“Where Latino voices matter most” is becoming a common phrase applied to Hispanic television and video today. This timely phrase has been adopted as the theme for the upcoming 18th Annual Hispanic Television Summit. The summit, presented as part of Fall TV 2020 by Multichannel News, B+C and Next TV, is the premier annual event for those in the business of TV and video for Hispanic audiences worldwide. The one-of-a-kind event attracts hundreds of leading executives from brands, advertising sales, media buying, production, promotion, broadcast, audience research and content distribution to share ideas with content providers from cable and satellite, as well as connected TV.
New This Year: The summit will be offered “virtually” online. Traditionally, this has been a one-day, in-person event. Instead, the summit will be presented over four consecutive days Monday, Sept. 21 through Thursday, Sept. 24, in a series of daily programs, each running 90 minutes to two hours, and starting daily at noon ET. The virtual format makes it easier and more cost-effective to attend. It is expected that more mid-level and senior executives will now find it easier to attend. The convenience and cost savings aside, it is the awards recipients, the program and its speakers that will appeal most to attendees. Here are just some of the highlights of this year’s event.
The Hispanic TV & Video Awards: Monday’s program features the popular Hispanic TV & Video Awards ceremony. Popular actor, director and producer Diego Luna is this year’s recipient of the prestigious Legacy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Hispanic Television. Two executives being recognized for Outstanding Leadership in Hispanic Television and Video are Karina Dobarro of Horizon Media (Media category), and Juan Carlos Rodriguez, president of Sports, Univision (Network category). The CultureX Leadership Award for news coverage is to be presented to Julio Vaqueiro, anchor of Noticias Telemundo Edición Especial.
Recognizing the Pioneers of Hispanic TV: This year also sees the introduction of the Rafael Eli Award for Pioneers in Hispanic TV. The series of awards honors pioneers who continue to work in the business. The awards are presented in the name of Rafael Eli, a long-time co-producer of the summit who lost his battle with COVID-19 in April. Recipients include sportscaster Andrés Cantor, the world’s most recognized voice of soccer; Gene Bryan, the publisher of Hispanicad.com; and a distinguished team of seven co-workers from the world of creative advertising and media strategy at d’expósito & partners.
Brands, Media and Ad Sales is the focus of Tuesday’s program. Group M’s Gonzalo Del Fa will open the program portion of the 18th Annual Hispanic Television Summit with an address that focuses on Hispanic TV as the media tactic where Latino voices matter most and a review of the state of the industry from a media perspective. Day 2 features other speakers including a data presentation by VAB’s CEO Sean Cunningham followed by an exciting panel conversation about media buying and sales that includes Steve Mandala of Univision, Glenda Villanueva-Marchetta from Altice’s A4 Media and Sandra Alfaro from 305 Worldwide.
Hispanic Audiences – Data and Promotion: The program on Day 3 looks at attracting, engaging and retaining Hispanic audiences from a perspective of data, marketing and promotion. A keynote interview with Ilia Calderón, co-anchor of Noticiero Univision and co-host of Aquí y Ahora, opens the program. Another of the highlights of Day 3 is a featured keynote with Marisol Martinez, VP, multicultural marketing at Charter Communications.
Creating and Distributing Content: Day 4 spotlights a session about recently launched networks like Discovery U.S. Hispanic’s home and garden channel for Latino audiences, Hogar de HGTV. Attendees will also enjoy a conversation about new productions for Latino audiences with Alejandro Uribe, CEO, EXILE Content. The closing conversation about content distribution always attracts attention. This year’s session features Jorge Fiterre, partner, Condista and Luis Torres-Bohl, president, Castalia Communications.
These are just some of the highlights. For more information and a complete list of sessions, speakers, award recipients, panelists, celebrity hosts, and moderators, or to save $50 off the price of registration with the “early bird’ rate, please refer to the 2020 Fall TV Events website and select Hispanic Television at falltvevents.com/2020.
Joe Schramm is president of Schramm Marketing Group and producer of the Hispanic Television Summit.
