TTVNews celebrates its first 20 years, inviting friends and industry colleagues to share their personal experiences over the past two decades. Javier Figueras, Senior VP International Distribution at Olympusat, answers “where were you 20 years ago?”

This 2024 marks the 20th anniversary of TTVNews, a big reason to celebrate for the group which is consolidating itself as one of the go-to media platforms in the audiovisual industry in Latin America.

And to mark the occasion, we’ve invited friends and colleagues to share their experiences, challenges and lessons learned over the last 20 years in this industry.

This time, Javier Figueras, SVP, International Distribution at Olympusat, answers “where were you 20 years ago?”

Where were you 20 years ago?

Twenty years ago, I was living in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and leading the Warner Bros. Southern Cone team. It was a regional office that today is no longer part of the Warner Bros. team, but 20 years ago, I was thrilled to live in Buenos Aires.

What was your first industry event?

The first convention I attended was Canitec in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and the second was the Jornadas in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the same year. I had to travel to those two events when I was living in Venezuela and working at HBO’s headquarters. Some events were Canitec, Jornadas of cable TV, and a convention of cable operators in Central America.

The events in the US were awe-inspiring, and the presence of Latin America in US events was already beginning to be seen. Natpe, a gigantic event, and NCTA of the Cable Operators Association of the USA were the two biggest events, but they were gaining more strength as the years went by.

In 1995, a Natpe was held in Miami, a resounding success. Unfortunately, Miami did not have the infrastructure Las Vegas, New Orleans, Chicago, or Los Angeles had. Therefore, it was the only year that Natpe was held in Miami with that magnitude. Natpe returned to Miami many years later as a much smaller event because the studios had already stopped building the mega stands, and it was a different Natpe. That has been the trajectory of these years in terms of events and presence in the market.