Manuel Balsera says the audiovisual issue is “in his blood.” “I am third generation.” His grandfather Eduardo García Maroto was one of the pioneers of Spanish cinema and his uncle Eduardo García Matilla, founder of Corporación Multimedia. Balsera has been the general director of AMC Networks International for Southern Europe for eight years, when he returned after a hiatus for a second stage. AMC Networks operates in Spain under the AMC Selekt brand 14 linear channels and on-demand content on different themes (cinema, series, documentaries, lifestyle...) and also has other streaming platforms such as AMC, Planet Horror, History and Current Affairs and The Gourmet.
The arrival of streaming changed everything…
Undoubtedly. But not only because of the emergence that Netflix generated about 15 years ago, but above all because of the technological development that allowed, for the first time in history, audiovisual content to be enjoyed in a non-linear way, that is, the content could be consumed. through telecommunications operators or other platforms whenever everyone wanted. That changed one of the historical foundations of television, which is programming and the linear programming structure. Well, in reality, it is not that it changed it but that it allowed linear consumption to be made compatible with non-linear consumption and led to new ways of consumption, new business and income models.
How would you define the current moment of television?
Like the best moment in the history of television from a user point of view. There has never been so much content of such variety and quality that could be obtained in so many different ways, on so many platforms and without much restriction. It is the golden age of television, understanding it not only as the channels but as the entire audiovisual phenomenon. And at the same time, in this explosion that the audiovisual world has had right now, there is a situation of redefinition of what television business models are.
And where is this redefinition going?
The sheer volume of content there has been is so incredible that we are going to start to become more sophisticated in the coming years. People are going to divide their consumption between the mainstream that Americans call that is, the generic consumption of the big series that everyone talks about, with more specific and concrete consumption in theme or format that satisfies the interests or motivations of the spectators.
So much offer can sometimes overwhelm the consumer...
It is the famous paradox of choice. There is so much volume of premieres and such a deep wardrobe that this leads you to zapping, something that has been criticized a lot about linear television but, in my opinion, there is no more efficient way right now to find content. Yes If you press the button you will arrive in a short space of time at something that may interest you. Sure, it is a much faster exercise than the trial and error dynamic that you have in video on demand services or platforms where you enter, see the intro, read the synopsis, go back... One of the current problems for the user is how Find what best suits not only your interests but also the moment you are in.
The platforms offer you personalized recommendations…
But there is still a lot of work to do. When you consume two gangster series, they continue to recommend gangster series, but maybe you've had a couple of weeks in which two things have coincided. It's like going to a Japanese restaurant and what they are offering you is to go eat at a Japanese restaurant every day. This large number of releases and inventory is making the user experience increasingly complicated.
After the arrival of streaming, it seemed that the future of paid themes was in danger.
Quite the opposite. Let us also keep in mind that the content of the thematic channels can also be found on demand. If you are interested in cooking and gastronomy, you have a specific place where you will absolutely guarantee content that interests you on Canal Cocina, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are interested in history you will have Canal Historia and if you are interested in horror movies, you will have Dark. And I could go on and talk about decoration, true crime... As the platforms are increasingly generic, it is increasingly difficult to find the content that interests you, which is what thematic channels offer you in an easier way. , fast and immediate.
What is AMC's most successful channel in Spain and which one are you most proud of?
The channel with the most viewers right now is Canal Hollywood, with the usual movies, which has just turned 30 years in the market. And the channel that I am especially proud of is Canal Cocina, which has been in Spain for more than 25 years and develops innovative and new formats every year.
If we move on to fictional content, AMC is the house of zombies. Where is The Walking Dead franchise now?
Once Fear the Walking Dead ended, which was the first spin-off series, new franchises were created in parallel and as a result of the launch of AMC that coincided with the end of The Walking Dead. These franchises have been generated around the characters in a very clear way: we started in Dead City, with two of the initially antagonistic characters like Maggie and Negan and then we have evolved towards Daryl Dixon, one of the most emblematic characters, and in the 2024 we will see Rick and Michonne, who had already disappeared a long time ago, in Rick's case for quite a few seasons. The recovery has to do with new geographical environments and the life of the characters of some of the series and specifically in this case of the original series. Right now there are these three fundamental franchises that are going to generate different paths.
How is the audience receiving them?
Daryl Dixon is the one that is achieving the most success at the moment, perhaps because it transcends the North American environment and moves to Europe. It offers the singularity of seeing a Paris devastated by zombies and moves through completely new dynamics. The fundamental themes, betrayal, love, companionship and that some human beings are worse than the walkers themselves are still present in all the series.
Another universe that AMC wants to develop is the one linked to the novels of Anne Rice, whose Interview with the Vampire has already been released.
Yeah. This is a completely different franchise model because we are talking about an author who has her own universe that is not unique but multiple and linked to witchcraft, vampires, etc. The first season of Interview with the Vampire has worked extremely well and next year we will have the second season. This has been accompanied by another completely different format such as The Mayfair Witches.
Could betting so much on franchises make it more difficult to produce new cult series like Breaking Bad or Mad Men, iconic AMC series?
The complexity of there being a new Breaking Bad or a new Mad Men is that when AMC began producing these series, the production density of fiction that was not for mass consumption was very restricted. But right now the volume of production there is is overwhelming and finding that emblematic series becomes more difficult because there is an over-demand for series of all types and the production of series in the market, not only the American ones, but also the European ones or the Asians, is growing exponentially. In our case, we are not only producing those two Anne Rice and The Walking Dead franchises but also truly unique series like Dark Winds, of which we will soon release the second season. It is a series of a different genre, a mix between the western and the Indian reservations set in the seventies and early eighties in the United States. AMC is going to continue exploring a lot, not only those territories to develop franchises, but also those small exercises of extraordinary creativity such as the case of Dark Winds.
And how do you see the future of series production. Is it a bubble that is going to burst?
We are undoubtedly going to rationalize the production process because, no matter how much passion we have when it comes to developing what we do, which is creating content, people cannot absorb it all. It is physically impossible to see only what is released each week on all channels and platforms. Only on AMC, for example, we have an average of 14 daily releases between series, documentaries, programs... If there is inflation, what is going to happen? Well, there will be a rationalization and a gradual decrease in volume because relevance and success will become increasingly difficult. And on the other hand, it seems evident that sooner or later there will be a concentration process among the large media operators because the density and change in the business model invite this.
