Univision makes digital a priority at 2015 upfront presentation
Univision Communications Inc. held their annual upfront presentation yesterday in New York City that included a fireside chat with former US President Bill Clinton. Not surprisingly digital and social TV were a major part of their presentation as the hispanic media company presented their "Billennial" audience.
We interviewed Mark Lopez the newly appointed Executive Vice President and General Manager of Univision Digital on the red carpet. Lopez who was previously the head of US Hispanic audiences at Google discussed how important digital is to the company including key partnerships with YouTube, Facebook and Snapchat (see video below).
Additionally here are the digital and social TV highlights from their Upfront.
Fighting fragmented audiences with live content
Live television is often considered the last part of linear programming that's untouchable by changing viewing habits. Univision kicked off the presentation by assuring advertisers that they don't need to worry about fragmentation with audiences that's being caused by digital because of the amount of live programming they have (over 90 per cent of their total programming).
Flama and Fusion are the digital networks of the future for bilingual Americans
Two of the networks biggest investments in younger generations are with Flama and Fusion. Flama, "an English-language digital video destination designed exclusively for US born Hispanic Millennials" offers sharable content built for the GIF and emoji generation.
Fusion, their joint venture with Disney's ABC News is trying to create a news channel for younger generations. Most recently they announced "Vergaraland" a six episode series that will premiere this summer exclusively on Snapchat's Discover Channel where only a handful of media companies are providing exclusive content for the popular social network. The show will feature an inside look at Sophia Vargara's career through the eyes of her son Manolo.
Logout, a transmedia show about the dark web
Over the past year the dark, unsearchable web has become a worldwide reality as drug lords who have never left the comfort of their high-speed basements. Logout (see the above video) is a show about Diego a young man caught in the middle of this scandal. The story plays out across multiple screens.
Univision announces a social media awards show
To end the presentation the network announced their first ever social media awards show that will air on TV. This is a smart move for Univision and will give them a way to to continue to honor influencers. Univision's not new to honoring influencers. They've invited them to their awards shows for years and have partnered with the Shorty Awards (the ceremony I produce) to honor the biggest Vine influencers. See the above video for the announcement.