How is a podcast transformed into a television format? The case of 'My favorite year'

José Miguel Contreras, founding partner of Lacoproducer (and a professional with extensive experience in companies such as Canal+, Globomedia, La Sexta or Atresmedia), addresses the new way of understanding television production based on the example of my favorite year, original production of Movistar Plus+ based on the podcast of the same name Podium Podcast (HURRY).

To say that the world of television production is changing would be stick to the obvious. The preferences of the spectators, the inevitable impulse of the technology and he always complex social context has meant that the programs, series, contests or news that have accompanied us have been adapting to a evolving reality. It is true that we could recognize a certain stability that lasted for decades, as happened in the often called “golden age” of Spanish fiction in the 90s. Now, that no longer exists. Trends last months; hopefully, years. The flexibility, not only in the content, but in the business models, are constituted as a fundamental requirement for the survival.

In this context is born Lacoproducer, a project born three years ago by the hand of Jorge Pezzi, professional in the world of production, advertising and creativity, and Jose Miguel Contreras, a veteran professional in the audiovisual world who, among other milestones, has led and promoted initiatives such as Globomedia y GECA, in addition to having been director of Fiction Factory, CEO of LaSexta the vice president of Atresmedia. During the following minutes, Contreras will accompany the reader to convey his vision of the media ecosystem o to evolution of viewer preferences, movements exemplified in his latest major project: the adaptation of the podcast my favorite year of Podium (PRISA) to a television format for Movistar Plus+.

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An “original and different” project

Since his birth, Lacoproducer was born as a “completely original” initiative that sought “to have nothing to do with the traditional concept of production companies for television,” as he underlines. Contreras. This industrial movement responds to the identification that the producers were in a transformation phase (and of slope “for those who do not transform”). It would no longer make sense to create entertainment or fiction formats specially defined. On the contrary, for Contreras the future was “the hybrid, a technological, creative and window mix that at that moment we were unable to glimpse.”

Starting from that open mentality, the axis of the digital transformation so desired by hundreds of corporations, Lacoproductora began to carry out and “experiment” with numerous projects. As the founding partner of the company recognizes, “some have left and many others have not.” The queen of the people, heaven can wait, By H or by B, Things are clear o The flux capacitor These are some of the names that have seen the light of day at the hands of prominent agents such as HBO, Netflix, Atresmedia, Telemadrid, RTVE or one's own Movistar Plus+.

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Transversality as an axis

This change of focus arises from the observation of three keys that have led to a change in the television paradigm. First of all, a transversal technological change, which has generated, in turn, a consumption change: “The emergence of new windows, especially caused by the outbreak of digital disruption, has exploited traditional methods of content transmission and has opened a multitude of new windows.” These technological and consumer revolutions lead, inevitably, towards the third key: a economic revolution.

For Contreras, the historical business models that have accompanied the audiovisual production of entertainment and fiction for television have “burst and brokenFor example, a button: “Before it was very simple: if you had a television program and it had a large audience, it had gone well and you made money. This has gone wrong and we don't really know why." Among the causes, which add up but are not decisive, Contreras identifies the figures of streamers o Tiktokers, which handle some figures “completely crazy”, he said proliferation of content creators that have multiple distribution platforms to publicize their projects.

“This very curious mixture of three elements, technological revolution, absolute revolution of consumption and revolution of business methods is causing a new world in hatching. By no means is this over. What has ended is the past", says Contreras.

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The origin of my favorite year a TV

As the founding partner of Lacoproducer, at the origins of this business initiative they would never have considered the possibility of adapt a podcast to television. In three years, the audiovisual world has changed.

The arrival of my favorite year Movistar Plus+ was born from conversations held with María Jesús Espinosa de los Monteros, director of the unit audio of HURRY. The objective was clear: adapt a podcast to television as piece of a transversal project. For this, the catalog of SER Chain, Podium Podcast and the rest of PRISA's verticals; In addition, we spoke with creators of the house. Finally, he was the announcer and scriptwriter Arturo González Campos who saw the possibility of adapting one of the podcasts in which he participates: My favorite year, and talk show in which one's own Gonzalez Campos and the actor Dani Rovira They invite a celebrity to review your favorite year.

The project was presented to Movistar Plus+. The idea was not only to make a television adaptation that would be seen through its payment platform, but it would even be accompanied with a theater tour that would be defined imminently. Likewise, the podcast would continue its course. Three business channels, linear and non-linear consumption, at the service of the viewer's preference: this would be the new stage of My favorite year.

Movistar+ received the idea with open arms: "It was curious. It showed that sometimes business and industrial experimentation, if based on creativity, can bear fruit that until now was not explored."

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From podcast to television

The basis was clear. ¿But how does a podcast format adapt? based largely on the improvisation and with a indeterminate duration, that extends from one hour and ten minutes to two hours?

To meet this challenge, the team Lacoproducer He worked hand in hand with both his own Rovira y Gonzalez Campos. It was essential to understand what the keys that identified y they made this format unique so I can keep your spirit. Contreras soon discovered that the true magic resided in the improvisation. As he well recognizes: “The year, in the end, is a reference, a kind of excuse so that they can come and talk about now, before, the future or whatever they want.”

Starting from this basis, a format was proposed at the service of its protagonists so that, in this way, they could maintain their “freshness and informality.” At the same time, it was decided to reinforce the conversation with graphic elements that reference specific moments, the participation of special guests and one guest band per episode to version a classic theme of the chosen year.

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Fighting the tyranny of time

All these decisions respond to the different consumption realities that, even today, differentiate a auditory channel such as podcasts and television. Although the viewer has been able to get used to not having to receive constant stimuli during the consumption of a television program, it is still require elements that provide a certain dynamism. The passive listening disappears and this can cause that, even if it remains the magic and intimacy of conversation, the audience misses a factor that makes you not take your eyes off the screen, be it big or small.

To address these limitations, especially marked by a maximum duration of fifty minutes, the Lacoproductora team along with Movistar+ decided to add sections that will structure the conversation, as well as recording “quite a bit more” than what would ultimately be seen. The conversation must keep your flow and your naturalness; then, the edition will do what is necessary to adapt to the Telefónica platform. Contreras, being aware that magic resides in the created environment, considers it a priority to encourage both Gonzalez Campos as Rovira “do not see yourself held down or condemned by the tyranny of time”.

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An absolute integration with Movistar Plus+

To shape My favorite year, Lacoproducer decided to ally with Movistar Plus+. To understand their relationship, we must forget most historical alliances between production companies and broadcasters, as well as the roles they once assumed. The integration between both companies has been total, to the point that creative or technical responsibilities were carried out dispel.

Contreras considers that key to this integration is that the Movistar Plus+ entertainment team is headed by José Andrés García Ropero y Angel Ayllon, “two of the most experienced professionals who have made the most programs in their lives” on television in Spain. “Together they have thousands and thousands of hours of comedy behind them,” points out the Lacoproductora partner, which causes the conversation to flow in a “radically different” way compared to the “vast majority of programming or marketing executives.” This integration in the creative development part of the project also extends into its production. While Movistar+ gives up its studios Three Songs for recording the format, at a given moment Lacoproductora could put their own camera operators.

This close collaboration allows the format continues to evolve with the passage of recordings. Contreras recognizes that day by day They learn from experience. He considers it essential, since he is not adapting an international format, but rather creating something brand new: "Every day we discuss and learn what type of guests works best, what type of content, how the program should maintain its structure, what rhythm it should have... All of this is built from pure creation, which is the most beautiful thing about television."

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Freedom is reflected in technique

The lack of previous references and the rest of bring the intimacy of a podcast to television has allowed the team Lacoproducer tome creative decisions that could not have occurred in any other context. These elements are reflected in a lower assembly rate than one might expect from free-to-air television or the election of a dim lighting type and? dispense with the most saturated colors.

Contreras considers that this responds to the new reality of the television ecosystem. Starting from an intimate context generated in the original format and thanks to the trust placed by Movistar+, the television adaptation of my favorite year can be allowed experiment with certain technological keys that could not have been possible, even today, in the open television: "People continue to demand a lot of light on free-to-air television so that, when you're surfing, that huge amount of light catches your attention. I'm not saying that there is a direct relationship, but every time more intimate or more closed programs have been made, they work much worse (…). However, as with consumption through platforms, you choose the moment and how you want to watch a program, The concept is radically different.”.

This change in approach has accompanied the entire conceptualization of look of My favorite year: arrangement of the tables, the choice of lighting, the backgrounds or even the color of the carpet. It has also conditioned the realization model, since we have opted for a pre-montage carried out live that is subsequently retouched in post-production.

“All these decisions have had to be studied and worked on to find a formula that makes the technical supports serve the concept and do not clash,” acknowledges Contreras.

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PRISA Video: a new chapter

The creation of new content what transcend the most common formats will continue to mark the day to day of Lacoproducer over the next few years. Of course, it will be done by HURRY, a group that has decided to “fully integrate” the production company into its video structure to develop “tasks of format creation, marketing and production of audiovisual products.”

In coordination with the various PRISA teams, Lacoproductora will give life to different formats that can “be developed and be exploited almost unlimitedly, whether in audio, video, physical or in the creation of derivative products that can be addressed to different genres," according to Contreras. To do this, it will be open to all kinds of stimuli that they can generate ideas worthy of being shared in all countries and markets Spanish speaking: "With this approach, your head explodes in the best of ways. You no longer measure exclusively a small window, thinking "let's see if I put this program and sell it to I don't know who." Now the objective is develop an idea that has the possibility of extreme development through all possible windows, both present and future.”

This movement is accompanied by a natural decision, if we consider the context of the conversation and the mentality that has accompanied Lacoproductora throughout its brief (but intense) history. This business unit is from RUSH to the outside, which implies that all these projects will not be exploited exclusively internally in the group. On the contrary, it breaks that “almost self-sufficient” concept to bring new stories, narratives y formats to the wide entirety of the audiovisual world: "We are going to work breaking the traditional code; the one that says that the production company only provides a service that the operator hires you. To do this, we are going to see together how we develop the creative, industrial and promotional possibilities for each of the contents."

The podcast-to-TV adaptation (and tour) of my favorite year is he first big project under this renewed philosophy. Will we remember 2022 as the year of big paradigm shift in the production of fiction and entertainment?

A report by Sergio Julián Gómez

https://youtu.be/FwE3_YmiyoU