Pierluigi Gazzolo Univision
Univision’s global streaming service in Spanish, which will be announced on February 16, has a very important advantage: having the support and know-how of investment companies that believe in their vision, such as Softbank and Google.
“Our plan does not answer the typical plan of media companies entering the streaming segment to compensate for a loss of linear subscribers, as we continue to see growth in that segment. In parallel, we opened a line of business with significant incremental funds to invest in original content, including movies, series, and sports, which will give us the ability to extend an unprecedented offering. The reason why we will have two models (free and paid) is precisely to be able to cross-promote and move the audience from one experience to the other, within the same application,” said Pierluigi Gazzolo, president and Chief Transformation Officer of Univision Communications Inc.
The free AVOD will offer an unparalleled content proposition, delivering over 100 curated channels across all genres, with over 40,000 hours of content, also available on VOD, Gazzolo pointed out. Additionally, it will have original productions and exclusive channels, including live programming. “The new SVOD service will offer native and premium original content in Spanish, propelling us as one of the largest original offerings, surpassing any other global streaming service.”
Some of the agreements that have already been announced for the SVOD service include the adaptation of the novel by Mario Vargas Llosa, Travesuras de la Niña Mala; the association with Santiago Limón and Ben Silverman, from Propagate, to produce Pinches Momias; and with Selena Gómez and Blackfin for the docuseries Mi Vecino, el Cartel, as well as preferential access agreements with Eugenio Derbez and María Dueñas.
Gazzolo said that they hope to become an indispensable product for Spanish speakers in the region. “We are the only company in the world that has carefully prepared to achieve this. Global streamers have content in Spanish within their offer, but it is not necessarily their main focus; in our case, native content in Spanish will always be our priority. We serve audiences that recognize our brands and know of our commitment to Latino culture and tradition. We are leaders in two of the most important Spanish-speaking markets in the world: Mexico, due to its population, and the United States, due to its economy. We also have access to the largest Spanish-language content producer in the world: Televisa. All this places us in a unique position to meet the market demand of Spanish speakers around the world, with an offer that no one else can offer,” he said.
