Igor Draguzet, CME: Our first step is to bring RTL to the viewership level of its competitors

Domestic RTL presented its autumn schedule at the beginning of the month, the second since it came under CME’s control, a company owned by the Czech giant PPF Group. In June 2022, the former owner of Nova TV, CME, re-entered the domestic market by acquiring RTL and adding it to a portfolio of a total of 43 television channels across six markets, reaching 49 million viewers.

In addition to Croatia, the company operates in Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Slovenia, and its chief content officer, Igor Draguzet, spoke to Lider about the Group’s plans regarding the development of TV content, trends, news, and the new subscription video-on-demand service, Voyo.

Until recently, the RTL Premium service was available to the domestic audience. How does it differ from the new service, Voyo? Is it a rebranding or a completely new product?

– Voyo is a completely new concept in the domestic market. It is a subscription video-on-demand service, and the domestic audience will have the opportunity to watch all of RTL’s local TV content in advance, 24 hours before its premiere on local linear channels. The content will be available for catch-up, live, ad-free, on demand, and on any device. These are the key features that distinguish Voyo from the previous product. Additionally, Voyo will offer more than 10,000 hours of content available on the platform, with many titles that have not previously been on television.

What audience are you targeting with Voyo?

– Families. The content we offer and create is intended for everyone, and we plan it so that every family member can find something for themselves.

Thanks to the services of telecom operators, the share of viewers who can watch existing content from RTL channels whenever they want is increasing; they already have some form of convenience and do not have to watch content live. Do you think the advantages of Voyo are strong enough hooks for them to pay for this service?

– Some of the functionalities offered by the Voyo platform are not available to IPTV service subscribers, such as watching content before its premiere. There is also a whole archive of domestic and foreign content that other providers do not offer. Furthermore, we plan to add more content in the future, especially exclusive content, and to produce original content that will not be available on linear television. In other markets, we already have original Voyo formats, mainly series produced exclusively for Voyo subscribers, and we plan to offer that to Croatian viewers as well. So, this is content that viewers will not be able to find anywhere else.

Is it in-house produced content? Do you plan to increase original production?

– That is already happening. Currently, we have over a hundred projects in development, and since September 2021, 33 original Voyo formats have been airing.

How many did you have before?

– Three years ago, before the Czech PPF Group took over CME, there were fewer than 20 projects in development. It is worth noting that these are projects we are working on, and not all will be produced, but there is certainly a plan to invest in domestic content. The local audience wants to watch local content; they identify with it. That is our greatest strength, and our local competitors cannot match us, nor are foreign platforms our competition.

Platforms like Netflix or HBO are not even interested in such content.

– Exactly. Our markets are small, and they operate on a scale. If the content does not have the potential to become global, they are not interested. We, on the other hand, are rooted in linear television, in the local market, so we understand why viewers want to watch and appreciate domestic content. That is our USP, our advantage.

Why do you think local commercial televisions cannot match you in this?

– CME is present in six territories, and we have no competitor of that size. For example, local Nova TV is owned by United Group and competes with us only in the Bulgarian and Croatian markets. In others, our competition consists of televisions that are ‘closed’ to the local market and do not operate elsewhere. We can maximize our size for the benefit of individual members. What you learn in one market can be applied in another, and this applies equally to all business practices and content. That is my responsibility. When I notice a trend in one territory, I think about whether it makes sense to apply it in others; I know how something is produced, promoted, etc. That is an extremely significant advantage.

CME has already operated in the domestic market. What does its new era bring?

– A new beginning for RTL, but more importantly, new leadership and significant financial investment in the content strategy of CME Adriatics. We want to help RTL realize its full potential, and the first step is to bring it to the viewership level of its competitors.

Is that why, after a full seven years, RTL Croatia has returned to producing long-format drama programs like the series ‘Dream of Dreams’?

– We want to work on diversity, increase our offerings, and not just by the number of titles but also by genres. It is important to understand that linear television is nothing more than a distribution method, and the content we create can be distributed across various platforms, from linear television, video on demand, to social media. We want to create a ‘total video’ environment.

The autumn schedule also features many ‘old’ hits like ‘Dinner for 5’, ‘Love is in the Village’, ‘Life on the Scale’…

– That content is loved and wanted by viewers, and we are happy with that. We are here to give them what they want. However, to offer new genres and new content, we need to develop capacities because the market is small, and there are only a few independent houses from which original content production or international formats can be ordered. Simply put, there are not enough professionals who can execute this within the given timeframe, in one calendar year. Therefore, we need to help the market develop creative capacities, and with that development, we will be able to order more diverse content.

How could you specifically help the market?

– In Slovakia and the Czech Republic, we have the CME Content Academy, a school where we educate TV professionals who can continue to work with us. And that is the plan for other markets. We intend to increase our investments, but we need to develop creative capacities. The plan is to gradually increase the amount of ordered domestic content and help independent producers develop their companies, educate themselves, develop skills, and build their production capacities.

Will you increase investments in shorter-format drama series that commercial televisions generally do not produce, which resonate with a somewhat younger audience?

– We plan to have a diverse offering of genres and formats, and part of that offering will be drama series with fewer episodes. The reason why such series are usually not ordered by commercial televisions is economic in nature. It is extremely expensive to allocate resources for just a few episodes, and it is challenging for a linear channel to recoup the funds invested in production from advertising revenue associated only with that product. In this area, it is difficult to compete with the global offering, and domestic viewers have access to global content. We need to find the right product, the right story to ensure it will attract enough viewers. So, I am talking about commercial televisions; public ones are in a different position. We have several stories in development, and when we find the first one with which we want to open that genre, we will start production. And that will be quick.

What are the trends regarding TV advertising? Are advertisers investing in linear television?

– Television still brings people together; its reach in this part of the world is unmatched, so it remains attractive to advertisers. Over time, the way viewership is measured will change; it will move beyond TV ratings and aggregate viewership across different platforms, which will then be sold to advertisers. We are awaiting these new measurement systems.

What would you highlight as the stars of RTL’s new autumn schedule?

– Besides the fact that the new Voyo service offers added value to viewers and is a significant shift, we firmly believe in the new autumn schedule. With the aforementioned series ‘Dream of Dreams’, we are returning to domestic scripted content, and I would highlight the return of hits like ‘Life on the Scale’, ‘Love in the Village’, but also new, full-blooded intergenerational content – the talent show ‘Superstar’, which starts at the end of September.