A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM ESPN DEPORTES

The power of ESPN and ESPN Deportes is undeniable – our commitment to Hispanic fans has delivered tremendous results

– Nearly 20 million Hispanics watch, listen, read or log-on to ESPN weekly
– Hispanics spend over 10 hours a week with ESPN Media
– 58% of Hispanics consume ESPN via TV and radio/digital/mobile/print
– SportsCenter reaches over 20 million Hispanics every quarter
Source: ESPN All Day, Every Day Spring 2013 GfK

With the most diverse sports programming in a multiplatform environment, ESPN Deportes has YOUR WINNING GAME PLAN!

Cynopsis Media Presents: Attracting the Hispanic Demo
11.13.13

By Cathy Olson

When is a “niche” market also a mammoth demographic, both setting and following trends of the general population? When it’s the U.S. Hispanic demographic. Fifty-two million strong, representing 17 percent of all Americans and projected to contribute 61% of the growth among adults 18-49 from 2013-2023, U.S. Latinos are a collective content-consuming powerhouse.

“They actually have more choices than the general market,” says Freddy Rolon, VP of programming at ESPN Deportes. “They can come to ESPN or ESPN Deportes. They can watch The Voice on NBC or La Voz Kids on Telemundo. There’s so much content vying for their attention. We can’t afford to think about our competition as just the MundoFox’s, Univisions and Telemundos of the world. It’s ESPN, ABC, NBC. Everyone is vying for this audience.”

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE FROM FOX HISPANIC

Rise of Original Content

Several years ago, Fox conducted a two-year Latino Mindsets study of Latino cable and satellite subscribers. Top among the findings? “They felt there’s not enough programming for where their lifestyle is today,” says Tom Maney, EVP, ad sales, at Fox Hispanic Media. “They want to be talked to in a manner that reflects who they are, not who they used to be. This is a large part of why we launched MundoFox, Utilisima, and Nat Geo Mundo… You must have native U.S. programming, and you must have high production values.”

Fox isn’t the only company to recognize home is where the U.S. Hispanic resident’s heart is. Estrella TV is also eschewing content produced in Mexico and other non-U.S. locales and is packing its primetime lineup with a mix of game shows, talk, news and entertainment content produced in its Burbank studios.

Indeed, Spanish-language programming produced abroad will have a tougher time connecting with viewers in the States, says ESPN’s Rolon. “It’s just a different viewpoint and culture,” he says. “It may be the case that Alex Rodriguez isn’t a big topic of conversation in Mexico, but if you live in New York or Miami, it’s a huge story. That makes a difference.”

Discovery U.S. Hispanic‘s focus on originals is leading to ratings increases for its slate of primarily Spanish-language programming. Flagship net Discovery en Espanol was up 18 percent vs. 2011 going into this year’s Upfronts, and the new slate includes even more home-grown shows like Bear Grylls: escapando del infierno (Bear Grylls: Escape from Hell), plus increased sports programming and a new subgenre for car lovers. Female-focused Discovery en Familia is also drawing big ratings.

Yet despite growth, Spanish-language programming remains vastly underfunded, says Fox’s Maney. He’s a fan of Spanish-language content creators and distributors banding together an all-ships-rise scenario to drive programming development and advertising support. The business model appears to be working. The ad spend on Spanish-language TV increased 6.1 percent in 2Q 2013, according to Kantar Media, based primarily on higher budgets from direct response marketers.

“If we all work together to get money from the general market to fund Spanish-language programming, the whole market will benefit,” Maney says. “Then, when the money gets here I’ll take off the gloves and fight a bloody battle to get every bit we can.”

Let’s Mix It Up

Original content created specifically for Latinos dovetails with a movement to integrate more Hispanic influences into general-market content and marketing.

It’s no coincidence NBCU just tapped longtime Univision chief Cesar Conde as its new EVP overseeing all content, or that ABC partnered with Univision to launch newsy net Fusion. “We expect Fusion will have broad millennial appeal to Hispanic and non-Hispanic audiences who share a desire for inclusivity, unity, progress  infused with humor and irreverence,” says Alberto Ciurana, Univision’s president of programming and content.

Indie network BabyFirst‘s strategy of producing 100% of its programming in both English and Spanish has helped it win carriage deals as the net segues from premium to basic-network status. “Every third child born in the U.S. is Latino,” says company co-founder Sharon Rechter. “It’s a very exciting market for us.” Comcast, for example, carries the BabyFirst on both its basic general tier and its Hispanic tier.

“General market companies are creating more content that will be relevant to Latinos,” says Borja Perez, Telemundo SVP, digital and social media. Telemundo parent NBCU is digging deep to foster synergies across networks and brands. If the recent bows of a Spanish-language version of Fandango and Mujer de Hoy, a Spanish-language complement to iVillage, aren’t enough proof, note that USA Network is currently at work on a general-market series based on the script of one of Telemundo’s most successful novelas, plus several more treatments in the telenovela genre.

“We need to make sure we tap into all the different levels of the market, in both English- and Spanish-language. It’s a different era now,” Perez says. That era, he notes, is firmly focused on content, not merely the checking of a Census box. “I love Modern Family because it’s a great show; it’s not just about putting Sofia Vergara in a leading role,” Perez says. “It’s about building content that is relevant to Latinos.”

Digital Drivers

Relevant, and accessible across platforms. The U.S. Hispanic community over-indexes big time on digital technology, with 72 percent owning at least one mobile device, according to a July 2013 Nielsen Mobile Media Marketplace study. To boot, Hispanics watch 62 percent more digital video than non-Hispanics, according to Nielsen, and the community’s Web video consumption skyrocketed 282 percent from 2007 to 2012.

Univision’s Cirurana tells Cynopsis that although 93% of its primetime A18-49 audience watches live TV, “We also know that they over-index on mobile and social. Our audience is looking for culturally relevant content across a myriad of platforms–broadcast and cable TV, mobile, radio, connected devices and social.”

“The distinction between TV and digital, whether you’re listening to Deportes Radio or on Deportes.com just isn’t a distinction anymore,” Rolon says. While measurement hasn’t quite caught up, he says, “They are just thinking about where can they get the content they want. It’s all on the same playing field.”

ESPN maximizes the availability of content for its Hispanic market on streaming service ESPN3, which has an ESPN Deportes hub. That’s where viewers can see the gamut of Europa league soccer matches. “There are times when there are multiple games going on at once and we have rights within the same window and can only show one on TV,” he says. “So we feature the others on ESPN3. It’s another way we cater to the Hispanic audience.”

Later-
Cathy Olson

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