NEW YORK -- Broadcasting & Cable and Multichannel News today said that Gonzalo del Fa, president, GroupM Multicultural, and Gary R. Stevenson, president and managing director, MLS Business Ventures, have been named opening and closing keynote speakers for NewBay Media’s 13th Annual Hispanic Television Summit. The premier one-day conference covering the business of Hispanic television in the United States, Latin America and around the world is set for Thursday, Oct. 22, at the Park Central Hotel New York.
This year, for the first time, the Hispanic Television Summit will be one of the signature events that make up New York City Television Week, which also includes The Next TV Summit & Expo, The Content Show, Advanced Advertising and the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame.
“The Hispanic Television Summit is always one of our most popular conferences of the year,” Louis Hillelson, VP/Group Publisher, Broadcasting & Cable and Multichannel News, said. “By bringing it under the New York City Television Week umbrella, our attendees will be a wide cross-section of the general market with the Hispanic television communities. This will bring added value to their participation. It’s a great opportunity for anyone looking to learn from each other, network and be inspired.”
Hillelson continued, “Our keynoters represent two areas of greatest interest to our attendees, one being ad-spend targeting Hispanic viewers, and the other being the changes affecting the immediate future of televised soccer.”
Delivering the opening keynote, del Fa will discuss “Turning Loyal Viewers into Your New Customers.” As president of GroupM Multicultural, del Fa leads all aspects of the multicultural media and marketing efforts initiated by GroupM agencies including Mindshare, MEC, Mediacom and Maxus. Under del Fa’s leadership, GroupM Multicultural handles more than $600 million in billings from clients such as Nestle, AT&T, Unilever, Anheuser Busch, Mars, Colgate, Lancôme, Abbott, Netflix, Church & Dwight, Subway, Kimberly Clark and KFC. del Fa joined GroupM in 2003 as Managing Director of MEC Argentina.
Last year, MLS received the Leadership in Hispanic Television Award at this summit, so it is fitting that Stevenson’s closing keynote will be “A Look Ahead at the Business of Soccer on Television.” An innovator in sports marketing and media strategies for more than 35 years, Stevenson was named president and managing director of MLS Business Ventures in 2013. Stevenson oversees the commercial side of MLS, which includes Soccer United Marketing (SUM), media/broadcasting, club services, international, marketing, content and digital.
In addition to launching and building OnSport, a highly successful sports marketing and television consulting firm in 1997 and selling it to the Wasserman Media Group in 2007, Stevenson has served as a senior-level executive at the NBA and PGA Tour. He also was the COO and oversaw the launch of two television networks, The Golf Channel in 1995 and the Pac-12 Networks in 2012.
The Hispanic Television Summit is the premier event for those in the business of television for Hispanic audiences and covers programming, advertising, online distribution technology and this year will especially feature the genre of telenovelas. Over 500 executives attend from the U.S., Latin America, Europe and other territories, representing broadcasters, pay TV providers, over-the-top digital providers, programming networks, production companies, advertisers, ad agencies, technology suppliers, research firms and investors.
The Summit includes the presentation of the Leadership in Hispanic Television Award as well as the Award for Achievement in Hispanic Television. Previous recipients of the Leadership Award include Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Dish Latino and Major League Soccer, and the Achievement Award past recipients include on-air personalities Don Francisco, Andrés Cantor, and Cristina Saralegui; network news anchors Jorge Ramos, Maria Celeste Arrarás, María Elena Salinas and José Díaz-Balart; sports celebrity Oscar De La Hoya and advertising executives Monica Gadsby of SMG and Edgar Sandoval of P&G.
The Summit is produced by The Schramm Marketing Group, based in New York City. To inquire about speaking opportunities, contact Joseph Schramm at 212-983-0219 or jschramm@schrammnyc.com. For registration, please contact Rebecca Shottland at rshottland@nbmedia.com or 917-281-4782. For sponsorship opportunities, please contact Charlie Weiss at cweiss@nbmedia.com or 212-378-0478.
