Present and future of Mediaset Infinity, the new platform with AVOD spirit from Mediaset España

Juan Baixeras, director of the digital channels division of Mediaset Spain, reveals the conceptual and technological pillars of the platform Mediaset Infinity, born to replace Mitele and provide Spanish viewers with a renewed experience and a promising roadmap.

On the threshold of its 15th anniversary, Mitele needed an evolution that would help it position Mediaset Spain on the map of Spanish digital audiovisual consumption, led by the influence of large global VOD platforms and one RTVE Play increasingly consolidated in consumer rankings. Their counterparts had already followed this path, with a Atresmedia definitively betting on the premium model through Atresplayer and ambitious developments by the regional televisions that include the new user experience standards.

Last May, Mediaset España showed its cards for its next digital phase: Mediaset Infinity, an evolution “towards the streaming service model of the Italian parent company.” Starting from a proposal AVOD, but with a premium option SVOD called Mediaset Infinity+, the media group anticipated the keys to a proposal that has already seen the light accompanying the FIFA Club World Cup. A “fast and intuitive” interface, important technical and visual improvements, and a “next generation” technological architecture They give shape to a platform that offers live and on-demand broadcasts, as well as the possibility of viewing without advertising interruptions, playback from the beginning of a live broadcast or downloading content.

Just a few weeks after its release, Juan Baixaras, director of the digital channels division of Mediaset España, explains in detail how the birth of Mediaset Infinity has developed and advances a roadmap that will provide viewers video podcast, a vertical based on the short videos, the advantages of programmatic advertising and multiple UX improvements based on the deployment of developments based on the application of artificial intelligence.

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A joint development of Mediaset Spain and Italy

Mediaset Infinity is defined as the new free digital platform of Mediaset España. How is Mitele evolving?

Mediaset Infinity It is a new platform from a technical point of view, the backend, to the perception that the user has when he enters it, which is the frontend. It evolves what we had had in recent years in the Mediaset España group, which was Mitele and Mitele Plus, in a completely new proposal that adapts the OTT de Mediaset Italia: Infinity and Infinity+.

The platform has a much better user experience fresh and modern, but the evolution goes much further. Today, it is a proposal absolutely comparable to any other top-notch platform that we have in Spain and in other parts of the world, such as Netflix, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video and others.

At what point did Mediaset España decide to undertake the evolution of Mitele?

Like all technical processes, this one has also taken a lot of time. In total, we have gone through 18 months working with a transversal team from Mediaset Spain and Italy in which the areas of product, technology and content. In total, 40 personas They have worked permanently to carry out this transition.

We are talking about processes that require important equipment, given that you are migrating many very important elements such as CMS, which is where you host the content, or the adserver, which is the tool that serves you advertising. Everything, in a synchronized way while we still had the old platform.

we have gone through 18 months working with a cross-functional team of Mediaset Spain and Italy in which the areas of product, technology and content.

What have been the most critical elements of the process of adapting Mediaset Infinity Italia to the specific needs of its Spanish version?

We are facing a development with many layers. We have implemented new tools communication, crossdevice and cross platform; a new system of attention and user support with elements of IA to offer more agile and close attention, and we have emphasized the observability of all platform elements, whether at the level of SQL or of DNS. All of this, with the aim of ensuring the performance and stability of the platform during the audience peaks that we may have in mass consumption content, such as the Club World Cup currently.

For those of us who have worked from a digital point of view and with some knowledge of technology, what worries us most is the stability. And stability is that it works, that you don't go black and that you can offer an impeccable service. In order to achieve this, we have top-level strategic partners such as AWS, Google, Microsoft Azure o Comcast, which have allowed us to launch a leading European platform in content and technology.

Of those 18 months of development, how many have been dedicated to optimizing the system, to certify its correct functioning and adaptation to the different windows?

We have been with a UAT (user acceptance tests) for the last six months, in format multi-device, to check the operation of the platform. When I use this term, I mean that an OTT platform like Mediaset Infinity works on apps iOS and Android, which have different programming languages ​​and therefore you have to program them for both; in the form of web experience, which must be compatible with all types of browsers, and in the entire universe of connected televisions.

It has been a complex process, since we had to ensure that 100% of all users who could previously see you with Mitele can see us with Mediaset Infinity.

Within this field, the platform must work in all of them: Samsung, LG, HiSense, Android TV, Apple TV…And not only in one model, but in its different versions that have to be tested in all of them. It has been a complex process, since we had to ensure that 100% of all users who could previously see you with Mitele can see us with Mediaset Infinity.

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AVOD, SVOD model and a look at future trends

What type of content does Mediaset Infinity propose? Will it differ from what is offered by Mitele?

Change and progress. With Infinity, we offer two marketing models. The standard, a free platform with advertising that represents our philosophy AVOD-first, and Infinity+, which is our ad-free platform. To do this, we have observed the decisions of the rest of the platforms at a national and international level, which have opted for this model. free with advertising.

Are Infinity and Infinity+ absolutely the same? No. Infinity+ has exclusive content that Infinity does not have. It is true that before, when we were Mitele and Mitele Plus, the payment platform had more exclusive content than those that the new platform currently has, but that is because we are making an important effort to be the best free-to-air digital television on the Spanish scene.

There are two types of offers that are increasingly widespread on platforms belonging to broadcasters, such as FAST channels and short videos. Is Mediaset Infinity prepared to respond to these trends?

We are, and in a very robust way. We propose three very important milestones for Infinity. The first was the launch, which is a crucial moment: you have to see that everything works and that you truly have a value proposition that the user can be satisfied with. This is the phase we are in: we launched the platform on the 24th and we are very satisfied with the valuation of users and reviews what are we getting.

From January 2026, we want to add two new content verticals: one based on the world of video podcast, and another in the shorts.

The second moment will come in September, which will be when we present a battery of new content for Infinity with which we hope to greatly satisfy the user. In this sense, we have just launched our first original content: Warrior Games, a format based on the world of MMA.

Then, from January 2026, we want to add two new content verticals: one based on the world of video podcast, and another in the shorts, which is short content that is viewed across devices and, fundamentally, in vertical format.

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UX amplified with AI

In terms of UX, how does Mediaset Infinity respond to the latest user demands, such as UHD, recommendations or multi-device consumption? What do they currently offer and what do they seek to contribute in the medium term?

Fundamentally, a new infrastructure that is supported by cutting-edge technology, and the latest generation is not trivial. At the level of backend, we have worked on the development of new mobile applications, Connected TV and web, but we have also had cutting-edge development tools, such as technologies cloud y dockers, which have allowed us to design an architecture scalable, agile and secure.

Day IA is being a key pillar in it project development: We are implementing a new content recommendation and personalization system called ARES.

This marks the beginning of a platform evolution from the point of view technical, product and content. We have redesigned all applications to ensure a smoother and more stable experience on all devices.

As to the IA, is being a key pillar in the development of the project, given that we are implementing a new content recommendation and personalization system called ARES, which is fundamental when we talk about the famous algorithm. And the algorithm is this: you must have a system of recommendation and personalization which analyzes the consumption patterns of each user and offers much more contextual navigation with recommendations adjusted to the interest of each user. We're rolling it out right now, it's already working, and it'll get better as the weeks go by.

Beyond the recommendation and personalization engines, does Mediaset Infinity also deploy generative artificial intelligence processes?

In our planning for the integration of artificial intelligence tools, we do not apply generative AI to content, but to processes that help us be more effective. The generation of metadata It is a key example of how AI allows processes to be carried out that previously could only be carried out by an entire team of people doing it by hand. Now we can be more productive and effective, but always with the human supervision in between.

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Mediaset Infinity, the Club World Cup and the CDN

The platform promises a “very robust and scalable technological platform to meet all demands.” How is the performance in a high-demand environment like the Club World Cup?

So far, it's working very well. Obviously, we are following a roadmap to identify small fixes technicians that we are solving. These adjustments fell within what we knew was going to happen because we had made a UAT very wide, but, as in any technical process, you need a filming so that your platform is performing at 100%.

We have a technological support very important in terms of how we deliver content advertising within our platform, especially with regard to ad replacement in HbbTV.

Fortunately, the tests we had done allow us that, even having taken our first steps on the back of a great event like the Club World Cup, everything works as planned. very robust way. He front, that is, what the user sees, is visualizes perfectly. It is in the backend where we see some little things to solve. I am very demanding both with myself and with my teams to be able to solve those elements so that everything works absolutely perfectly.

I don't know of any technical release that in the first few weeks has 100% of the little things resolved. It takes time to work on it and that's what we're in right now. First, identifying it, and second, solving the problems in real time.

How does Mediaset Infinity's horizon look like? How will your technological proposal evolve over the coming months?

We have a technological support very important in terms of how we deliver content advertising within our platform, especially with regard to ad replacement in HbbTV. In this area, we continue to develop technical platforms that are extremely important from the point of view of advertisers, as we recently announced at an event with Publiepaña.

Among them is Infinity Ad, which is a way of serving advertising within Infinity that allows us to reach with our advertising audience segments that we know they may be interested in that specific message. We know that this will be a great advance for both advertisers as for the users.

An interview by Sergio Julián Gómez