Election 2024, vision, data war

Election 2024, vision, data war

Ignacio “Nacho” Meyer, president of the U.S. television network group at Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivision, reported on the challenges and, in particular, the opportunities for the company and its media and entertainment colleagues at a television industry meeting in Madrid, Spain, on Thursday.

“Media companies are like giant cargo ships,” he said during a keynote session at the Iberseries & Platino Industria conference and market focused on Spanish and Portuguese-language content, according to the English translation of his comments in Spanish. “We have various assets that allow us to be agile.”

Meyer’s keynote opened the event’s third day, dubbed US Day, which focused on Hispanic content from the United States. “Hispanic is mainstream. It’s no longer niche,” he said.

How does he think about the future? “We have a global vision,” said the managing director. “And this is somehow new for our company.” The launch of the streaming service ViX contributed to this. Meyer said it was about smart content and other investments, emphasizing the importance of “live content and big events like sports and elections” and concluded: “Content has to be good and have a clear goal.”

He argued that the old adage “content is king” is truer today than ever before and said it is also important to place content on the right platforms that suit it and make sense for it. “We have a nice challenge ahead of us,” said the managing director of TelevisaUnivision, but also the necessary resources for success.

Meyer mentioned the “structural challenges” of traditional television in the streaming world, saying that one of the biggest challenges and goals is to “reconnect with our universe,” adding that viewership measurement continues to improve “It’s a big pain in the neck.” He noted, “Measuring tools are not standardized,” adding, “These companies are not willing to give us more information.” The total number of views per platform would be a great metric , but so far difficult to determine. Better knowledge and targeting will help better serve viewers and also improve profit margins, he said.

“It’s a data war, so to speak,” Meyer also argued on Thursday. Advertising purchasing is also changing and is becoming “more agile and 100 percent measurable”. The data war “is about to begin,” he suggested.

Meyer also mentioned November’s major U.S. presidential election and TelevisaUnivision’s role in connecting the candidates with Hispanic viewers. “We will be fortunate to have both presidential candidates speaking to candidates,” he said. “They will speak English, speak to the Hispanic audience and interview them in Spanish about the issues that matter to them.”

TelevisaUnivision management had previously forecast a “great” second half of 2024 for its advertising business, driven by streaming growth and the US presidential election, which the company forecasts will result in an annual record for the company’s political advertising revenue. TelevisaUnivision plays a key role in reaching a Hispanic audience that is expected to have a decisive influence on the election outcome. According to the Pew Research Center, an estimated 36.2 million Hispanics are eligible to vote this year, up from 32.3 million in 2020. Research also suggests that the increase in Hispanic turnout in 2020 will significantly outpace the increase among other voters and could increase by 25 percent.

Meyer took over the role of head of U.S. networks at TelevisaUnision from Luis Silberwasser, who left the company to become chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery Sports. He reports directly to the CEO of TelevisaUnivision, a role Wade Davis recently ceded to Daniel Alegre, former president and COO of Activision Blizzard and CEO of Yuga Labs, to focus on the new role of vice chairman.

Davis recently said the presidential election had reached “uncharted territory” with the transition from Joe Biden to Kamala Harris, but stressed that the trends make him confident the company will see “record” political advertising revenue this year. “We believe this change … will further accelerate fundraising and increase the need for candidates to deliver messages to our audiences,” he said. “In addition to the action at the top of the ballot, there is an unprecedented level of focus on Senate and congressional races and a growing number of voting issues.”

TelevisaUnivision also recently reiterated that its streaming business, which ended 2023 with more than 7 million subscribers, would become profitable in the second half of 2024. Its streamer ViX, which fully launched more than two years ago, surpassed 50 million global monthly active users (MAUs) in the second quarter, compared to more than 40 million MAUs at the end of September.