In the following interview with ttvnews, Karina Medina, Ecuavisa’s Programming Manager, shares what content they want to add to their catalog in the international market.

In an industry as evolving as the entertainment industry, it is imperative to stay one step ahead of the latest trends and know what the international market demands regarding content.

To this end, ttvnews presents the Buyers: What are buyers looking for? Initiative to learn first-hand about the programming needs of buyers around the world.

This time, we spoke to Karina Medina, Ecuavisa’s Programming Manager:

What content would you highlight among those that worked best for the company in 2024? 

The product that gave us the most satisfaction last year was Los García, an adaptation of the book Los Roldán, which premiered on October 8, during a very complex situation for the country. Power outages of up to 14 hours, which lasted until December 21. 

Then the scenario was very complex, but the numbers obtained with this product in our grid, produced by us, an adaptation of 140 chapters, with a first season of 52, and 88 remaining for 2025. 

The numbers were fantastic, we as a result had a share of six channels, in the main exhibition 29% share over all the competition. Now, I tell you in this central broadcast that as a strategy, due to the power cuts, we implemented some additional exhibitions after the premiere episode and additionally a summary on weekends. In all the exhibitions, we were audience leaders.

But something beyond the linear screen, were the results, in total, in all our screens of Los García. They reached 23 million views in the first season, and that was one of the greatest prides we have had within all the national production we have been doing since 1967, that is, almost 57 years ago. 

In digital consumption, we had 124 million video views, 1.1 million interactions, and 157 thousand downloads in Ecuavisados. 

So it was a product that really brought us much satisfaction, and we are very proud to continue with local production, in this case the adaptation of a book as famous as Los Roldán.

We ended a very good year, 2024, leading our audience with a 32.1% share, being the leader in Ecuador at the national level.

What kind of content or formats or genres are you going to look for at industry events?

Mainly, we are looking for formats to adapt and books to adapt, that is our main focus. We also continue to buy telenovelas, mainly Turkish telenovelas, but we have not lost sight of Indian and Filipino telenovelas, which are telenovelas that have brought us a lot of satisfaction in previous years. 

In fact, since February 2019, we have programmed Filipino telenovelas in a quite successful slot nationwide. 

Another product or genre we are looking for is live sporting events; in fact, last year, we acquired two UFC fights of two very successful compatriots outside the country. So those sporting events are of great interest to us. 

We are also looking for a format that allows us to make alliances with other countries, whether a reality show or game show.

Where do you see the greatest growth potential for the company today, and how is this reflected in your programming strategy? 

Well, our strategy is mainly oriented to remain the most credible news channel in the country. Therefore, our main focus is news, but we have also worked hard on national production, and now we will venture into sports. 

After 12 years of not having the National Soccer Championship on linear screen, starting in 2025, Ecuavisa will have it. 

What we are looking for is content that allows us to work a 360-degree strategy on all our screens. That is the main focus, to have everything that, as Ecuavisa’s mission says, allows us to share stories that inspire society. That is the motto that I believe that since Ecuavisa was born, is the motto that is still valid today. 

Basically, we are concentrating on that, adding other genres such as canned telenovelas and canned feature films that ultimately build our entire grid.

Are there any trends that you are following closely in the market?

In September 2022, our app called Ecuavisa Play was launched, which in the first instance something that I have to thank and appreciate is the support of our suppliers, because when we were testing, we had all the suppliers supporting us and sharing with us all the linear screen content that we could display in our app and obviously geo-blocked.

This way, we were nurturing it, also with transmedia products or specific content, especially for our app or with contests, and all those elements we needed to promote this app, which is free in Ecuador.