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Mauro Valdés

Mauro Valdés’ didn’t use to watch much television. As Vice-President of Corporate and External Affairs at BHP Billiton’s Base Metals division, he didn’t have much time to lounge in front of the TV set. But since he accepted the post of new Executive Director of TVN, Chile’s largest public broadcaster, Valdés has found himself glued to the screen. Valdés, who has 12 years’ experience in corporate communications, knows how to get a message across to the public. Now, at the helm of TVN, Valdés faces increasing competition in the sector – Time Warner’s recent purchase of Chilevisión is an example – as well as the opportunity provided by digital television to reach a wider audience with more diverse programming. Valdés spoke to bUSiness CHILE about his new role, the challenges ahead and his plans for the state broadcaster.

Why did you accept the position of Executive Director at TVN?

I was drawn to the challenge of leading this television broadcaster which is very important for all Chileans. It is a tremendous challenge with a lot of significance for me personally. Mass communications and public broadcasting represented by TVN are a very powerful motor for social change.

How has your relationship with TVN’s board been so far?

Excellent. There are different points of view on the Board and that makes for a rich and interesting discussion about the role TVN should play in the current scenario and in the future. The Board, including its composition and the way it works, are key elements in the institutional framework that supports TVN’s mission as a public broadcaster.

You used to work in the mining sector. What lessons can you bring to public television?

Mining is an industry that demands a long-term view, discipline, patience and precision, but there is still room to dream big. Television probably has more room in this respect, but it also needs discipline and patience. From my own experience, I bring the ability to work hard to achieve goals, appreciation for the value of teamwork and the search for quality and perfection in daily tasks.

As a state-owned company TVN has a social mission but it is also a business. Is it possible to balance these two aims?

The interesting thing about TVN, which has made it a public channel unique in the world, is that it has found this balance. This is obvious in our programming which is very diverse including news programs, entertainment and culture in different genres and formats. In public TV, we are the leaders in news, culture and popular entertainment. We are the channel with the largest network in the region and the only one with an International Signal. We also have the biggest market share. Achieving a balance between our mission and our business is a permanent challenge which sets us apart from the competition.

Given our important market share, we are also a top choice for advertisers, which see us as a solid, trusted and diverse medium to promote their brands. TVN is present in various platforms, which also expands our financing possibilities, and in the future we want to strengthen our capacity to create and export television productions that compete in the international market. We have already done this with soap operas, like Dónde está Elisa (Where is Elisa?), which has been very successful, and we will keep doing it. The theoretical tension between our mission and our business actually results in greater creativity and a better quality product.

With the arrival of digital television, where do you see the opportunities or challenges for TVN?

Digital television offers the possibility of increasing the variety of platforms to better fulfill our mission statement. It will allow us to create content for a more segmented audience. The big challenge is how to create more content while maintaining high quality standards and how to finance these new alternatives. We are planning a strategic study which will help us define TVN’s role in the new digital scenario.

You have said television should represent the country “in all its diversity to strengthen its national identity.” What changes does TVN need to make to achieve this?

More than changes, we need to do what we’re already doing even more. We have to offer more varied programming to reflect the Chile of today and show the different realities coexisting in the country. We are focused on maintaining quality standards that put us at the vanguard of the industry and allow us to prepare for a scenario of higher competition.

How can the participation of Chile’s regions in public broadcasting be strengthened?

We are developing a plan for the regions, which includes the construction of regional offices especially created to make TV. This will allow us to improve and professionalize our work in the regions. The plan considers an investment of 6 billion pesos (US$12.5 million), which is big for TVN, but we are happy to do this considering the need for progress in integrating all Chileans by producing local content for the regions and at a national level. This is TVN’s competitive advantage.

You mentioned stopping the “revolving door” in TVN. Why is this important?

In the last few weeks we have seen that TVN is a source of professionals for the local TV industry. Faced with more aggressive competition, we need to ensure that we protect our assets, especially in terms of knowledge and information.

Speaking of competition, Time Warner recently bought Chilevisión, which was previously owned by President Piñera. What impact will Time Warner’s arrival have?

With this deal, Chilevisión should eventually produce television up to Time Warner’s quality standards and the role of the channel will be linked to the Universidad de Chile. Time Warner is a creator of quality content and so it is welcome in our country, we are all in favor of better standards. For us it is a motivation to persevere in our search for better content to inform, entertain and educate in new and attractive ways.

What are the most important challenges for TVN going forward?

The biggest challenge is to keep accompanying Chileans in their lives and identifying the information and entertainment needs of our audience in a changing society; to keep connecting the country and its people through the TV screen; and to lead the industry with innovative and quality products.

The arrival of the digital television era is a great challenge and opportunity in this sense. TVN is the biggest producer of content for Chilean TV and that gives us an advantage. But we have to know how to take advantage of it by producing creative shows on our own and in cooperation with third parties.

Julian Dowling is editor of bUSiness CHILE