Mobile, VOD Key for Hispanics
Latino Audiences Quick to Embrace New Platforms
By Alex Weprin -- Multichannel News, 10/7/2007 8:00:00 PM
New York — Spanish-language programmers see interaction with viewers as a key part of their businesses, panelists at a conference here said last week.
“We don’t look at it [mobile] as a 'tune-in’ mechanism,” said Lucia Ballas-Traynor, senior vice president and general manager of MTV Tr3s, the MTV Networks Latino-focused music channel. Interactivity between viewer and network is much more important than a marketing outreach, she said.
At MTV Tr3s, viewers are encouraged to send in SMS text messages. The channel displays comments in real time across the screen, letting viewers comment on music videos or give “shout-outs” to friends.
The comments also provide feedback about what viewers want, and how they think. “The language we use is their voice,” Ballas-Traynor added.
Mobile devices, similarly, were spoken of as more than simply a content platform — they’re a way to communicate with viewers.
“This is a personal device, 24 hours a day,” added Michael Steinwender, vice president of mobile marketing firm POP Solutions. “As you use this device, you are capturing their wants and needs, likes and dislikes.”
Mauro Panzera, senior director of multicultural marketing for Comcast, made the point that new communications technology isn’t just used by Hispanic youth.
In many Latin and South American countries, the last decade saw an unexpected jump in technological innovation. For rapid adoption, satellite-TV and mobile-phone services came in ahead of cable and wireline. “We went from the donkey to the jet,” Panzera said.
So, in many U.S. multigenerational immigrant households, the older generation came to the United States knowing these devices — and demanding content on them.
Comcast’s On Demand en Español service adjusted accordingly. When Comcast had about 100 hours of Spanish-language content, the on-demand service was delivering 500,000 to 750,000 views a month. By adding more movies and music, and appealing to a broader range of viewers than the young adult demos so often targeted by such technology, the operator boosted viewership to 1.5 million views a month.
“Entertainment, mobility and voice,” are the keys to engaging the Hispanic consumer, and consumers in general, said Panzera. But quality and overall appeal of the content still reigns supreme.
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