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Telefónica: Focused on innovative initiatives such as music, content for millennials, and living apps

September 22, 2021

Maribel Ramos-Weiner

OTT Aggregation in Pay TV

Mireia Cuenca Ramón, manager of Telefónica Entertainment Alliances, said that the company is focused on innovative initiatives in music and content for millennials, and new alliances, apart from the traditional ones with Amazon and Netflix, to improve the entertainment experience.

“Telefónica took a step forward two years ago by offering a platform for digital services. With the Living Apps channel (sports and home services) we bring experiences that were far from the reach of the consumer and made them available in that environment,” said Cuenca during the panel The Aggregation of OTT in Pay-TV of the NEXTV Series South America. She added that the service is currently only in Spain, but will be extended to other parts of the world.

Cuenca commented that they have been working with Hernán Portugal, founder of GoMusic and Xave -who was also on the panel- in the integration of their product. She pointed out that the benefits of living apps are brand positioning and income generation.

Portugal commented that having integrated his service with a large company like Telefónica helped them organize and achieve more visibility. “We went from full HD to being available also in 8K, a technological innovation in which the operator helped us,” he said. This alliance benefited them with technological innovation and good positioning.

Alejandro Lacalle, CFO and Business Development of Teatrix, who also participated in the talk, mentioned that in 2020 the OTT grew a lot and they were able to close their first license agreement with Mexico. “We already have seven months of growing presence with that licensee and we have incorporated more than 100 contents with them in these first months of the year,” he said.

He also indicated that they have done aggregation tests with TC Uruguay and others in Argentina. “For us, it is a formidable opportunity,” he said.

Cuenca highlighted the importance of updating constantly to keep offering a good user experience in a context like the one they have. “The objective when negotiating is to create flexible agreements, in a live market context, so that in a simple way we can adapt quickly. These benefits partners of all sizes and markets. The revenue share conditions can be improved as the proposal becomes more sophisticated,” she said.