In place of Antnio Augusto Amaral de Carvalho Filho, Tutinha, the executive guarantees that the group ‘cut excesses’
After the crisis with the polarization of the presidential elections, Jovem Pan made a series of changes. At the helm of the presidency since January, Roberto Arajo, who took over from Antnio Augusto Amaral de Carvalho Filho, known as Tutinha, says that the group has cut back on excesses.
We continue to be critical, independent, however, trying to get commentators to use less adjectives and talk more about people’s actions, he said. With the dismissal of commentators and the hiring of new ones, the broadcaster also changed the commercial command, with the arrival of Alexandre Barsotti (ex-Band), and hired André Ramos (ex-CNN) as director of journalism and sports.
There is a lot of negotiation going on with more people to reinforce, give more weight and relevance.
What was your role when you took over as president of Jovem Pan in January?
My role was also to assume an institutional part, I had been CEO for some years. Tutinha remains on the Board of Directors and continues as a partner. But not much changes from day to day. However, now I speak more for the company.
How is the repositioning going after the election period?
During the elections, we published several editorials stating the position of Jovem Pan and not of some commentators on the station. On election day itself, November 30th, at 5:00 pm, we released an editorial saying that whatever the result, it had to be accepted. There were many excesses on all sides during the elections, it became a Fla X Flu, and we said it was time to let the next government work to show what it came or what it stayed. We cut the ends, considering that it was a new moment, of the ball being more on the ground, we removed some excesses, both on the right and on the left, because Jovem Pan has always had two positions, of having commentators on both sides to discuss. We continue to be critical, independent, however, trying to get commentators to use less adjectives and talk more about people’s actions.
And was there a team renewal as well?
Yes, but in the last seven or eight years, you could say this is the fourth or fifth renewal. Jovem Pan is always renewing itself, reinventing itself. There is nothing different from what has not already happened in the past. In 2014, for example, Reinaldo Azevedo commanded Os Pingos nos is. Then Joyce entered, who left and gave way to Felipe Moura Brasil. From there, Augusto Nunes entered, who left now.
How does the motto Independent Journalism translate today?
80 years ago, Jovem Pan adopted this motto and has always been recognized for it. When we talk about independent journalism, we usually mean politics. If the government does good things, whatever it is, it will be applauded. If you do things that we don’t agree with, we will criticize. Without being related to whoever is in power, that’s what being independent is all about. Never in the history of Jovem Pan, whatever the government, had neither total support, because in the role of the communication vehicle supporting no one, nor total criticism. Jovem Pan does not do activism, it does journalism.
And what is your assessment of these three months at the head of the group?
The repositioning is going well, the numbers are already showing. As always, the audience drops in January, because some programs are off the air, like Pânico, for example, which is on vacation. Sports programs also have a large audience and there are almost no championships at the beginning of the year. There was a sharper drop this year, because post-election everyone had a bit of an overdose. But now in March already reacted. On YouTube, the audience has already risen again, with 28.5 million unique users. On cable, we are once again in second place among news channels (behind GloboNews and ahead of CNN). People think that Jovem Pan has already grown a lot in recent years when it became the biggest radio network, the biggest news channel on the internet and the second on cable, but this is just the beginning of what Jovem Pan wants in terms of growth.
When did the cable TV channel launch and how does distribution work?
It was launched in September 2021. Since the beginning, the signal has been open on the parabolic. People from the interior have always had the channel available for free. Even on cable channels it is part of the channels for free. It has always been an open signal, despite having distribution on cable, on the satellite dish, since September it has been available on Samsung’s fast channels. It’s on Samsung Plus too. It’s been less than a month since we’ve had international distribution on some channels in the United States, Latin America and Canada. We are increasing distribution.
What are the platforms of the group currently?
In Brazil, people can access Pan Félix, YouTube, cable, satellite, Samsung Plus, and soon Pluto and Prime Video, which are in the final stages of implementation. In the USA, we are on some television channels. On YouTube, for some time now 6% of the international audience.
Does the biggest audience come from the radio?
Jovem Pan is a typical case of being really multiplatform. Between 70% and 80% of the mirrored audience. What you are listening to on the radio is on television, on cable, in some specific programs for each platform. The audience also differs. On the cable, Jovem Pan has 120 affiliates, serving practically two thousand cities in Brazil. On YouTube, on average, it reaches 30 million. well distributed.
And what is the purpose of the new radio, Jovem Pan News, FM 76.7?
In fact, it is not a new radio, there was a migration from AM to FM. AM in So Paulo practically doesn’t work anymore. At least now our audience will be able to access the Jovem Pan News radio, the 76.7 signal is perfect, even better than the 100.9. Jovem Pan News is 100% news and 100.9 is the Jovem Pan that everyone knows, which has news, music, variety and sports.
How do you define Jovem Pan’s audience today?
As we are in several distribution channels, we have different audiences. When it was only on radio, eight years ago, there was an older audience, 30+. With YouTube, however, 18 to 30 year olds see very clearly, which they didn’t have before. In other words, it rejuvenated the audience. And there are some programs, such as Pnico and the musical part, which are more youthful. You can say that we have a little bit of each audience. An analysis program, politics, for example, attracts an older audience. We have an audience for all tastes and types.
How is the video programming part, considering the increase in consumption in Brazil?
On YouTube, Jovem Pan was the forerunner with video news on the platform. We invest a lot in video. Next year, we should practically double the investment in our stadiums. We currently have five studios and we should reach nine TV studios.
What media opportunities do you currently see?
The media market is in a state of extreme disruption and Jovem Pan surfed that wave back then. She realized it wasn’t a radio company, but a content one. Radio was a way to distribute content. Jovem Pan took advantage of all the opportunities that were opening up thanks to innovation and disruption. And it will continue to be so. We think that our content has to accompany the act of consumption of our audiences. No one consumes one thing all day long, one type of content. It is necessary to understand the journey of audiences, which are different.
How’s the advertising revenue?
Compared to the first quarter of last year, it remained stable. Normally, January and February also have a seasonality, period in which the lowest turnover. Now, it starts to rise again. The market is a little more withdrawn than last year, but we remain optimistic.
And where does the biggest revenue come from?
As our content distribution is ultra-fragmented, our income is also fragmented. For example, there is a large part that comes from digital platforms, it has branded content, it has everything. This Fla X Flu that we lived, they love attacking Jovem Pan, they think they are really getting it right, but Jovem Pan is also very fragmented in terms of recipes.
What type of content has the highest audience?
We have some audience champions, such as Jornal da Manh, Linha de Frente, which has grown a lot, and Os Pingos nos í, which, since it was created in 2014, has been the leader in radio audience. Now, we are going to look for an audience at other times that we believe we should also be in the lead. When we launched the cable, in September 2021, we told the operators that it was a beta version and we are going to change what is possible. We are not committed to failure. Jovem Pan’s programming will never be static, because products get old and evolve.
This crisis with the Fla X Flu that you mentioned, when they were attacked a lot because of politics, has it improved?
It’s been getting better, because Jovem Pan doesn’t usually respond to attacks. She was very criticized because, who has been growing up, it is bothering her a lot. Many false narratives were created than Jovem Pan.
Read the full interview in the April 24 issue.
