TelevisaUnivision upfront—Amazon causes delay and more takeaways

Half an hour after the scheduled start time of TelevisaUnivision’s upfront presentation, media leaders and insiders toting blue Amazon gift bags could be spotted sneaking into the Hispanic media company’s show. TelevisaUnivision planned a tighter-than-usual half-hour presentation for its 2024 upfront, enough time to pitch advertisers on sports, streaming and a new music package before beginning its Casa Cultura experience meant to show off Latin culture. But Amazon’s first upfront, which ran late on the other side of Manhattan, in part due to crowds lining up to get in, caused many attendees to show up late to the TelevisaUnivision presentation. TelevisaUnivision appeared to delay its presentation by a few minutes. While it is not uncommon for upfront presentations to go over time, several media buyers in conversations with Ad Age expressed frustration with Amazon’s upfront interfering with the beginning of TelevisaUnivision’s presentation—especially as advertisers aim to reach more diverse audiences. Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs Casa Cultura kicked off with a musical number starring R.Evolución Latina, a company of Hispanic Broadway performers, with moves by “In the Heights” and “On Your Feet” choreographer Luis Salgado. The number spanned genres of Latin music such as salsa, reggaeton and pop, aiming to prime advertisers for the company’s music-themed pitch. The show concluded with a special appearance by Shakira, announcing her single “Puntería” will be the official song of TelevisaUnivision’s Copa América soccer tournament. Below, more on TelevisaUnivision’s upfront pitch. Get upfront updates sent directly to your inbox here Maintaining Big Game momentum This year’s upfront is particularly important for TelevisaUnivision, which saw an influx of new advertisers with its first broadcast of the Spanish-language Super Bowl earlier this year. “The Super Bowl was really eye-opening for us because a lot of clients leaned into us to get a completely different audience,” TelevisaUnivision President of Ad Sales and Marketing Donna Speciale told Ad Age, adding that “the NFL, which is also a marketer and a brand, realized that they needed to grow their consumer base and the only way they could do that was to lean into Hispanics.” TelevisaUnivision will continue to pitch advertisers on Spanish-language sports, including its coverage of the Copa América soccer tournament this year and Mexican soccer league Liga MX. But the company is also looking to create new opportunities for advertisers in music, pitching the potential for finding the next Bad Bunny or Shakira, the latter of whom appeared during the event. The media company announced a new ad package called Sistma Uforia, which features inventory across radio stations, music streaming, music festivals and TV coverage. TelevisaUnivision also promoted its Lo Nuestro Fest, the three-day celebration of Latin culture taking place in Miami next February, as well as new events that will feature emerging Latin artists. Streaming capabilities TelevisaUnivision said its ad-supported tier for streamer Vix will launch this week, and that the service had surpassed 50 million monthly active users. With the streaming ad tier, TelevisaUnivision debuted shoppable ad formats with AI startup Shopsense AI, which produces mobile commerce sites to pair with TV series and events, and retail media network partnerships with Home Depot, Amazon and United Airlines. As advertisers seek to more directly connect marketing and purchases through TV, the integration of retail data with TelevisaUnivision’s own data on the U.S. Hispanic audience will be a differentiator in this year’s upfront, Speciale told Ad Age. “The same thing that happened last year is going to happen this year,” said Speciale. “Clients budgets are definitely not going up, so they have to figure out what they're doing with the same amount.” The ad chief once more urged advertisers to include new measurement options based on big data sets in their upfront deals. Although some media buyers have qualms about the readiness of Nielsen’s panel plus big data product, Speciale said most of the major agency holding companies have agreed to utilize it with TelevisaUnivision, while also using VideoAmp for advanced audience buying. “This legacy measurement is prolonging discrimination in the media ecosystem,” said Speciale. “We have been talking to clients for months, diving into the data … bad data makes bad decisions.”

TelevisaUnivision upfront—Amazon causes delay and more takeaways

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