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2018 Hispanic TV Upfront Guide Presented by HispanicAd.com
That’s great news for Telemundo, Univision, Azteca América, and Liberman Broadcasting’s Estrella TV, in addition to SBS’s Mega TV, Meruelo Media’s KWHY-22 in Los Angeles, and the America CV operation in Miami.
It’s not-so-great news for the 70-odd cable television channels that continue their quest for Hispanic audiences in the U.S. Will MVPDs deep-discount their “Latino tier” subscription packages in order to retain subscribers and continue to attract new customers? Or, will some cable networks simply shut down as relics of a prior world without digitally delivered choices one can access in the palm of their hand – and not on a stationary TV mounted to a wall in a particular room?
There is one solution that makes sense, and it is one that Hispanic advertising agencies and multicultural marketing managers have been preaching for the last several years. It is simple: Hispanic TV must be relevant and resonant.
We’ve talked ad nauseum about ads needing to be reflective of the product or service’s target audience. But, there’s been nary a word about the programming being reflective of the audience.
With an abundance of content available and NATPE Miami growing into one of the most important conferences and expos for the global television industry – one where the buying and selling of program rights is a highlight – Hispanic TV must follow the advice that multicultural marketers and brand managers have digested. Spanish-language TV has a home in the hogar because it is a unique culture play.
And, believe it or not, language matters. In 2011, Mintel reports focused on U.S. Hispanic consumers repeatedly noted that, even in English-dominant homes, the use of Spanish could still be found. Why? Because these homes were English-dominant, not English-only.
Seven years later, we kindly remind our readers that this is probably truer today. As Hispanic population growth is fed by U.S. births, not by immigration, there will be growth in English- language use. Millennials still dominate marketers’ conversations (even though they don’t spend as much as those with an AARP card, but that’s an argument for Madison Avenue).
Our point here: Yeah, Hispanic kids are growing up using lots of English. But, that doesn’t mean they aren’t using Spanish, or consuming at least one show in their lengua patria.
This is why Hispanic TV has a future.
The road it takes to keep it relevant and resonant is up to them.
HTVU
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