Chat with João Palomino, journalist with a 40-year career, 25 of them at ESPN Brasil. Founder of streaming company Live Sports.
UOL Esporte: What motivates a traditional media professional to start a company that communicates with innovation?
Joao Palomino: At the time when I was at ESPN, and even at other companies, there were always hurdles in the discussion of how the distribution model would be with the strong arrival of streaming, connected TV, the possibility of choosing time for the consumer. And the product you want to see. The operators with whom the companies have contracts did not allow this discussion because changing the business model was a risk. But it has always been a subject. By September I was approached by Nilson Fujisawa, a tech guy who had similar concerns and decided to move into the world of streaming with a few more stouts.
And what can you do again or differently?
I come from journalism, so I believe a lot in production in well-told stories, which will create an engagement with the consumer. Fans need a favorable experiment, they need to feel that they are related to something. An example outside of football is bicycles. There are many people who are interested in laps, appliances, circuits. But there is no channeling of material from the point of view of products or anything that attracts the attention of people practicing cycling. Billonging is an ugly word, but it says a lot. Giving information about equipment, teams and athletes in the second, third screens is a way to captivate. It is not generational, it is a habit. When I’m watching a game and there’s a controversial thing in which broadcasting hasn’t come to a conclusion, I open my cell phone to see what people are talking about, it’s immediate. How would you turn it into a quiet ecosystem where you cannot control but co-participate? This is the current challenge.
You talked about cycling first. Do you think division is a reality, especially of people paying to consume and abandon more generic content packages?
I have no doubt. There is a repressed demand, there is a shortage, people need to know more about what happens in their sport, in their city, in their club, in their area. They want more information available based on their taste. Database is everything today. Open TV is also not mentioned, but closed TV also limited the presence of sports other than post-Olympics football, with no legacy. The fanatic fan goes after him.
And by division, will the focus be on experience?
The word “experience” is very powerful. There is a phrase I like very much and I once used it when describing an NBA game, talking about everything that happened in parallel: “The game is a mere description”. I talked about organizing, preparing, cultivating new fans. A man’s previous experience in the arena is very important, how he comes, how he is received, the bathroom, the price of things, what he eats, what he drinks, where he sits, how he finds space, if He quickly reaches home, if it does not come fast, to increase the attraction of staying at his place, as is the app that brings additional information. All this makes the experience great and the man wants to come back. But if he comes to the stadium and gets hit by the police, there is no urine, food is sour or expensive, there is no place to sit, they are all standing and you are seated, no transport when you leave. Is not and comes home late … You have to be very hardcore to return. Online only.
