From the radio to the screen: Cadena SER's journey in visual radio with 'La vida modern', 'Estirando el chicle'...

The SER Chain has marked a before and after in the Spanish podcast by providing video to its humor formats and creating a mode of consumption of radio content that has influenced dozens of formats.

Beatriz Polo, audiovisual technician and co-author of the production of programs such as Modern life, Stretching the gum, Good goodness u Twenty-something hour, conveys the keys to the evolution of these and many other podcasts.

modern life was born in 2014, defining itself as a humorous radio space in which the comedians David Broncano, Héctor de Miguel (Quequé) and Ignatius Farray would contribute their particular view on current events from multiple perspectives. Seven years later, it has become a indelible reference of Spanish radio, staying at the top of the podcast lists most listened to and adding a wide delayed follow-up through YouTube. Their 390,000 followers in Twitter and his half a million subscribers on Google's video platform credit a once unexpected success: that a purely radio format could obtain relevance and tracking through video support.

Since then, multiple audiovisual agents, whether belonging to Cadena SER, direct competitors or radio production companies, have understood that the Video can be an extension of the audio format.

There is no need for complex production or spectacular lighting: success will be determined by taking care of that feeling of intimacy, that curiosity to observe the reactions and that desire to have the information extra that is lost by removing video from the equation.

Currently, Cadena SER, and more particularly BE Podcast y Podium Podcast, They are the flagship of a significant number of formats that use visual radio. From the always successful nobody knows anything, hosted by Andreu Buenafuente and Berto Romero (recorded from a theater); to numerous programs that, from the SER studios, Bea Polo and company shape: Well good, twenty-something hour, the already extinct The Modern Language o Stretching the Gum, format that has recently won the Waves 2021 for best podcast (from the same) and will have a show especial in it WiZink Center of Madrid on September 23, 2022.

The origins: trial and error

It could be said that the success of the visual extension of these formats was fruit of chance. Initially, Cadena SER did not have specific video programs, as it does today. The dynamic, eight years ago, consisted of recording contents specific formats such as today o The Window, as a relevant interview. Subsequently, these videos would be distributed through the website, its YouTube channel (with 177,000 subscribers, less than some of its most successful formats) or on television. "The important thing was the radio. And the video was there in case it needed to be used. But, in any case, it was not as relevant as it is now," Polo recalls.

It was not until 2014 that it was planned to create two formats with video: modern life y Oh My Lol. They were programs born with an eye toward podcast. However, the visual extension It was evaluated very quickly: "When these programs were born, the idea arose to give it a video... and see what would happen. It was a let's see what happens! And the truth is that it turned out very well."

Polo defines the realization of those programs as “trial and error.” Visual resources were limited: just a few robotic cameras in SD. A single operator, as today, manages robotic cameras, mix the audiovisual content y release the videos in case it is necessary. The objective was simply to reflect radio content on video in the same way fastest and most productive possible.

First steps: creating an unprecedented realization

At that time, there were few external references that reflected the type of audiovisual treatment that was wanted to be provided to formats such as Modern life. Polo defines those programs as chaotic: "Ignatius Farray suddenly picked up, got up and did things. At first it was horrible. However, little by little we got the hang of this way of narrating." Betting on the narration of the events, Polo initially proposed a staging based on fixed plans, and then, little by little, “try things.”

Likewise, due to the very nature of the formats, the production could be defined as improvised. On many occasions, there was not even a staircase. Nowadays, neither: "Although there are programs that directly give you the script, on other occasions everything revolves around three days that have been written down on a piece of paper."

Likewise, it has integrated into the figure of the director in the format: "Actually, you follow the presenter. When the moment comes, they usually tell you: "Bea, throw away the video!" We have integrated that part so much that we do not need a ladder.”

The automatic completion It has been on the table on several occasions, as it is used in numerous radio formats. However, Polo is not in favor of this format: "In the end, everything comes down to the voice. If there is an open microphone and you are speaking, it will pinch you. But all the listening planes are lost, which in the end are the best. When there is only one perfect one, automation is a great solution. But when there is more than one, it is complicated."

Consolidation: technical evolution

Currently, Polo considers that the formats are experiencing a phase of audiovisual maturity. The evolution has been consolidated from different perspectives. On the one hand, the announcers fully trust in the realization when they propose new languages ​​or plans; the studies have been renewed with new elements of LED based lighting and with videowalls that help reinforce the staging of the formats; and the technical resources They have improved leaving the SD era behind. The jump has been crucial. As Polo comments: “Yes, you can see the first program of modern life, and it seems like we were in the 90s.”

The capture is currently produced with several cameras PTZ HD of Panasonic, with an NDI workflow managed by several Tricaster of NewTek. You always choose one live performance, with an assembly that is hardly touched up except in the case where it is necessary to reduce the format duration o remove any comments out of context. The three cameras are not recorded separately, so in the subsequent edition with Adobe Premiere Everything that is necessary must be corrected with different resources. Subsequently, the programs are distributed by the platforms of the SER Chain, YouTube or via WeTransfer to the community manager of each program, so that they carry out the subsequent fragmentation y content distribution through social networks.

On occasions, several of the formats produced by Cadena SER leave the Gran Vía facilities to perform special episodes outdoors. modern life has a good number of examples carried out under this format, such as the well-known “assault” on the UPyD headquarters or his visit to the exterior of the Valley of the Fallen on the occasion of the exhumation of the dictator Francisco Franco. In this case, a single Panasonic P2 to capture the video.

Tomorrow: improvement or “ugliness”?

The cared for technical invoices that increasingly accompany content created exclusively for YouTube o for platforms such as Twitch raise the question of whether the Visual radio must improve its bill to continue attracting its target audience. Polo approaches this issue from several perspectives. Although he considers that a montage with a large set, camera operators or good chroma could multiply the possibilities of these formats, also recognizes that each case would have to be studied, since it would involve “a lot of money and a lot of resources.” Furthermore, as he emphasizes, “It's not the goal either.”.

The audiovisual technique considers that the refinement of a format such as modern life can not to please the public: "It's like a niche. We are a family, and this realization is part of the charm of shows like goodism good o Twenty-something. If it grows more, they would no longer be these programs. You could give Broncano a drone and it would be clear that he would play with it, but it would possibly end up broken.” “In the end, modern life created a niche. It was crazy what happened. People didn't care what we did. We could record in a completely dark, echoey room, which people liked. To the public of modern life “He likes ugliness and you also play with it,” says Polo.

The public wants to see the radio. The public embraces “ugliness.” The barriers between talent and technique are blurred.

There is no place for paradigms in visual radio.

A report by Sergio Julián Gómez.