47 XTREME International Triathlon Union
TUNING IN Triathlon Live has used various methods to explore what viewers want to see – results reveal more interest in short, bite-sized content sections than in longer format shows
languages, with Spanish likely to be the first, followed by French.
Triathlon is a global sport. Race coverage is usually done by local teams and production companies, but there are always ITU producers and editors onsite – and sometimes additional ITU crew depending on local needs. Quality control and maintaining the appropriate look and feel for race coverage is a priority. BUILDING UP There is a growing number of turnkey and managed platforms for launching OTT video offerings now, but the ITU – perhaps in keeping with the triathlete’s can-do ethic – developed Triathlon Live entirely in-house. The channel uses Amazon services and streaming servers with an IT team solely dedicated to developing and maintaining the platform. The channel does have partners who help in some site design on the site, but the bulk of the development is overseen by the in-house team. “It was built quite a few years ago and there were not so many options then,” says Cernuda. “But we decide to go for it. One of the good things about building a platform from scratch is you know you’re going to fail sometimes, but you’re going to
learn. We learned that it’s easier to change or to implement new things on an online platform than on a linear TV platform. “We’re also learning a lot about our user experience and learning a lot about what works in terms of the length of content, what content users like better and where they consume it. We take a look at stats and graphics and can decide if we should go with a shorter format or a longer format. There are plenty of ways to learn what they like and what they don’t like.” The channel also sends a few surveys throughout the year to query users about the service. Shorter, tips-oriented content has been one of the requested formats with less interest expressed in the longer magazine-format shows. “We also look at what other sports organisations are doing. When you’re really big, it’s sometimes hard to move. We’re not like a big dinosaur that takes ages to do things. Here everything is quite quick and fast in terms of applying new strategies. Our sport is one that is growing in terms of media and public attention, so we foresee growth in the channel. Our goal is that Triathlon Live will be the one-stop shop for every triathlon lover.”
AIR, LAND AND SEA Triathlon Live so far has been an ad-free platform, but with the growing wave of interest the channel is seeing opportunities to give its stakeholders a window to promote themselves and to contribute content to the platform. “We are quite an expensive sport in terms of producing TV content for our races,” says Cernuda. “We need helicopters, we need motorbikes, we need RF cameras. It’s not an indoor sport that you cover with three cameras and that’s it. But we do cover our TV production with the income we get from the subscribers. “For the last few months, we’ve seen that we’re really increasing the number of subscribers. That can be linked to many things, but we think it’s because we’re approaching the Olympic cycle. And this year was quite close among two or three girls and two or three guys, and that brought a lot of public interest. For next season we’re thinking of adding some sponsors or stakeholders to maximise the possibilities we have.”
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