“These 16 years of BTV have been a very successful journey”

INTERVIEW

On the date that BTV celebrates its 16th anniversary, the channel's general director, Pedro Pinto, was in the studio and took stock of the journey so far, also explaining future plans.

Vindicating the media outlet's “success” as a “watermark of the Club's great moments”, “the great challenge for the future is to project and boost BTV even more as a reference in information for Benfiquistas”, according to Pedro Pinto on Tuesday, December 10.

16 YEARS MAKING HISTORY

"A successful balance, clearly positive. All of Benfica's great moments over the last 16 years have been covered by BTV. The winning of a title, a great European achievement in sports, a moment of homage to a Benfica symbol like Fernando Chalana... In so many moments - and I'm just giving a few examples - BTV was there. It was there every step of the way, it was there every minute, it was there all the time. So there's a very trusting relationship here with the Benfiquistas, very close, which we naturally want to grow. The challenges for the future are great. Above all, to point out that these 16 years have been a journey of great success. We have to be proud, because BTV has been the watermark of these great Benfica moments, and we want to continue."

MAKING BTV EVEN MORE OF A REFERENCE

"I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate and pay tribute, because these 16 years are also a tribute to all the people who have worked here with enormous dedication and commitment. It's not possible to make television of such quality, with such demand, without total commitment and dedication. So all the professionals, from the most invisible to the most visible, who are here on air, they all deserve our tribute, our homage, because they are part of BTV's history, they are part of its success, and they will certainly be part of what is the great challenge for the future. And the big challenge for the future is to make BTV even more of a reference for Benfica fans. We want to see a great Benfica match, we watch it on BTV. We want to follow a sport, a special moment in the sports, in the pavilions, we can see it on BTV. We want to follow a more institutional, more corporate moment, as, for example, happened yesterday [Monday, December 9] with the opening of an exhibition at the Benfica Museum - Cosme Damião, we can see it on BTV. We want to follow the inauguration of a Casa Benfica from a distance, as happened recently in Arouca, and we can follow that broadcast on BTV. That's the big challenge: to get closer and closer to the Benfiquistas, to be the information reference for the Benfica world, in a context which, from an audiovisual point of view, is changing rapidly and also in an impactful way."

THREE AXES IN TRANSFORMATION

"There are three axes that are changing: the 1st has to do with television rights, it's not the right time to talk about it and I won't say anything about it. We are all aware that television rights have an opportunity between 2026 and 2028. In 2028, there will be centralization and that will have an impact on BTV; the 2nd structuring axis for the future of BTV has to do with what we are already doing, which is a technological transformation. Today, we make television in a very different way to 16 years ago. There is an ability to interact with viewers, to connect in terms of networks, to create a direct relationship with those who are watching us and even with a bolder, more advanced technological support, which allows for another kind of television look and feel, and that's what we're moving towards. Obviously, we have to invest, we have to change the way we make television, we have to get to that level, and we want to do it. And a 3rd axis that is also already happening, and also in a very accelerated way, is the integration of the contents that are part of the Benfica world and communication group. They have to work and be valid for Benfiquistas on multiple platforms, whether on cell phones, through social networks, on the website, in the newspaper, on BPlay, on a future radio station or on BTV. The content has to have a life of its own on all the platforms, and this integration and articulation of content is being done more and more, with the firm and concrete purpose of being ever closer to the Benfiquistas on this journey, which, for me, has a unique aspect: BTV is the watermark of Benfica's greatest moments, and we want to keep it that way."