Felipe Jiménez (Banijay Iberia): “AI will arrive in broadcasting in 2025”

The digital strategy director of Banijay Iberia, Felipe Jiménez Luna, reveals the transformation process and digital business of the content factory and highlights how technological concepts such as generative AI are becoming essential in the most immediate future of the world of audiovisual production.

The digital transformation it's a process cyclic. The audiovisual industry, inevitably linked to technology, has gone through multiple evolutions aimed at process optimization, operational efficiency and business improvement. Fighting against amortization of solutions and to the always complex change of mentality of human resources, these processes are far from simple, but they yield great opportunities to those organizations willing to take the leap.

There has always been disruptive technologies that have presented companies with complex dilemmas. In the midst of the transition to IP infrastructures, the dance of protocols, network modalities and communication systems broadcast controller They force complex decisions to be made without accurate short-term answers, for example. However, faced with the certainties of engineering, the world of production explores a universe of trends, processes and technologies framed in the scope digital.

This breeding ground throws terminology into transformation, potential revolutions and self-proclaimed experts of concepts and promises. The attractiveness for companies and investors is more than evident. The concept of a solution, whether as a business in an environment of extreme competition or as a disruptive process, becomes a business goal.

NFT, metaverse, generative AI, AVOD, FAST, vertical video, 3D, XR, VP, UHD, dual screens, remote collaboration, social viewing, interactive content, short-form videos, spatial video, hyper-personalization, UGC… Some will survive, others will be forgotten in the drawer of great ideas and the last few are already happily established in the day-to-day life of media groups.

Banijay Iberia's digital strategy team, in collaboration with corporate and technical profiles of the production companies that make up the company, evaluates each of these concepts for its study and development. The mission of this team, led by Felipe Jimenez Moon, moves away from imposition to generate a knowledge development framework. In this way, all business units can share your technical innovations to globally improve the group's performance, as well as anticipate future trends. It is not a whim, but heritage of history de Banijay and a fundamental requirement to continue growing in a digital environment that is difficult to predict.

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The digital world and Banijay Iberia

Banijay Iberia, led by Pilar Blasco and born in 2020 after the union of Banijay y Endom, brings together some of the most relevant production companies on the Spanish and Portuguese audiovisual scene: Quartz Productions (The island of temptations, Live life), Diagonal TV (The knot, Doctor García's patients), DLO Productions (The Hunt. Monteperdido, Lord, give me patience), Endemol Portugal (Big Brother, Dancing with the Stars), Gestmusic (Operation Triumph, Your face sounds familiar to me), THERE IS, LaLiga Studios, Shine Iberia (MasterChef, The Voice), Tuiwok Studios (From Rubén to Rubius), Zeppelin Television (Big Brother, He Bridge, Skam Spain) and the newborn division Banijay Iberia Sports. All the productions reviewed have their own digital strategy, defined with each client and managed, as necessary, directly by the Banijay team or by the broadcaster themselves.

“Every time there is more content what stand out, and that is one practically impossible task unless you know how to move in networks”,

Starting from the historical experience of the group, represented on websites as emblematic as the now extinct Portalmix (compendium of videos of Endemol productions and legendary animations flash), Banijay Iberia's digital strategy management has always taken into account the value of digital communication. Currently, it focuses its activity on several focuses: social media management of formats such as Operation Triumph; he YouTube channel management own and others, let's talk about the one dedicated to Masterchef or the daily management of RTVE music o RTVE Sports; the management of the copyright; the content creation for external brands with all the muscle of the 10 production companies that make up the group, or the exploration and definition of tools such as generative AI to apply them in the company's day-to-day life.

“There is more and more content to highlight, and that is a practically impossible task unless you know how to move on networks,” explains Jiménez, who believes that, to achieve this objective, it is essential to have a cross view of the audiovisual process: "It is production and distribution, but also understanding the language, its narratives and how it is communicated. That is a value that we offer to the brands or companies we work with. On many occasions we have taken channels with 50 subscribers and we have taken them to more than 500,000."

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The digital strategies of a transformative 2024

Being part of the digital universe implies the need to closely follow each element of the production and distribution chain. “What is happening with such a platform?” or “How do you monetize something else?” These are some of the questions that the digital strategy team of Banijay Iberia, while, in parallel, it responds to daily challenges such as account management or campaign promotion.

“There is an element fundamental that has brought generative artificial intelligence: the capacity of empower us to get things that before persona individual I didn't have the knowledge to do”.

2024 has been a particularly active year for the team Banijay. In addition to his usual activity in production, he has added a decided commitment to the sports field with the management of the YouTube RTVE Sports, for which content related to Euro 2024, the Paris 2024 Olympic Games or the Tour de France have been created; projects in development for LALIGA Studio, or the recent birth of Banijay Iberia Sports, a company dedicated to the creation and development of original content.

With respect to technology, and far from the cliché, the effective application of generative AI at all levels it has marked the company's last months. The scan is continuous, although it displays far from future with the aim of being applied immediately and thus solving several operational challenges: “There is a fundamental element that generative artificial intelligence has brought: the ability to empower us to achieve things that previously an individual person, unless highly specialized in a field, did not have the knowledge to do.”

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Generative AI: codeless programming and audiovisual transformation

When it comes to making the concept of generative AI tangible, it is common to think about its three most concrete manifestations: the generation of images, the generation of video and the generative language models. The first two hardly have applications in the most professional audiovisual field, yet limited and learning; the last way is the one that is giving wings to the Banijay Iberia team, as Jiménez comments: "Language models allow us to do things that were impossible before. There are certain process automations that, by definition, are not generative artificial intelligence, but that we are being able to do thanks to it."

“Los language models They allow us to do things that were previously impossible. There are certain automations of processes that, by definition, They are not generative artificial intelligence, but what yes we are being able to do thanks to her.”

The head of the digital strategy area at Banijay Iberia gives as an example the administration area of the company. Thanks to these language models, the company's team is being able to "write code without having any idea about code", creating programs or processes to enable specific functions: "Yesterday, for example, we managed to automate a process reporting "It used to take us a full day of work, but now it will take 30 seconds." In this process, the program is not using artificial intelligence, but yes he has benefited from it to expand its functions, without having to establish a conversation with the development team or the tool provider.

Another application of generative AI within Banijay Iberia is the image creation for the presentations of future programs and series: "The images are more similar to the final result of the series. For networks and platforms it is much easier to see. And it is not replacing the work of our creatives, but rather enhancing it."

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Digital transformation and collective intelligence

Despite highlighting generative AI, Jiménez highlights the importance of applying it with a “very humanistic" "It will allow us to improve our work, its quality, its speed, and get rid of a lot of routine work that leads us nowhere," he explains, considering AI as a "tool for creativity." But how are these learnings and processes extended to all the production companies that operate under the umbrella of Banijay Iberia?

“We have found incredible results; people using AI to create the part of music in edition, teams that use it to create textures or headers, and producers that apply it to scale images and enhance them…”.

More than a year ago, the company has decided to apply all the knowledge acquired in digital processes, especially those linked to the development of AI, under the concept of collective intelligence. This term refers to the ability of a group to group knowledge and skills through interaction and communication. "It is easy to teach someone to use Word, because in the end it is a text editor. However, teaching language models is much more complicated, given that the applications are almost infinite," says Jiménez.

To address this issue, Banijay Iberia has decided to create a decalogue of use in which all parts of the chain “could feel comfortable”, respecting the work between creators and taking into account limits and risks. From that base, the production company's work teams have compiled use cases in which the tools have been tested. In this way, it has been possible perfect processes o discover apps that had not been considered globally: "We have found incredible results; people who use it to create part of music in editing, teams that use it to create textures or headers, and production companies that apply it to scale images and improve them... We are growing a lot and among all of us, learning to handle all the tools in the process. (...) More and more people are joining these circles: the desire to discover and do is generating a very enriching experience."

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Editing and control: pending subjects

The tools are within the reach of all the production companies that make up Banijay, but the result it is not always what is expected. sometimes some models are discarded because they have been trained in unethical ways, while, on other occasions, these technologies show their limitation in providing results adapted to the high demands of the content factory. It is not something that particularly worries Jiménez's team: "Currently, we have the worst possible tools today, because tomorrow they will improve. The tools we have are the worst they will ever be."

“When you are doing a plano of one television series, you need that the elements are at their right point: image, quality, color tone… To do this, we need the tools allow much more internal editing”.

"When ChatGPT 3.5 arrived, we were all amazed and thought it was going to be incredible. Then, you began to know its seams and you needed more. More models have been coming out from different companies, but even so there are places that we don't reach," explains the director of digital strategist, who believes that the video, image and montage tools require "greater ability to adapt processesIn his own words: “When you are making a shot for a television series, you need the elements to be at their right point: image, quality, color tone... To do this, we need the tools to allow much more internal editing.”

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Discovery and frustration

Where the generative AI has triumphed and is beginning to position itself as an essential tool at the core of production companies, other concepts such as NFT o metaverso they lose relevance. It is difficult to participate in the conversation without being part of it; Sometimes, teams can opt for the least suitable tool or undertake developments that do not meet reach and relevance objectives, as demonstrated by the extensive portfolio of initiatives of VR that have remained as anecdotes on television and platforms.

"Does 13 years it was almost a heresy. We are now producing vertical video as if there was no tomorrow and nothing happens. In an environment as changing as this, the key to success is the ability to adaptation and resilience”.

Banijay Iberia, as a "enjoyable" and "playful" company, enjoys developing its activity in an "effervescent" context: "We come from the audiovisual field; we like to discover and have tools at our side to do even better things. The spirit is to have fun and improve yourself and your work." Some projects do not come to fruition, but it is an intrinsic part of the process: "How do we experience changes in trends? We do not embrace trends either. For example, there have been some experiments with NFTs internationally, but we at Iberia decided not to launch any. But, in any case, if something arrives and spreads, we assume it," explains Jiménez.

An example in this regard is the question of vertical video: "13 years ago it was almost a heresy. Now we are producing vertical video as if there were no tomorrow and nothing happens. In an environment as changing as this, the key to success is the ability to adapt and resilience."

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The human factor and the digital opportunity

Before the advent of new forms of production or digital tools that can give Spanish production companies new alternatives in their daily lives, Jiménez recognizes that there are both budgetary and human limitations: “An investment in a new set with renewed cameras or a more powerful editing system is always complicated and you have to think very carefully.” The investment of resources to make the human team Adapting to new circumstances is also crucial: "There are people who are used to using certain things and changing paradigms suddenly makes them dizzy and confused. Our job there is to adapt to make that trip as quick as possible and not leave anyone behind."

“Sometimes you talk to a person who manifests what is against AI, but throughout the conversation you can realize that there are various shapes to do your job more fast and you can make it become a convinced person”.

The IA It has been a concept controversial, and in certain creative communities (not so much in the business field) its application remains taboo. Jiménez identifies a change in this trend: “Sometimes you talk to a person who tells you that they are against AI, but throughout the conversation they may realize that there are several ways to do their job faster and you can get them to become a convinced person, which is key when you talk about digital transformation.”

In this process, each of the people who are part of a production company's chain, in Jiménez's opinion, must be able to see the “value in transformation”; people must be able to understand the change and accept it: "We are a bit like fish: if before there was a hole to get from one side of the fish tank to the other, we will continue to follow the same path, even if that barrier no longer exists. But if the alternatives, the benefits and the point of improvement are communicated, the person will end up accepting it and will take a different path than the one they were used to."

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AI in broadcast: horizon 2025

If for Banijay Iberia 2024 has been the year of consolidation of generative AI in the internal processes of its production companies, 2025 It will be the year in which this technology is adapted “massively” in the industria broadcast. Jiménez believes that the progress of image and video tools will allow the industry to obtain results in resolutions as “2K o 4K” in a “more controllable” environment disregarding “artifacts and strange things along the way”; in fact, it invites us to imagine the work that Adobe is doing in this regard applied to “many other tools.”

"The artificial intelligence comes to enter inside the broadcast and stay forever”.

The creating a 3D environment For extended reality applications, the acceleration of post-production processes and the creation of environments for all types of series will be on the table: "Many tests and experiments are already being carried out, but it will become part of the entire broadcast. (...) Artificial intelligence is coming to enter broadcasting and stay forever”.

A report by Sergio Julián Gómez