TelevisaUnivision Exec on the U.S. Election, the Firm’s New “Global Vision,” the Looming “Data War,” and How “Hispanic Is Mainstream” Now

Ignacio “Nacho” Meyer, president of the U.S. television networks group at Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivision, told a TV industry gathering in Madrid, Spain on Thursday about the challenges and especially the opportunities for the company and its media and entertainment peers.

“Media companies are like huge cargo ships,” he said during a keynote session at the Iberseries & Platino Industria conference and market, which focuses on Spanish- and Portuguese-language content, according to the English translation of his comments in Spanish. “We have different assets that allow us to be agile.”

Meyer’s keynote kicked off the third day of the event, the so-called U.S. Day, focused on U.S. Hispanic content. “Hispanic is mainstream. It is not a niche anymore,” he said.

How does he think about the future? “We have a global vision,” the exec said. “And for our company that is kind of new.” The launch of streaming service ViX, which fully launched more than two years ago and surpassed 50 million global monthly active users (MAUs) in the second quarter, up from more than 40 million MAUs as of the end of September, has contributed to this. Meyer said it is all about smart content and other investments though, touting the importance of “live content and big events, such as sports and an election,” concluding: “Content must be good and have a clear goal.”

Arguing that the old adage that “content is king” is more true now than ever before, he said it is also key to put content on the proper platforms it fits and makes sense for. “We have a beautiful challenge ahead of us,” but also the resources to succeed, the TelevisaUnivision exec said.

Mentioning the “structural challenges” of traditional TV in the streaming world, Meyer said that one of the biggest challenges and goals is “to reconnect with our universe,” adding that audience measurement continues to need improvement and is “a big pain in the neck.” He noted: “Measurement tools are not standardized,” adding that, “these companies are not willing to give us more information.” Total views per platform would be a great metric but difficult to compile so far. Better knowing and targeting audiences will help better serve viewers and also improve profit margins, he said.

Big data and in-depth consumer insights are going to be a growing focus for sector players in the future. “It is pretty much a data war,” Meyer argued on Thursday. Advertising purchasing is also in a state of change, he highlighted, noting it is becoming “more agile and 100 percent measurable.” The data war “is about to begin,” he suggested.

Meyer also mentioned the big U.S. presidential election coming up in November and TelevisaUnivision’s role in connecting the candidates with Hispanic audiences. “We’re going to be lucky enough to have both presidential candidates speaking to candidates,” he said. “They’re going to speak English, and they’re going to speak with the Hispanic audience, and they are going to be asking them in Spanish on the topics they care about.”

He concluded about TelevisaUnivision’s roles and tasks: “We inform, we empower and we entertain, pretty much in that order.”

TelevisaUnivision management previously predicted a “great” second half of 2024 for its advertising business driven by streaming growth and the U.S. presidential election, which the firm forecasts will lead to a company record in political advertising revenue for the year. Hispanic audiences that are expected to have a key impact on the outcome of the election. An estimated 36.2 million Hispanics are eligible to vote this year, up from 32.3 million in 2020, according to the Pew Research Center. Research also suggests that the increase in Hispanic voter turnout over 2020 will easily outperform the growth among other voters and could rise by 25 percent.

Meyer took over the role as U.S. networks head at TelevisaUnision from Luis Silberwasser, who left to become chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery Sports. He reports directly to TelevisaUnivision’s CEO, a role that Wade Davis recently left to Daniel Alegre, the former president and COO of Activision Blizzard and CEO of Yuga Labs, to focus on the new role of vice chairman.