While its English-language competitors had to grapple with price reductions in this year’s TV upfront market, Spanish-language giant TelevisaUnivision was able to do the opposite.
The owner of the Univision broadcast network and the Vix streaming hub was able to increase the volume of ad commitments it secured in upfront talks, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company expects volume to increase in the high-single-digit percentage range, while most of its English-language rivals are seeing commitment volume that is largely flat to slightly up from year-earlier performance.
Speaking to investors earlier in July, TelevisaUnivision CEO Wade Davis said the company expected to fare better than rivals as advertisers earmarked new dollars for Spanish-speaking consumers in the U.S. TelevisaUnivision has been on a mission to lure Madison Avenue to Spanish-speaking American audiences, pressing the notion that its viewership is growing while the crowd flocking to English-language TV rivals is in decline.
The company believes about 80% of advertisers who bought linear TV inventory also enhanced those purchases with the ViX streaming hub, the person familiar with the matter indicated.
Sports also proved attractive. Advertisers made commitments to support soccer, including LigaMX and the 2024 Copa America tournament, as well as Univision’s coming Spanish-language broadcast of the 2024 Super Bowl. The network was able to secure rates said to be more than double what previous Spanish-language broadcasters of the Super Bowl have been able to negotiate.
Advertisers from the insurance, automotive and telecommunications categories helped fuel upfront results, the person says, with ad commitments from insurance advertisers up more than 100% from last year. The category has typically purchased only a small share of Spanish-language media inventory.