware that there are consumers who prefer to be guided through recommendations."

Since then, Movistar+ has launched multiple initiatives in the field of pop-ups: "Sometimes they have been purely editorial channels. Coinciding with Christmas, we did the pop-up “Holiday cinema” (2015), very focused on our children's and family offering. Later, we broadcast a pop-up based on James Bond, coinciding with the theatrical release of the latest installment." On this occasion, Movistar+ decided to offer the content exclusively to cinema subscribers. This means that the final audience conditions the editorial design of the proposal. Thus, there have been pop-ups aimed at the entire customer base and others at more specific profiles, especially those subscribing to the cinema offer.

When selecting a product, Trojaola always has a vision of all its libraries and new titles that will come in the following years: "Once we consider the possibility of generating a product, we decide whether it is necessary to acquire a specific product or not. There are times when we have a very closed catalog and it is not necessary. In others, we do work for years to give it shape. It is a programming job, like other channels in the house."

In the same way, pop-ups have their extension in editorialized selections in the house. Thus, at the moment in which Movistar+ promotes Movistar Oscars, on the VOD platform the viewer will not only be able to enjoy the Movistar section, but also that of Netflix o Disney+, agents integrated into the ecosystem.

Multidisciplinary effort

When creating a pop-up numerous areas are involved within the Movistar+ team: acquisition of rights, programming, product, VOD platform, exploitation, signal… Trojaola emphasizes that the entire team is committed to modeling this proposal: “We are completely coordinated.”

Likewise, they are initiatives that qualify as “vocational”: "We are working on the pop-ups, opening ourselves up to the participation of various areas. For example, we are working on the Tolkien pop-up so that it is a linear experience very different from what the fan has had until now. We are going to fill the linear with anecdotes and specific data about the saga in screen communication. Many areas are involved in this development, but the person who has been dedicated to making the selection is a person from the series area who likes this so much that he has volunteered to work on it."

Another fundamental area for Íñigo Trojaola is creative. The content manager considers key create standalone experiences with unique branding elements que se manifiesten en los reclamos, las promociones o los pasos a publicidad.

El valor de lo lineal

Resulta paradigmático que pese a la proclamada libertad que siempre ha utilizado como baluarte del mundo VOD, el lineal haya permanecido firme en todo un ejercicio de resistencia. Y es más, que este sea recurrido por aquellos usuarios de vídeo bajo demanda que, de vez en cuando, simplemente quieran vivir una experience leanback: depositan su confianza en un equipo de programación y en una marca que le ofrecerá un contenido de interés, sin tener qué decidir qué formato ver.

Trojaola identifica varios tipos de perfiles de consumidor: he pasivo, the one who “does not want to waste time selecting” by having his or her entertainment sources identified; the one who always wants to make the decision what you want to see and when you want to see it; and then a hybrid profile, in which he is located.

Even so, there is a reaction from VOD platforms that are promoting absolutely linear proposals, isn't there?

"I think that the platforms have already realized that consumption is mixed. And there are even people who, as a reaction to the pure existence of VOD, have a feeling of being fed up and miss other proposals. Hence, native VOD platforms have launched initiatives such as Play Now from Netflix or the linear channels that Prime Video has promoted in other territories. In the same way, there are platforms like Peacock in the United States that have opted to create ultra-themed linear playlists."

The platforms, regardless of their nature, They always have their sights set on consumer preferences and habits of the client. In this way, they invest a lot of resources in offering content ultra-personalized, whether to the client or to a community in general. Regardless of these approaches, Trojaola points out a common reality between each market agent: "We would be fooled if we thought that any platform does not do a window dressing exercise to put in the foreground that content that has required a greater investment or from which it expects greater results. In the end, you need to amortize it and you have to demonstrate confidence in it."

Trojaola is clear that virtue lies in balance: "Compensating for both things is where the key is. You have to evolve with the client and, for this, all the tools are good." “The editorial proposals are compatible with there being an increasingly accurate recommendation,” he adds.

In any case, Trojaola values this “return” to the shelves very positively: "Many operators are coming to the conclusion that the shelf is a great product display tool and that it serves to make life easier for the customer, which in the end is what we are all looking for."

The technology behind the pop-up

The implementation of a pop-up does not differ from the rest of Movistar+ linear channels. However, this proposal, already established on dial 23 of the operator, implies certain internal operations that condition and restrict their flexibility.

Trojaola tells us that, for example, They must let the channel “rest” for nine days before you can implement the next one. This is closely related to functionalities related to VOD consumption, such as the possibility of watching content for 7 days after its broadcast.

Manuel Aldana, manager of relationships with Third Parties and prominent VOD at Movistar+, provides more information: "The pop-ups are enabled on a dial through the same broadcast system of any linear channel (programming-planning-broadcast-continuity-distribution on a dial-the delayed functionalities are enabled), although before the start of the broadcasts and at the end of the broadcasts, the client is informed on the screen of the dates on which there will be a new pop-up channel concept."

Regarding viewing quality, Íñigo Trojaola emphasizes that Movistar+ always tries to offer the highest quality available in its catalog, both at the level of resolutions and audio modalities and accessibility.

In the medium term, the Movistar+ team plans to coincide several pop-ups in time after witnessing the pleasant reception from its subscribers. However, it recognizes that to do so they must first “simplify procedures” y operational techniques. In any case, "the possibility exists and we are working on it. Another thing is the shape it has, since it may not have the shape of a typical linear channel."

Tomorrow: towards transmedia

Taking stock of how to expand the dimensions of pop-up channels, Trojaola is clear that The possibilities are “infinite”. The person in charge is convinced that in the future you can interact completely seamless with what you see on the screen.

However, these processes will require development times. They are needed from filters to discern what information could safely be displayed on screens, homogenize the receiver pool so that users can access all the functionalities. In any case, Trojaola firmly states that in the future we will see innovations of all kinds and that “Movistar will be there.”

Beyond the newly launched pop-up channel Movistar Tolkien (running from May 10 to May 23 and promoted on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the premiere of the first of the films directed by Peter Jackson), Movistar + has already finalized the details of the pop-up Movistar VHS: “With it, we will celebrate the premiere of the original production Paradise by Fernando González Molina.” This fiction, which will arrive on June 4 and is produced by Movistar+ in collaboration with The Mediapro Studio, is set in the nineties and takes as reference the television hits of those times, as well as the cinema that could be found in video stores. This, precisely, will be the starting point of the channel: "We decided to take the influences of González Molina and see what kind of cinema we can offer. In this way, we have built a very cool exercise in nostalgia that has been enriched by other teams in the house."

The rewards of this great editorial and programming effort, “which is here to stay,” are and will be many and varied. As Trojaola concludes: "It's the same as always. You have a proposal that is a surprise for the subscriber, you join the communication of a very important event for the platform and, for VOD, you enrich the proposal with titles that we do not have in the catalog due to availability but that are on Netflix or on a third-party channel. And, again, this is how we refresh the platform with all these editorial proposals."