MIAMI — TelevisaUnivision’s streaming platform, ViX, has grown fast in the last couple of years since it’s launch – but Dan Riess is still trying to help advertisers tap into the opportunity.
“We’re really happy with it,” says Riess, EVP, Chief Growth Officer, TelevisaUnivision, highlighting the platform’s significant strides in audience engagement, distribution, and content integration with linear channels.
In this video interview with Beet.TV, he says the platform’s success is not just in numbers; it’s about the “cross-pollination” of content that has turned ViX into a “critical window” for media consumption.
Category-Specific Engagement in Hispanic Streaming
Hispanic streaming is not uniform across all industries. Riess delineates a varying landscape where “studios, auto, CPG, and telco have been big supporters,” while “pharma and finance have been a little slower to adopt.”
He acknowledges the complexities and legalities that slow certain categories but remains optimistic about the progress being made.
The Hispanic audience in the U.S. is multifaceted, and Riess is keenly aware of this diversity. “Our audience is from many different countries of origin,” he notes, pointing out the varying levels of English proficiency and time spent in the country.
Riess recommends focusing on “the things that unite the Hispanic audience,” such as music and language. “Music is a great one,” he says, describing it as a cultural unifier. Language, particularly, holds a special place in advertising. “Our audience feels strongly about being spoken to in Spanish… from a heartstring standpoint,” Riess asserts.
Keeping ad loads modest and below television levels has proven effective, and Riess foresees more experimentation with ad tiers, aiming to “maximize subscribers and optimize the consumer experience.”
Third-Party Datasets of U.S. Hispanics Are Often Inaccurate: TelevisaUnivision’s Dan Aversano
Upfront announcements
At its Upfronts presentation, TelevisaUnivision announced ViX, its global Spanish-language streaming service, hit 50 million monthly active users globally, while streaming video reach also grew 70% year over year in the U.S..
The platform began its own ad streaming tier on May 15, with new ad formats including contextual and interactive, plus commerce and social.
The company also unveiled a raft of new programming across music, entertainment and other genres. It announced Sistema Uforia, an always-on capability for brands to tap into the company’s Latin music offerings.
Streaming vs. Linear: The Visibility Challenge
Riess echoes concern expressed in the industry in the last couple of years, complaining that traditional media measurement fails to accurately capture key cultural audiences. That doesn’t just overlook consumer groups – it also means advertisers may struggle to find lucrative viewer groups.
The discrepancy between streaming and linear visibility for the Hispanic audience is a challenge that Riess acknowledges. Streaming platforms like ViX do not face a visibility problem thanks to first-party data.
However, linear TV, still reliant on an “outdated” Nielsen panel system, struggles to accurately represent minority audiences. Riess champions the upcoming “panel plus big data solution” as a game changer that will bring equity to audience representation across television.
You’re watching ‘Anything Is Possible: The Rising Tide of Programmatic Streaming,’ a Beet.TV Leadership Series at POSSIBLE 2024, presented by Index Exchange. For more videos from this series, please visit this page.
