Despite being in cost-cutting mode as a corporation, Univision is “all about expansion and diversification,” chief revenue officer Tonia O’Connor told reporters in a preview of the top U.S. Hispanic media company’s upfront strategy.
That approach includes new digital content partnerships with the likes of Snapchat and PopSugar; branded content from new UCI Studios; data solutions under the Aperture initiative and enhancements to the Univision Now streaming service with new content from the likes of the BBC and Viacom.
Instead of pitching Univision and Fusion Media assets as separate Spanish and English media as in the past, Univision is offering “one consolidated enterprise solution” to reach the growing Hispanic market of 60 million people, O’Connor said.
Univision is also shaking up its upfront presentations on May 14-15 by limiting the formal pitch to 35 minutes to allow time for buyers (many of whom don’t watch Spanish-language TV) to “experience” programs in configured spaces at Spring Studios in TriBeCa. Entertainment is lined up from Daddy Yankee and Natti Natasha on Monday and DJ Khaled on Tuesday, executives said.
Telemundo, touting primetime wins against Univision during the past year, also emphasized the impact of Hispanic consumers with their $1.5 trillion spending power, rising to $1.9 trillion by 2022. “Hispanics have moved from being simply a demographics story to an economic story,” Cesar Conde, NBCUniversal International Group and NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises chairman, said in a pre-upfront briefing. Telemundo returned its top series, El Señor de los Cielos, last week and said it has ordered a seventh season. New action shows in the works include super series El Baron Rojo, premium series El Recluso ( The Inmate) and a Spanish-language version of The Voice, La Voz.
Telemundo has Spanish-language rights to the FIFA World Cup (in Russia) for the first time this year, and ad sales executive VP Laura Molen said slots are nearly 90% sold out with about a month to go. J Balvin will perform at Telemundo’s by-invitation event at the Park Avenue Armory Conservancy on Monday night.
