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2019 Hispanic TV Upfront Guide Presented by HispanicAd.com
LET’S GET UPFRONT ON WHY THE UPFRONTS STILL MATTER
By Adam R Jacobson, Publisher, Hispanic Market Overview
The Monday after Mother’s Day, year after year, has traditionally served as the date of one of many parades seen across Midtown Manhattan. However, unlike the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, or the Puerto Rican Day Parade, this procession involves media executives eager to please and tout. It also involves advertising agency executives, who are still bullish about the dog and pony shows and splashy parties that this year includes a May 13 NBCUniversal Hispanic Enterprises party featuring a performance by Pitbull.
But, there’s word that CMOs and brand managers — the all-important client — aren’t so keen on the Upfronts anymore. They’re more interested in the NewFronts, and how digital media can deliver what they perceive is better ROI.
We can debate the positives and negatives of digital media until we’re blue in the face. But, make no mistake – digital media isn’t going to see any dip in ad dollar allocation anytime soon. Fraud shmaud: the GAFAN group (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Netflix) will continue to disrupt — and distract.
At least, that’s the case in the total market. In the Hispanic market, a whole different value proposition exists. From Univision to Telemundo, and from Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) to LBI Media, owner of Estrella TV, something unique persists. It’s why the Upfronts are “still a thing,” a topic addressed in the 2018 Hispanic TV Upfront Guide.
With Univision and NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises each providing the media with a preview of what’s to be shown to marketers and agency executives in New York during Upfront Week, a striking similarity was seen in each of the presentations’ opening segments. The importance of the Hispanic consumer was reiterated, with executives touting statistics that aren’t news and seem to be obvious to seasoned multicultural marketing pros.
The problem lies among those who aren’t seasoned multicultural marketing pros. Basic education continues, and in a world where undocumented immigrants are synonymous with all Hispanic immigrants – whether right or wrong – a reminder of the sheer power of the Latino populace bears repeating.
This, of course, is political power as well as economic power, and both Univision and Telemundo are preparing for the 2020 presidential election with amped-up news departments.
Then, there is CNN en Español, which offered a look at what lies ahead for marketers in 2019 and 2020 for this report.
Nascent network NuestraVision is also in the spotlight, while SBS’s Mega TV has some big program additions worth noting.