Wade Davis de TelevisaUnivision
One of the main engines behind the TelevisaUnivision merger will be the launch of a global streaming service in Spanish with two tiers -one free and one premium- that was finally unveiled this Wednesday the 16th under the name of ViX.
The service will offer more than 50,000 hours of content in Spanish of original series and movies, sports and live news, and the current hits of Televisa and Univisión, as well as access to the extensive library of content and franchises of the video library of Televisa. This information was released during a virtual event that gathered Wade Davis, CEO; Pierluigi Gazzolo, president & Chief Transformation Officer; Rodrigo Mazón, EVP & general manager of ViX+, and Rafael Urbina, EVP & general manager, AVOD ViX, all from TelevisaUnivision.
The two-tier service will include ViX, a free ad-supported product (AVOD) launching March 31 with more than 100 channels, in an electronic program guide (EPG) and extensive VOD content experience; and a subscription model (SVOD) option, ViX+, with premium content including ViX+ Originales and exclusive soccer, scheduled for release in the second half of 2022. The beta version of the streaming app is available to exclusive users in the US and Mexico starting this Wednesday 16.
In addition to financial resources, the strategy of premium original content in Spanish, the massive library of Televisa titles and the fact that TelevisaUnivision reaches 100 million Spanish-speakers daily, for Davis the success of this platform will lie in its technology.
“What I’m most focused on right now is the technology we’re working on. I would say that our success starts with the team. We have a technical leadership team headed by Michael Cerda (Executive VP of Product, Engineering, Streaming), who was in charge of launching Disney+, and Daniel Sanders responsible for the engineering of Pluto TV. They understand how to deliver a scalable product. The leadership that we brought together is part of the content experience that we are going to deliver,” said Davis. He added that they have hired hundreds of engineers and experts who have developed the platform. He also mentioned that Google, one of TelevisaUnivision’s partners, “is with us at every step and provides us with the essential infrastructure.”
Davis emphasized that the big streamers globally do not reflect the distinct features of the Hispanic culture, an aspect that is ViX’s focus due to its entirely dedication to content in Spanish.
This service is not a redesigned version of a television offer, Davis pointed out. “What we are creating is incremental to our television business,” he said, adding that for TelevisaUnivision linear TV still has a lot to grow. “What we are building is complementary to what we have on TV. We believe in the power of the TV platform. This service is going to super serve those fans who watch TV.”
