Colombia. The challenges that new technologies present to Colombian Television and Radio will be the central themes of the TecnoTelevisión y Radio 2019 fair that from October 23 to 25 will bring together the most important representatives of the industry in the middle of an important commercial exhibition and a high-rise academic congress that will be held at the Gran Salón de Corferias in Bogotá.
The Colombian television industry, creatively is considered one of the most outstanding in Latin America, however in the field of production it goes through a crucial moment in which the hegemony of the two private channels converge, which have lowered the quality of their programming, which was focused on a few dramatized, realities and newscasts, and the new global trend of streaming video, which definitely gains more users every day, and that in the country can be measured, for example, with the penetration of Netflix that in 2019 already reached 15% of Colombian households, represented by 2 million users.
According to Verónica Marín, Project Manager of the TecnoTelevisión & Radio fair -which will be held from October 23 to 25 in Corferias and which brings together the most important manufacturers and distributors of technology worldwide, as well as producers and directors of television, radio and cinematographic media-, this dynamic of the private, which a few years ago produced telenovelas, serials, comedies, contests, and broadcasts of special events and live shows, it has been reduced to a maximum of 6 major productions a year.
"This phenomenon has set in motion a large machinery of independent producers, 100% national," says Marín. This "good health" of the industry in the country contrasts with the crisis of large Latin American producers such as Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela, which due to political issues and mismanagement have decreased in recent years, losing quality and competitiveness at the international level.
In the concept of Verónica Marín, although this is the macro panorama of the television industry in the country, we must not forget the spread of companies specialized in commercial production or those that provide post-production services, equipment rental and studios, all of these, active and growing, thanks to the demand for the new digital platforms that focus, in large percentage, its contents in the video.
This boom, supported by the specialization of many universities and technological institutions with faculties and programs increasingly specialized in new media, audiovisual communication, cinema and radio, has opened the panorama in recent years, and thanks to new technologies, it is possible that Colombia is a very fertile field for the proliferation of young directors, producers and technicians who today succeed in international arenas.
A separate chapter deserves the Colombian radio, which, according to Verónica Marín, independent of its big players, Caracol and RCN, continues to be a very strengthened industry thanks to the culture and radio creativity of the country and shows the strength of small stations throughout the national territory that have historically been consolidated to the point of attracting attention and often being bought by the leading networks.
Now, this strengthening that occurs at a global level, will not stop the future challenges that are seen coming with the penetration and culture of the Internet and new technologies such as podcasting, video streaming and especially music platforms, which already impact young audiences who are listening less and less to traditional radio.
According to Richard Santa, "these changes that could change the radio industry forever and that could affect Colombian and Latin American radio in general, bring with them great threats such as the transmission of content over the Internet without the payment of rights and royalties, or the availability of music, almost unlimitedly on new platforms, that are made attractive by the way they offer to manage the contents at will, without having to listen to programs or commercial spots", and concludes that the challenge for the Government in the country will be the regulation of these platforms in order to give greater opportunities to traditional media that comply with the rules, pay taxes and are an important source of employment.
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