FIAT/IFTA World Conference 2025

In the rapidly evolving digital landscape, the television industry is increasingly required to adapt to new technologies and workflows to meet both creative and operational demands. The Mediaset Fiction case study illustrates how a comprehensive business process reengineering (BPR) approach can streamline the complex workflows of Media Management, involving end to end processes from prospecting, to production, approval, and distribution of related content.

The project focuses on the lifecycle of Fiction materials, examining the intricate steps involved in managing audiovisual assets—such as episodes, trailers, scripts, and audio files. The core of the project lies in the collaborative efforts of multiple internal departments and external stakeholders and production companies, each playing a crucial role in the process from ideation, to raw material approval till final delivery, including different steps from preview, to validation, ingest, standard and 4K quality control, conversion till publishing in the library, ready for linear and/or OTT distribution. Additionally, the project encompasses other related processes, such as the creation of promotional materials and the delivery of assets for social media and press office activities.

The complexity of this process is underscored by challenges such as managing fragmented content, scheduling processes, capacity constraints, especially in 4K production, emphasizes the evolution of the Media Supply Chain through the adoption of advanced ERP tools for content management, and the automation of approval cycles for faster, more efficient workflows.

As a strategic project, Mediaset Fiction not only highlights the technical complexities and operational efficiencies required in modern media production but also underscores the importance of archive management and the strategic re-use of content. In fact, Mediaset fiction materials play a crucial role even in the sales division, which main activities are commercializing, promoting and selling assets to external networks, TV channels, and other stakeholders.

In the digital era, television archives have evolved from static storage to dynamic assets that drive both operational efficiency and creative innovation. In this context, they are no longer just repositories; they are central to fostering innovation, improving collaboration, and maintaining a competitive edge in the fast-evolving media landscape.