The Internet and the Audiovisual Sector Meet In the Digital & Media Forum

The advent of the Internet changed the business models of both television stations and production companies as well as advertising agencies and brands. The audiovisual world has had to adapt to a new ecosystem full of challenges, but also opportunities, that offers new technical, commercial, and creative possibilities. These are some of the findings of the Digital & Media Forum, a journey organized by the Catalan Audiovisual Cluster in the auditorium of the Blanquerna.

To reflect on the links that the audiovisual world has and will have with the Internet -and vice versa-, six professionals with very different profiles participated in the session “Digital & Media Forum”, divided into three thematic blocks and moderated by Sergi Vicente, director of BTV .

The first block, designed to examine the Internet through the lens of the audiovisual field, was introduced by Toni Esteve (Lavinia Group), through a presentation dedicated to the latest changes in audiovisual devices, as well as in audience habits that, according to the president of Lavinia, tend toward “immersivity”, meaning the active participation of users in the audiovisual content. Toni Esteve also predicted that the audiovisual will play an increasingly important role as an educational tool in the school curriculum.

In turn, Astrid Altadill, Branded Content Strategist of El Terrat, speaking from her extensive experience in the field of digital advertising, detailing how televisions, brands, and agencies were introduced in the Internet world, and how this new ecosystem required them to change the way that they produce and distrubute content, as well as to devise new strategies to interact with consumers.

The second block focused on the hybrid experiences that fuse the audiovisual and Internet. Professor and multimedia producer Arnau Gifreu highlighted the artistic potential of transmedia, with special mention of some innovative projects carried out in Spain and Catalonia, such as Panzer Chocolate, The Cosmonaut, Maleïda Ciutat or Cyborg Project. On the other hand, Nataly Rios, producer of the British company Transmedia Storytelling, spoke about new commercial strategies based on transmedia, through which brands can gain a greater presence forits customers through the development of interactive experiences. This is the case of Canal Plus with 19 Reinos, a transmedia game targeted at fans of the series Game of Thrones.

The final block closed the session with two professionals that reflected on the audiovisual sector through the lens of the Internet. Oriol Solé, founder of Seriesly, presented his latest project: Tviso, an online platform designed to facilitate and customize the viewing of TV programming, and Eudald Domenech, founder of Servicom, Telepolis, World Online, Inout TV, Techfoundries, Total Channel and Sincroguia TV, who accepted the challenge of describing how the audiovisual world will be in relation to the Internet in 2020. Domenech concluded that while broadcast channels will hold on to a majority of the market, there will be a strong presence of the second screen, apps and new devices, making up a framework of “hiperfragmented” content that is much more personalized and dynamic.