The Movistar Plus+ roadmap: a critical vision for a future marked by IP
José Luis García Cabrera, technical director of Movistar Plus+, anticipates the next roadmap of the Telefónica company, highlighting its position in relation to concepts such as IP, edge, cloud, remote production or augmented reality.
Garcia Cabrera, known for its position as COO of TSA (Telefónica Audiovisual Services), began at the beginning of the year a new challenge in which to deposit their knowledge and experience in the broadcast industry: the technical direction of Movistar Plus+. Without leaving aside his work in the integrative company, assumed additional responsibilities with an ambitious opportunity on the horizon: designing the technological evolution path of television.
The great technological modernization of its sets in Tres Cantos, with its corresponding migration to high definition, began in 2016. Since then, apart from Telefónica's strategy with respect to its platform as a global service, Movistar Plus+ has undertaken different renovations aimed at modernizing the execution of their formats, consolidating their remote production flows for the ACB and embrace all the possibilities of augmented and extended reality.
The nearest future appears full of unknowns. Is it time to bet on an IP infrastructure, as agents such as RTVE, Telemadrid or RTPA have approached? Should this evolution be developed in the current Tres Cantos facilities, whose contract ends in 2030, or should they be centralized in Distrito Telefónica? Will UHD become a standard or should efforts focus on consolidating HD HDR? Should we return to scenography with physical supports or continue creating virtual universes to bring imaginative worlds to television?
In this conversation, García Cabrera shares many of his approaches to these and other topics. In many cases, you will not have an answer completely defined, given the global uncertainty of a market that continues to incessantly search for answers. In others, it offers interesting reflections that allow us to glimpse the future of Movistar Plus+, in which the original production of contents, the bet on the sport and the entertainment formats will continue to serve as energizing pillars his linear emission and supply on demand.
Is Movistar Plus+ a cutting-edge television?
Movistar Plus+, whether due to the avant-garde value of productions that from their beginnings looked to European and American references, the good work of the team of professionals that comprise it, or for the benefit of having the support of TSA, it has undertaken all types of technological improvements to provide a first-class offer to its subscribers and, more recently, subscribers: “Movistar Plus+ continues to be a content platform with an important part of its own production and content aggregation,” says García Cabrera.
“Since five years we count con seven linked fixed pavilions and we produce the meetings from two controls located in our facilities. Three Songs jumping from one location to another, which gives a very important efficiency and positions us as early adopters of that technology.”
This leads the technical director of Movistar Plus+ to carefully evaluate the state of the service when asked if it is at the “avant-garde” in regards to state broadcast panorama: "The media It goes through different stages, and the state of the art is different in each area." For García Cabrera, sets or studios would be located in the "middle" line of production compared to other "televisions." Remote production is a completely different matter: "For a long time five years we count con seven linked fixed pavilions and we produce the meetings from two controls located in our facilities. Three Songs jumping from one location to another, which gives a very important efficiency and positions us as early adopters of that technology.”
In the general review of the Movistar Plus+ areas, García Cabrera also focuses on everything related to the content management flows, addressing the ingestion, verification, quality control or metadata: "In this area we support ourselves with our own solutions that have an incredibly high level of integration with operations. Today, this area includes the entire MAM, file and CMS part, useful for our multiplatform distribution." All of these solutions have been developed for more than twenty years and have had a “continuous evolution” to adapt to the unique needs of the platform, such as agility in the time to market.
And roadmap five years based on Tres Cantos… or not
At the beginning of the year, several digital companies questioned the continuity of the Movistar Plus+ facilities at its facilities in Three Songs. The end of the rental period in 2030, together with Telefónica's strategy of unifying many of its companies into Telephone District, could rethink the channel's technical management strategy for the future of television: it is not the same to integrate a IP infrastructure from scratch, to evolve a model SDI. Furthermore, it would not make sense to invest large amounts in infrastructure that could be moved in the near future.
When questioned about this possibility, García Cabrera reflects on his position in Movistar Plus+ and what is truly his short-term goal: “One of our main objectives is to be able to generate a roadmap of technological evolution at the platform level 5 years from now.” The technical director of Movistar Plus+ defines himself as a “believer” in technology.per se", which can help "make processes more efficient" and help generate a "greater quantity" of "better quality" content. At this level, the IP arrival The technological roadmap makes all the sense in the world: "Today, when you distribute content on the platform, we no longer only receive the video and audio, but many other things that accompany the audiovisual material. Technology has to help with this," he explains, without hesitating to affirm that its evolution "will incorporate this transition to the IP world" due to its relevant advantages in terms of "flexibility in the use of infrastructure."
“One of our main objectives is to be able to generate a roadmap of technological evolution a level platforma that 5 years view.”
For García Cabrera, there is no doubt that the leap is going to occur, but the fixed space in which this occurs is not among its main concerns: "I have also heard the rumors. In the end, obviously this is a building that is not owned by Telefónica, which is always subject to contracts," he acknowledges, although he affirms that, if twenty years later there is a move from the current Tres Cantos headquarters, "technology must facilitate that transition process."
The jump to IP that Movistar Plus+ will undertake sooner or later will be through a model “gradual and hybridGarcía Cabrera points out how complex it would be to transform an infrastructure of the size of Movistar Plus+ "at a budgetary level", in addition to the complexity of internalizing the "IP learning curve" in the operation, engineering and maintenance teams. In short, the leap will be with a "multi-year and gradual model", as other television stations such as Telemadrid, RTVE or Antena 3 have followed.
Renewed prominence for LED screens
The Tres Cantos production center has various infrastructures that support a large part of Movistar Plus+'s own production. Small sets, intended for the production of content “more aimed at social networks” with a high degree of automation, alternate with other large sets.
In recent years, Movistar Plus+ has redoubled its efforts to introduce into its spaces tracking systems to exploit the possibilities of augmented and extended reality. Formats like The third time take advantage of this technology to create immersive spaces of very large dimensions, while others use the resources of the augmented reality for the exhibition of advanced graphics that interact with the narrative capabilities of the formats. "From the technical direction, we attend to the needs of what we want to produce and the type of content to find the most efficient way to carry it out. Our way of working at a budgetary level is always the same: we talk with content to understand the season's programming and we analyze what technical means are necessary to adapt to it."
Regardless of continuing to explore the possibilities of augmented and extended reality, García Cabrera acknowledges that the possibility of betting on extended models on other televisions is currently being “evaluated” in which “the LED takes much more prominence". The Movistar Plus+ technical team considers that the union of a large LED screen with a multi-camera production with extended or augmented reality capabilities can add “value to differential content”, as they have been able to conclude after attending demonstrations and visiting many of their professional colleagues.
"I think they are going to be a natural evolution of some of our studies. Sure. I couldn't say if it will be immediate for 2025, but, at least, the approach is going to be on the table," he acknowledges. Garcia Cabrera, reflecting on some of the challenges that this type of support implies: “The greatest challenge It is not technological, but operational: continuously feeding those large screens and generating content for them, which creates very significant stress on the environment creation teams. You have to prepare, train the teams and, before introducing the equipment, be very clear about what has to be put on the other side of the scale.”
Step back with UHD?
The chimera of UHD in more traditional broadcasters, given the limitation of retransmission via DTT due to network capacity and the current state of coding solutions, could have a greater meaning on a platform like Movistar Plus+, which largely reaches subscribers via IP. However, and despite the production efforts in large events, the consolidation of this format is far from coming true. For example, decisions such as producing major sporting events such as the Champions League final in HD HDR format as standard. Where is the industry heading? Is it possible that the consolidation of UHD in all its splendor, with acronyms such as HDR, 4K or WCG, will take longer than expected to occur?
“Does the cost of a production and one drive chain of one media in UHD? In the end, the conclusion comes to be yes, but not for all content.”
García Cabrera still does not have a “clear vision” of where Movistar Plus+ will go in this regard, although has numerous experiences having implemented UHD projects in many broadcasters. Its balance is more contained; recognize the focus value, but also the complexity of this type of development and how they affect the entire production chain: "There is a tendency to think that the higher the quality of the original content, the better, because all the processes will subsequently start from a higher quality for digitization and compression (...), but it is possible that the cost of what this production, post-production or archiving of that raw content entails does not compensate for the final product that we send to the viewer."
“Does the cost involved in a production and management chain of a media in UHD for the product we generate?” reflects García Cabrera, thinking not only about the number of UHD televisions in our country, but also about the multi-device consumption that accompanies the main broadcasters in our country. "In the end, the conclusion is that yes, but not all the content. However, when in premium content such as football it is decided to take it to an HD HDR model, this tells you where the market is going," he says.
Cloud and edge: infinite possibilities
The possible deployment of the cloud has been analyzed in depth for years by the broadcast industry. The conclusions of five years ago were shared by the industry in the field of storage: the potential was latent, but the costs of archiving and especially recovery restricted its use to a few agents. Currently, the photograph has changed slightly. The variety of competitors in the market has made slightly more accessible this type of operations, but where an important change has really occurred has been in the offering traditionally local processes taken to the cloud: “Cloud models frequently increase operating costs, especially for players that already have a platform established and start from a legacy. The situation could be different for a new agent who somehow does not have assets and wants to set up everything, starting from scratch and abstracting from technology.”
“We will start by having a cloud production in parallel to the traditional production and, as we see that the quality obtained and the signal reliability that we obtain in the cloud is comparable to what we obtain traditionally, we will make the change.
In the case of Movistar Plus+, García Cabrera finds a clear use in cloud processes such as storage, or “everything related to a potential disaster recovery”: “Economic storage models are already very competitive; The problem is when you try to recover. It also makes sense with pop up channels, where we sometimes raise and lower channels that are very seasonal; The possibility of creating new channels with a very specific time horizon and not having to invest in its own infrastructure makes a lot of sense.” The platform has also had experiences in remote production with the “technical means resting in the cloud”, which allows “minimally moving” technical means to the place of production with all the “software or ingestions” running on cloud instances.
The use of edge to continue further enhancing productions from cloud services is also on the table from the Movistar Plus+ team. García Cabrera considers that these workflows are “unstoppable”, but for now it is prudent to wait for a greater development and consolidation of the systems before use in large productions: "When you ask the companies themselves if they would use their cloud production themes to broadcast a Champions League final, for example, they answer that not yet. What we do see is that they can help a lot to sports in which there is a lower requirement in terms of production capabilities. (...) We will begin by having cloud production in parallel to traditional production and, as we see that the quality obtained and the reliability of the signal that we obtain in the cloud is comparable to that which we we obtain traditionally, we will make the change. (…) That is when we will stop having those high costs that traditional production now generates,” says García Cabrera.
Cost uncertainty: cloud and SaaS
The technical management of Movistar Plus+ considers that the cloud technology could be prepared to be part of a relevant part of its production. In fact, just two years ago, the platform conducted some satisfactory tests of a customization of a Champions match in the cloud, “in this case with AWS”, which “surprised” the team due to its “level of robustness, signal quality and latency”. In any case, to the degree of maturity of the technology and the adaptation of traditional equipment to the IT universe, García Cabrera adds another variable of great importance: “The cost certainty It is not absolute.”
"When you start operating in cloud workflows, consumption is generated within the cloud. Sometimes, we do not take into account part of the consumption of the workflows that currently run through our home and that, therefore, do not generate an additional cost. When the media begins to move through the cloud from one place to another, there are counters that have given us certain surprises at the end of the month," explains García Cabrera, who believes that scalars must evolve to be able to provide tools that allow us to manage this expense in real time: “I'm not going to say in the style of a taximeter, but they do allow us to have very clear visibility of what the cost is related to each of the elements.” At that moment, it will be much easier to take “that definitive leap.”
“Although there is talk of a pay per use, later it is more diabolical. The cost of that pay per use depends on the volume y number of years that one commits to use of those licenses. In the end, they are leading me to a model almost like the one I had of perpetuity, but with some much higher costs, positions that become variables.”
The billing uncertainty It also extends in the universe SaaS, an increasingly widespread commitment by historical companies in the broadcast ecosystem and that, sometimes, throw in “small print” that It is not favorable for the broadcaster: “If you ask me, I would say that they are models in which we are losing out.” García Cabrera provides more details: "The periods in which a boradcast infrastructure is amortized are always greater than five years. Today, I do not know of any manufacturer whose payment model for the use of licenses is greater than three years. That is, after three years, one has already paid the equivalent of what had been the cost of acquiring traditional ownership of that infrastructure and licenses. (...) I think that, in general, we clients think this way. In that completely rolled over of support and evolutionary, the accounts are not equivalent to those of the cost of ownership.”
Given this situation, the technical director of Movistar Plus+ would bet on a hybrid model in which the client acquired a base to be used repeatedly to own, varied with a “flexible and creative model” by the manufacturers. The current one is far from approaching García Cabrera's vision: "Although there is talk of payment per use, it is later more perverse. The cost of this payment per use depends on the volume and number of years that one commits to the use of those licenses. In the end, they are leading me to a model almost like the one I had of perpetuity, but with much higher costs, since they become variables." Can this situation be reversed?: "It is a model from which we will not be able to escape. Many manufacturers are stopping evolving the products that one had in perpetuity, and what they are promoting are models of transformation from perpetual licenses to payment for use. Today we think that the business model is clearly negative when compared to the current one."
The Movistar Plus+ of the future: AR, XR, cloud, edge, AI…
Movistar Plus+ is located little by little drawing your future, pending the maturity of the technologies, studying how the deployment of each solution can help your daily operations, and providing a critical vision about the industry. In this way, trends are not inevitable transitions, but opportunities to be examined in detail.
Once this analysis is completed, they will or will not become part of the roadmap previously anticipated by Garcia Cabrera. They remain unknowns to be clarified, although the Movistar Plus+ technology team identifies certainties that will shape its short-term future: the company will “deepen” its studies with everything that has to do with “extended and augmented reality”; will undertake the transformation to IP, since the technology “is mature and very reliable”; will use the cloud for processes like disaster recovery o pop-up channels “as hyperscalars improve their business models for the average”, and will continue in its proofs of concept with edge, since it can “help remote production and minimize latencies as much as possible.”
As it could not be otherwise, the IA It will also be part of the future of Movistar Plus+. To the automatic transcription, indexing or summarization, processes already established in the house, new tools will be added as complements to the “current processes”. “We will do it, with total security, in the next years”says García Cabrera.
A report by Sergio Julián Gómez
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