Ignacio García-Legaz (MasOrange): “The challenge of AI is that it is easy to use, massive and that it provides value to the customer”
The director of the group's Television area The Oranges, Ignacio García-Legaz, analyzes the market for telco television services, in which the proposal of Orange TV has emerged with a transformation of the brand with a focus on technology and its role as a super-aggregator.
In April of last year, The Oranges It was presented in society as the “leading” company in the telecommunications sector in Spain by “number of clients.” This fusion of Orange Spain and the MásMóvil Group, also covering brands such as yoigo o Euskaltel, brought with it the promise of investments from 4 billion euros to consolidate its role in the market, directly impacting areas such as the expansion of its infrastructure, the creation of new services or innovation in areas such as data or artificial intelligence.
In that presentation, the group's television business, which has gone through a great transformation represented by its premium brand: Orange TV. And the team led by Ignacio García-Legaz has worked in depth on the redefinition of the service to place it in the first line of Spanish television offers.
To this end, the user's interaction with the UI of the service, a deep investment has been made in the brand positioning among the football public with the beginning of the football season LaLiga and great emphasis has been placed on technological news aimed at improving the user experience. Among these improvements, technology stands out True Motion, which doubles the usual 25 fps in football broadcasts; a system of latency reduction, which allows images to be broadcast up to 2 seconds before DTT, and the service has even been launched Infinity HomeBox, a package with a premium 4K decoder compatible with HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, and that includes audio certified by the consumer brand Bang & Olufsen and immersive capabilities Dolby Atmos.
In this interview, conducted in prolegomena of the purchase of Orange by 50% that he did not control of MasOrange, García-Legaz analyzes the evolution of the telco television market and its brand proposals, addressing key areas such as its role as super aggregator, the dependence on football content or how technological improvements They only make sense if they are aimed at improve user experience.
The telco television market in 2025
Where do we come from and where is the market for telco television offerings heading?
The role of television aspect of telco is still to offer a convergent offer in which the client is satisfied globally, obtain an economic benefit and make everything easier for you: from hiring, to support, to experience. Although they have evolved from a satellite or cable model, telcos have continued to adapt both in the technical part and in the offer of content and commercial proposal to the market.
Although it seems that things have changed, they have not changed that much: the operator comes to wholesale agreements or volume with content providers, packages an offer tailored to its clients, sets a price, combines it with telco services and markets it. The main difference is the appearance of new agents: the famosas OTT, which, in addition to being marketed through operators, do so with direct offers to the consumer. But, if we look at it with perspective, we continue reaching agreements with the same content providers: Disney, Warner…
In parallel, the role of content has grown. The historical penetration of pay television was very low in Spain compared to other markets, such as the British, Portuguese or northern Europe. The arrival of OTTs has helped certain brands have greater notoriety and knowledge on the part of consumers, which has helped telco operators, who package these services along with many others, to increase the penetration of pay television.
Although the windows have multiplied, pay television is breaking viewership records. What elements make it stand out compared to other linear alternatives or even some free-to-air DTT channels?
During these last 25 years, there has been a consumption fragmentation in many areas. There has been an increase in the offer, both in channels and in content: the multichannel offer in payment is very broad, more channels have appeared on DTT, players streaming in different categories and sport has also found its place in this window. Furthermore, the consumer no longer uses a single device to access content.
“The arrival of OTT has helped certain brands have greater notoriety and knowledge on the part of consumers”.
This fragmentation of alternatives to access content has meant that agents such as pay television operators have taken a step forward to put all these elements together in a simple way. In this way, consumption has been encouraged to be directed towards this category.
MasOrange, facing the TV business
A year after its birth, how has MasOrange consolidated the launch of its renewed television business?
More than two years ago we decided to focus television on our different brands. And since The Oranges We have a key advantage. The fact of having different platforms leads to greater complexity, but it also allows you to design more defined or segmented offers for each customer segment. Therefore, the first exercise we did was the construction of a multi-brand television design, deciding what attributes and what value proposition we gave for each of these brands.
“The fact of having different platforms leads to greater complexity, but it also allows you to design more defined or segmented offers for each customer segment.”
This value proposition has many axes, starting from the telco context. But, if we focus on the television aspect, it covers what device we offer to the client (decoder, premium decoder…), what type of content (more or less linear channels), what streaming services we integrate, what sports content we include and what weight that proposal can have on the visibility of the brand. Because we can have television in a low-value brand without doing much communication, but push other brands. This design has many angles.
In this television offer, Orange TV continues to be your premium brand. How has your proposal been transformed?
We have put a lot of effort into evolving Orange TV to take all the elements that make up a television offer and elevate them with the maximum ambition. This is manifested from the decoders available: el usuario que tenga en su casa una SmartTV pegada en su pared y no quiera dispositivos podrá acceder a través de la aplicación, pero es que también ofrecemos opciones 4K y un modelo premium con sonido integrado de Bang & Olufsen, al que además se le puede sumar altavoces adicionales.
“If we look back four years, We barely had agreements with many OTTs nor too much sports content. Now, we have Amazon Prime, Netflix, Disney, SkyShowtime, HBO Max, Filmin, Atresplayer…”
In the experience part, a very relevant element and from which we are seeing very positive results, we have made a great effort to make navigation through the user interface very good. We have recommendation engines, video elements throughout the UI, different options to adapt to each of the profiles from within the home and a simplified login model aligned with the same credentials as your mobile. Furthermore, in this interface the 200,000 titles from all OTT.
Then, we have worked in depth on the video and audio quality. For example, in the sports section, we have reduced latency and implemented technology True Motion for sports content. In audio, we bring a differentiating element: we include Dolby Atmos options for our content as well as that of third parties.
Does this innovative impulse also extend to the selection of Orange TV content?
If we look back four years, We barely had agreements with many OTTs nor too much sports content. Now, we have everyone we have considered relevant: Amazon Prime, Netflix, Disney, SkyShowtime, HBO Max, Filmin, Atresplayer…
In the part of the sports We have also taken important steps. Beyond LaLiga and the Champions League, which we continue to offer, we have incorporated championships such as MotoGP, Formula 1 or the NFL through DAZN.
We are at a level of really very good proposal in its global scope. Within convergent offers, I would say that we offer the best price-value ratio on the market.
The importance of football for telcos
Football continues to be one of the pillars of the proposal not only of Orange TV, but of the major television operators in Spain. Is there an excessive dependence on this type of content?
Football, as a sports category with the highest value, remains relevant for a important segment of pay television customers, which historically has been around 30%. It is a content with some very significant rights costs, but it is still key. What we have to try is to be aware of what these rights cost in origen.
Many times there is a debate about whether we telcos get rich with these rights, and the answer is that They are not the ones with the highest margin: far from it. I don't think they are essential, but I do think it is very convenient have them to compete in certain segments. That is the reason why Orange TV, despite the costs, continues to commit to maintaining them.
In other European markets, we see how OTT agents such as Netflix or Amazon Prime Video are beginning to bid, and successfully, for major football competitions. Could these movements destabilize the pay television market?
The objective of rights owners in auctions is maximize the value of your proposal. Therefore, if breaking up their offering or creating alternative packages can make the total higher, they will do so. It's understandable. Another different reflection is whether, at the expense of that, you are harming the consumer, which I also think that is the case. Rights owners will try to see if there is a upside sufficiently relevant despite this fragmentation; If there is, they will do it. If it is small, they will reward keeping the competition with a smaller number of agents.
“Many times there is a debate about whether we telcos get rich with these rights, and the answer is that They are not the ones with the highest margin: far from it."
That said, for Orange is not a very serious problem, since this situation is happening today. In the case of LaLiga, we bought the competition from two agents: Telefónica y DAZN. This phenomenon is repeated with basketball. The NBA has games on Prime Video and DAZN.
In short, we are facing a dynamic of which I would make a positive reading. Within this complexity, it makes sense for pay television operators to add all these services and Let's simplify it into a unique experience, so that the viewer can watch the matches regardless of where they are offered. This is what we are doing with football and what we intend to continue implementing in the future.
Technology and experience: key values
In a context in which leading telco operators redefine their proposal as super aggregators, Will the added value, both in user experience and technology, be the true differentiating element among industry agents?
When it comes to differentiating ourselves, we must try to think What value can we bring to the client?. In this area, there are very important elements such as the aggregation experience, the user interface or the process itself. on boarding. That is to say: we have to make it easy for the viewer to access the service for the first time and then continue using it. This process involves improving the quality of experience, but also by working on the discovery of content or the type of recommendations, whether editorial or based on their own interaction with the platform.
“Since we do not have our own content, we have no obligation to push anything. If we highlight content, it is because we believe it is good.”
At Orange TV, we have a very determining part of the user experience that is completely automatic. And we have an advantage: Since we do not have our own content, we have no obligation to push anything. If we highlight content, it is because we believe it is good. That neutrality, along with the advanced use of technology aimed at making the customer's life easier, will become increasingly relevant.
Furthermore, in a context of greater diversity of age segments, users, devices, operators and OTTs, the simplicity is going to become a key element.
When describing its technological proposal, Orange TV highlights its True Motion technology or its latency reduction tools compared to a concept widely established in the industry: UHD. Why has this concept not yet been consolidated in the visual proposal of Telco television services?
Two elements have been produced that are linked. On the one hand, people are not aware of or do not demand UHD as such. It does not establish technology as a quality criterion, but what it demands is a good audiovisual experience. On the other hand, we have found formulas to provide a better experience with other technology. For this reason, we are committed to technologies such as HDR, which significantly improves quality, as well as new audio formats. I don't think 4K is going to disappear, but there is also no mantra that says all content should be offered in these resolutions. Despite this, 4K will grow; I don't know if it's necessarily on linear channels, but on demand.
"He 4K streaming in real time brings with it purely technical problems that not all service providers are willing to address on a massive scale.”
However, the 4K streaming in real time does bring with it purely technical problems which not all service providers are willing to address en masse. We would have no problem offering this type of content in 4K, but perhaps an operator other than infrastructure may have more difficulties offering a Champions League match in 4K with many people connected at the same time. Even so, these issues will be resolved progressively and will not be an obstacle for 4K to be massive tomorrow.
Redefining interaction with television
One of the next trends that will define UX in services like Orange TV and similar will be AI-enabled features, such as the use of natural language to interact with the platform. Do you have a roadmap to benefit, in the short term, from these tools?
We are using the artificial intelligence in many areas, such as our recommendation engines or in improving the sharpness of images when we use old posters. We also use it in content aggregation, when sometimes content from different providers overlaps and each one gives us a different synopsis. In those cases, we use agents who make the decision about which token to use. In short, we are using it and it will be used more and more. And there will be things that customers see, and things that they don't see, but do notice.
In the past Mobile World Congress, we present together with the group Orange an interaction pilot with natural language searches. In this way, instead of saying “Play The Matrix”, the user could say: “I want to see a movie in which there were two worlds and they took some pills.” As of today, we are still working on this pilot and we will have it available in the future.
“Experience improvements should not remain a technical or aesthetic exercise, but rather must continue to improve the television experience.”
There are many things that can be done with AI, and its combination with the voice can be key. We have a fundamental advantage in this area: Infinity Home Box, our premium decoders, feature long-range microphones. Just as you can currently interact with them from the couch and ask them to turn on various channels or open certain applications, it will continue to evolve to allow many other types of interactions.
With these systems, an area with many opportunities opens up. The real challenge of AI is that it is truly easy to use, become massive and add value to the customer. These improvements should not remain a technical or aesthetic exercise, but must continue to improve the television experience.
In this always variable context of evolution of television consumption, how will MasOrange continue to bet on the improvement of its proposal?
I don't think it will significantly change what we have pointed out so far.. The market will continue to grow slightly in Spain, around 5% annually. It is possible that there will be some consolidation in the field of content and streamers, but it should not change the panorama of the Spanish market. In parallel, audiences for free-to-air DTT channels will probably continue to fall.
I'm pretty positive. There are opportunities to grow. There are lines like IA, the experience optimization o to content creation that have possibilities for improvement. The benefits that the client obtains by accessing television together with the services of streaming through a Telco operator will become increasingly relevant. Therefore, I see a promising future; more promising, if possible, in brands with great potential.
“There are lines like IA, the experience optimization o to content creation that have possibilities for improvement. The benefits that the client obtains by accessing television together with the services of streaming through a Telco operator will become increasingly more relevant.”
At MasOrange we have certain brands, such as MásMóvil, Pepephone, Yoigo or Jazztel that did not have television until recently or never had a great push in this field compared to brands such as Euskaltel, R or Telecable. At this point, there is a very relevant opportunity to bring all our experience to the rest of our portfolio.
That is where we are putting the focus. We are building attractive offers adjusted to those brands that, although they cannot be at the same price or value proposition levels as Orange TV, demonstrate that very attractive things can be done with a fantastic value for money.
An interview by Sergio Julián Gómez.
Did you like this article?
Subscribe to our NEWSLETTER and you won't miss anything.