New Orleans -- Cox Communications Inc. plans to launch a new Hispanic-programming tier and bundling strategy nationwide within the next seven weeks, executives said here at the National Show Sunday.
"We didn’t get it right the first time," senior vice president of marketing Joe Rooney told attendees at a panel session on Hispanic television sponsored by Multichannel News and Broadcasting & Cable. "We’re looking at it from a blank piece of paper."
Rooney said Cox hopes the new tier will help it to compete against the broad Spanish-language tiers sold by satellite-TV companies such as EchoStar Communications Corp. He added that Cox’s current Spanish-language offering isn’t relevant enough for the booming and diverse Hispanic marketplace.
Cox director of multicultural marketing Cesar Cruz said the new tier, called "Bueno," will contain up to about 25 channels, varying by market. The monthly price for the digital tier will be in the "mid-$30s," he added.
Cruz said Cox recently hired Dallas-based ad agency Cultura to develop a marketing campaign for Bueno’s launch.
Cox also plans to push the Hispanic market its bundle of video, high-speed-data and telephony services. Rooney noted how the MSO could offer special bundle offers for Latinos, such as 100 free minutes of long-distance calls monthly to Mexico for telephone customers.
The MSO might also be the first in the nation to offer its customers the option of receiving Spanish-language bills. Cox currently offers the Spanish-language bills in Tucson, Ariz., and it plans to expand the option to other systems later this year.
Sunday’s panel session also featured MGM Networks Latin America senior VP of business development Raoul De Sota, Fox Sports International VP of marketing and communications Raul De Quesada, ESPN Deportes general manager Lino Garcia and Sí TV chief operating officer Leo Perez.
