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HISPANIC TV UPFRONT REPORT-2017 EDITION HispanicAd.com/HispanicMarketOverview.com
This shift is the integral focal point for its 2017-2018 Upfronts, which has taken the theme “Shift Happens.” As advertising clients and business partners gathered at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York on May 15 to see Telemundo’s presentation, their attendance came with a key message from the network: It has responded, and continues to respond, to the changes taking place in Hispanic media with respect to what viewers wish to consume.
“We will focus on original programming,” Silberwasser says. “And, there will be no importing of programming.”
That’s a shot at not only Univision, which continues to rely largely on its programming agreement with Mexico’s Televisa, but also smaller networks that have turned to far-flung countries such as Turkey to entice Hispanic viewers.
Meanwhile, it is notable that NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises will be holding its own unique Upfront presentation, even as network executives will join the NBCUniversal advertising Upfront presentation earlier in the day on May 15 at Radio City Music Hall.
Discovery and ESPN are among the Hispanic market players that have abandoned Hispanic- focused Upfront presentations, instead joining their total market siblings in making a unified pitch to marketers.
The original programming set to debut on Telemundo includes Los Guerrero. A potentially ground-breaking series, Los Guerrero centers on a dysfunctional Latino family of five siblings, living in the U.S. and fending for themselves as their father is dead and their mom has been deported to Mexico. In a nod to the network’s anticipation of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, one sibling is a soccer-playing girl—a deliberate plotline, Silberwasser says.
MINI OFFERING, MAXI APPEAL
Aside from its three music-themed awards shows and sports, the mini-series is another hopeful lure for Telemundo.
Between 13 and 26 episodes in length, the mini-series will see unique entries in 2017-2018, and all focus on Latin music icons.
While no air date has been set, Silberwasser confirms that 2018 will see the arrival of a mini-series focused on current Latin pop star Nicky Jam.
Endemol Shine Latino, the Spanish-language division of EndemolShine North America, is producing the series, which will star Mr. Jam. It presently has the title El Ganador.
There’s also El Secreto de Selena, based on journalist Maria Celeste Arrarás’ book on the murder of Tejano music icon Selena Quintanilla in 1995.
Rounding out the mini-series entries is one focused on the life of Luis Miguel; casting of the famed crooner has not yet been finalized, Silberwasser says.