Luisa Helena Barone Muneratti, Bango; Patricia Jasin, Warner Bros. Discovery; Monica Gonzalez Piriz, Liberty LatAm; Bilai Joa Silar, TelevisaUnivision; Elsie De Marziani, Telemundo, and Gustavo Lopez at Alianza, served as moderator
In the dynamic landscape of streaming, windowing remains a crucial strategy for content distribution, as highlighted by the ‘Content Strategies in the Streaming Era’ panel at Dataxis’ CTV Days US Hispanic & Latin America in Miami.
Patricia Jasin, Senior VP of International Distribution for Latin America and Country Manager for Colombia at Warner Bros. Discovery, emphasized the enduring importance of windowing for content distribution. “As a studio, windowing is crucial,” she explained. “If we exclusively released original content on our platform, it would be detrimental to our business. Max benefits from having the first exclusive window for certain content, while WBD continues to produce for both itself and third parties. The window model is more relevant than ever,” she asserted. Jasin concluded by highlighting the need for a balance between original and acquired content, noting that the enduring value of content, even decades old, underscores the significance of the television industry.
Patricia Jasin: As a studio, windowing is crucial
The panel featured Luisa Helena Barone Muneratti, Senior VP of Sales for the Americas and Iberia at Bango; Mónica González Piriz, Senior Director of Programming and Content at Liberty Latin America; Bilai Joa Silar, Senior VP and Head of Programming and AVOD Content for ViX at TelevisaUnivision; and Elsie De Marziani, Senior Director of AVOD, Streaming and Digital at NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises. The discussion was moderated by Gustavo López, CEO of Alianza Audiovisual.
De Marziani of Telemundo noted that their app boasts a substantial library of 11,000 hours of content. “We’re fortunate to have a wealth of library content,” she explained. “The pandemic accelerated content consumption, and we’ve leveraged analytics (with our Research Team) to identify top-performing content, genres, and categories to guide our acquisition strategy. While original content remains a priority, it can be costly. By strategically acquiring content, we can expand our library and ensure profitability.”
Silar from TelevisaUnivision highlighted the premium value of their Televisa telenovela library. “ViX’s advantage is our ability to launch a free service backed by the extensive Televisa library, which we consider premium. This content is available either free or ad-free in our premium tier. This forms the foundation of our service. We complement this with live content, including sports and news, which we invest in internally. Additionally, we’re investing in original productions for ViX. This diverse mix is further enhanced by acquiring content we don’t produce, such as Turkish, Brazilian, and Korean series, along with true crime and reality shows. For us, premium isn’t solely defined by traditional standards, but by the value of the library we possess.”
González Piriz from Liberty emphasized the advantages of bundling services. “As a cable operator offering mobile and broadband, we view streaming as an integral part of the ecosystem. By bundling services, we can reduce churn and leverage applications like Max, ViX, and Telemundo to create personalized packages for our subscribers. This offers greater flexibility compared to traditional linear channels, empowering our subscribers with choices. We believe in the mutual benefit of collaboration,” she stated. González Piriz also stressed the importance of incorporating FAST channels into cable operator strategies, emphasizing the need for recognizable content to drive viewership.
Barone Muneratti from Bango highlighted the high average of 10 streaming subscriptions per user in Latin America, translating to an annual expenditure of US$1,000. She predicted future growth in super bundling strategies. De Marziani echoed this trend, noting that US Hispanics subscribe to 8-10 streaming services. She also expressed optimism about the growth of FAST (Free Ad-Supported Television) services in Latin America.
