HITN, the Spanish-language educational network, is going OTT. Guillermo Sierra, Head of Television and Digital Services, talks strategy, including partnerships that expand the brand.
Cynopsis: How will HITN’s OTT service stand out from the pack?
Guillermo Sierra: HITN has a very clear mission that will extend to all its digital services including its OTT, that is to improve the quality of life for the Hispanic population in the United States. Our OTT will be the first and only dedicated OTT to provide high quality educational and informational content for Hispanic families.
Cynopsis: Will the target audience differ from the linear audience?Â
Sierra: HITN’s target audience are Hispanic families and preschool children. The OTT will continue to serve that same target audience but will be able to do it more efficiently without the constraints of linear broadcasts.  Â
Cynopsis: What lessons have you learned from other OTT launches, good and bad?
Sierra: We believe that there is a clear opportunity to provide OTT services in partnership with our current distributors. We are in conversations with them as we would like all our services to be sold and authenticated through the pay TV operators. That way we can focus on providing a very robust service and they can help us doing what they do best, which is providing a great experience to the consumer.Â
Cynopsis: What is the strategy behind teaming with WCN and Hispanopost?Â
Sierra: To fulfill its mission, HITN has a wide variety of partnerships with top ranked organizations that are leaders in their respective fields. Our partnership with WCN intends to provide our audience with the best possible information about nature and conservation. WCN groups some of the world’s leading conservationists and we are very happy to be able to promote their mission and share their experiences with our audience. Hispanopost is a new breed of news agency that takes advantage of the power of mobile devices to capture and transmit high quality video content in real time. They have national and international reach and working with them allows us to have instant video feeds from anywhere we need at a moment’s notice. The day Fidel Castro died, we had footage from inside Havana even before the traditional news channels could react. During Inauguration Day we had several cameras in the crowds at the National Mall and we were able to provide our audience with the experience of being there.
Cynopsis: Do you think digital strategies for Spanish-language do, or should, differ from their English-language counterparts?
Sierra: The Hispanic audience is constantly evolving and is more sophisticated everyday. More and more Hispanics are now fully bilingual and bicultural and that allows them to consume English and Spanish language content at will. We do not compete with what is available in English language services. Our goal is to provide alternative content that serves our audience in fulfilling of our core mission, which is to help Hispanic families reach their full potential.
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