Univision Slams English-Language Networks For Delivering Less

At Univision Communications' upfront presentation, President-CEO Randy Falco posed the question "What's better, more or less?" Mr. Falco was playing the role of the deadpan moderator in a commercial spoofing AT&T's ubiquitous TV campaign in which four small children debate why it's better to have more, or be faster. In the Univision version, Mr. Falco horrifies the kids with a scenario in which they go into a donut shop but get only half a donut. The kids rant charmingly about ridiculous, mean people who would steal their money by giving them less than they paid for. They perk up when Mr. Falco asks "What if someone gave you more than what you paid for?" He closes with the familiar AT&T tagline "It's not complicated" and adds "Univision is the only network where you pay for more, not for less." The cute parody ad sets up Univision's perennial argument that the leading Spanish-language media group offers advertisers more than the English-language networks it increasingly trounces in key ratings areas. Steve Mandala, Univision's exec VP of advertising and sales, pointed out that the English-language networks are losing viewers while Univision is gaining audience. He said that 70% of Univision's audience doesn't watch English-language TV, offering advertisers an unduplicated audience. They are also DVR-proof viewers who watch their TV live—92% versus 66% for English-language viewers, he said. Univision execs presented their theme "One For All" to a packed house at the 1,500-seat New Amsterdam Theater. Looking at different product categories, Mr. Mandala said that 100% of beverage marketers' growth will come from the Hispanic market, while auto sales to Hispanics are growing twice as fast as sales to non-Hispanics. He also said that Spanish-language commercials score 30% higher on recall and 51% higher on likeability than the same commercials in English. Univision ran through a plethora of products, mostly starting with the letter 'U,' from revamped millennial-targeted second network Unimas to bilingual digital content network UVideos and new music platform Uforia. Univision also announced a partnership with film director Robert Rodriguez's upcoming English-language cable network El Rey. Programming is still mostly from Mexico's TV giant Grupo Televisa. Upcoming shows include a Spanish-language version of "Breaking Bad" called "Mestasis" and a bizarre bikini-filled take on former hit "Gossip Girl" called "Gossip Girl Acapulco." Telenovelas are still the stars, and Univision conjured up a raging storm on stage complete with artificial snow and mist to introduce heartthrob William Levy and former Miss Universe Ximena Navarrete, co-stars of new Televisa novela "La Tempestad." In the novela, young Marina escapes a vengeful former boss by fleeing to a small fishing village, where she falls in love with Damian, owner of a fishing boat called La Tempestad.

Univision Slams English-Language Networks For Delivering Less

Featured Stories