Technologically Aware Television: The Use of New Technologies Enables Greater Creativity

In addition to one public television station, there are two commercial stations and 20 smaller local ones operating in the Croatian television market. Small televisions are no competition for the big ones; they will never become large because they cannot keep up with the technological development of the largest, neither in terms of content nor financially. However, it is not only content that makes one television better than another, but also the application of the latest technologies in the production and broadcasting of programs. Although digitalization has significantly reduced production costs, many televisions still find HD, high definition, which has become the standard in television production, unattainable.

Greater Creativity It is true that new technology is becoming cheaper and therefore more accessible, but some television content, such as broadcasting sports events and generally recording large live spectacles, still requires very expensive equipment. However, the use of new technologies has enabled greater creativity, as well as reporting from the scene via fixed or mobile internet, which has expanded the field for market competition among television companies. Additionally, due to cheaper technology for producing and broadcasting content, there are more and more new, small local televisions, not only in Croatia but also globally, but they will never be able to broadcast, for example, major sporting events like the Olympic Games. While traditional television is losing business to the wonders of technology from the internet, mobile phones, and computers, it can still adapt extremely quickly to new technologies. Of course, this is only possible if it is a large television company that can finance its own transformation into the most sophisticated technological visual reflection. No matter how much it can and tries, it is unlikely to preserve the special programming rights it knows today in the near future, and it will lose a significant portion of viewers who will turn to other, newer sources of information. This means that competition in the television market will be even greater, and those who are technologically prepared will win.
However, public and commercial television are not in the same situation; the former has secured funding, while the latter must earn it in the market. Nevertheless, both, if they want to increase their viewership, must follow the ‘fashionable’ technological and production trends.

Strong Multimedia In Croatia, Nova TV has been the most-watched television for six years, and its news program has had far the best ratings in the market for the seventh consecutive year. Investing in technology, content, production, and the best professionals in the market is the path Nova TV is taking, and the results show that these investments are profitable and further strengthen its leading position. Nova TV is a leader in viewership and business segments, as well as in the segment of technological innovations, they emphasize at the television station. This television sets technological trends and has been using the most modern technology – augmented reality – in its news program for over a year. This is a virtual reality system that allows the creation and manipulation of 3D graphics, which are added in the news set and shown to viewers as if they are in real space. The solution for displaying objects in augmented reality was designed by the Croatian company Stype. Thanks to this technology, viewers have a clear perception of information when news is presented, and such visual content creates an experience and additional value. For example, in the election program during the recently concluded elections, 3D graphics were used in Mark’s Square, which displayed the number of mandates won by parties in real-time, and Mislav Bago used the same technology live to assemble potential coalitions. That it is not just self-promotion of Nova TV as a trendsetter is evidenced by the Promax award. This is the most prestigious global award in the field of promotion, marketing, and design, which Nova TV won in two categories. In strong competition among over 10,000 top media from 70 countries, Nova TV won two silver medals for production graphics in the news program and for the best TV studio and video wall. This is a great recognition for the television station and proof of its ability to respond quickly to market needs and opportunities. Nova TV emphasizes that its vision is to be the strongest multimedia platform in Croatia. By developing all platforms and investing in technological innovations, Nova TV creates additional value for viewers and advertisers every day. By developing digital platforms, it successfully integrates content and communication, thus enabling better integration of advertisers across all platforms, and consequently a higher return on invested value.

High Definition Croatian Television, HTV, is a public media service and has a much longer history than the commercial Nova TV, which celebrated its 60th anniversary this year. HTV is part of the Croatian Radiotelevision system and has the most programs of all televisions in the Croatian market, broadcasting four national programs. However, HTV must adhere to certain rules that commercial televisions do not pay much attention to, one of which is preserving the ‘national identity, language, and culture.’ Therefore, HTV has some content in its program that is not found on commercial television because they cannot finance themselves, meaning they do not generate advertisements or viewership.
But commercial televisions, for example, do not have what HTV has in their system, which only the state can pay for: the Symphony Orchestra, Jazz Orchestra, Tamburitza Orchestra, and the HRT Choir, which play an important role in promoting Croatian music and culture worldwide. Thanks to their activities, the archive of television and radio programs and the collection of sheet music from the Croatian Radiotelevision’s music production received the status of cultural heritage in 2012.
However, this does not mean that HTV remains in the past programmatically and technologically; for its 90th birthday, it gifted itself, or rather its viewers, by launching special HD programs on two occasions, during which broadcasts of this year’s European Football Championship and the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro were aired. HTV emphasizes that this is just one of the additional values they have offered to users. The public national television announces that soon, as soon as possible, it will broadcast most programs in high definition. Among the innovations that HTV highlights is their multimedia internet service HRTi, which allows users to follow all programs of that television, as well as HRT’s radio programs, live via mobile devices, computers, and tablets. HRTi users have widely accepted this multimedia platform, through which HTV/HRT has significantly increased its reach to target groups not only in Croatia but also worldwide, especially in countries where Croatian emigrants live. Croatian Radiotelevision is also considering the possibility of introducing so-called hybrid television, HbbTV.
HTV emphasizes that broadcasting in high definition has so far been intended for special programs that aired sports content, but it will gradually seek to apply the use of new technologies in all programs.
Previous experiences have shown that viewers, listeners, and readers of content produced by Croatian Radiotelevision react very well to innovations, therefore, in line with this, the viewership of HD programs and the attendance of the HRTi multimedia service is high. HTV emphasizes that since the beginning of broadcasting programs until today, Croatian Radiotelevision has been among the media services in this part of Europe that keep pace with the times and follow media trends. It is also a highly valued partner within the leading global organization of public media services, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).