Clemenseando

Spanish-language Digital TV (Multicasting)

Spanish-language broadcast television networks have been slow to capitalize on the multicasting (digital television) opportunities provided by their ownership of full-power stations. I know of no TeleFutura, Telemundo or Univision owned-and-operated station that is currently airing a digital signal in addition to their analog channel. (Please correct me if you know otherwise.) This will change by February, 2009 when the digitalization of the broadcast spectrum, by law, must take effect. Meanwhile, though, Univision and Telemundo seem to be focusing their energies elsewhere

Not to say there hasn't likely been internal discussions about what to put on those digital channels but Univision and Telemundo have yet to signal their future multicasting plans, much less announced anything. In SEC filings and in interviews, Univision executives and investors have made clear their intention to charge big bucks for retransmission fees. No mention anywhere, though, of multicasting. Last year Telemundo executive Steve Mandala told me in an interview for a Multichannel News article that a multicasting strategy was being formulated. Nothing yet, though. Telemundo seems much more focused on its broadcast, cable, interactive and even wireless efforts than multicast.

The absence of a current multicasting effort by Telemundo and Univision is understandable but short-sighted. Both networks could cheaply and quickly opt to launch a 24/7 telenovela digital channel. They could run a Spanish-language kids network such as Discovery Kids en Español or Sorpresa! on a barter basis and bring in some additional revenue. And help build a future audience (for more about Spanish-language children´s programming see here or here to learn about Univision´s fine for violations of the Children´s Television Act).  Launching a dedicated sports and/or news digital channel is also an option but would require a significant investment without an immediate payout.

And there is no immediate payout because no one is yet sure about the economics of Latino multicasting. No one knows how many Hispanics already own digital television sets. Telemundo and Univision are busy trying to interest advertisers in reaching large and measurable numbers of Latino viewers. There are set rate cards and lots of money to be made selling thirty second spots and product placement on analog but what the heck do you charge an advertiser for a commercial on a multicast channel.  Admittedly, the low-hanging fruit consists of closing the gap between what advertisers spend on English-language television and what they spend on Spanish-language. But, Telemundo and Univision expend plenty of effort selling interactive advertising for what remains a modest revenue stream.

Besides February, 2009 is not that far off, which explains why other Hispanic networks are pushing into multicast. The pioneer was Trinity Broadcasting Network's TBN en Español service. TBN was aggressive from the get-go about making all their networks available as multicast channels. They wanted to increase distribution and have employed individual church-based marketing to win new viewers for the Spanish-language service. Granted, TBN is viewer-supported and doesn´t have to worry about selling ads on multicast. Still, theirs was an impressive and early effort.

Next in line came Latino youth network LATV, which inked a multicast carriage deal with the Post-Newsweek Station Group a few months ago. The deal was, in part, the result of frustration after years of not securing wider cable and satellite distribution. Dealing with television station groups and even individual station owners is far quicker and less laborious than dealing with MSOs as a group and with their individual systems. And it also helps when the owner of the multicast network also happens to head a television station group, which is the case with LATV majority shareholder Walter Ulloa who is also the Entravision CEO and board chairman. Entravision just announced it will carry LATV as a multicast network in ten markets.

The last of the Hispanic multicast networks for now is V-me TV, which is a Spanish-language digital broadcaster majority-owned by a group of private investors with a minority investment by the Educational Broadcasting Corp. that is the licensee for New York City PBS affiliate WNET. V-me TV serves as a multicast channel for PBS stations throughout the U.S. (its imminent launch prompted some controversy in Maryland). Wherever a PBS affiliate decides to carry V-me TV as a multicast channel, the network then becomes automatically available on cable thanks to a standing arrangement with the NCTA.

And that´s all, no one else in the Hispanic television market has really done much with multicasting.

Univision and the other Spanish-language broadcast networks are rightly organizing citizenship and voter education campaigns. As a matter of self-interest, they might want to consider a campaign to educate viewers about the upcoming switch to digital television. For that matter, the Consumer Electronics Association might want to translate their recycling Web site (see here for a good LAT article on the topic).

Unlike Mexico where the digital switch won´t take place until 2023, in the States the clock is ticking.

 

 

Christian Latino Book Market

This article appeared in the May, 2005 issue of Marketing y Medios under the title "Christian Book Market Grows With Followers".  The rights have reverted to me so I am posting the piece in its entirety. Please contact me (luis dot clemens at gmail dot com) directly if you are interested in reprint rights. Unfortunately, this articles remains one of the few treatments by secular trade publications of the Christian Latino market.

Christian Book Market Grows With Followers
May 01, 2005

The Christian book industry aims to win souls and sell books, in that order. "Our paramount mission is evangelization," says Esteban Fernández, president of Editorial Vida, which is owned by Zondervan Publishing, a division of HarperCollins. The good news for the industry is that the two goals are compatible. According to the Association of American Publishers, the religious book market grew at a rate of 8.5 percent a year between 1997 and 2004, with net sales last year totaling $1.3 billion.

One of the best-selling Spanish-language books in the U.S., with over a million copies sold, is Una Vida con Propósito. It's a translation of a Christian title, The Purpose-Driven Life, by Rick Warren. According to Fernández, the book is likely to provide $2 million to $2.5 million of Editorial Vida's $12 million in revenue this fiscal year. This was accomplished, he says, with limited spending on print advertising and very little on radio or television. Most of his marketing efforts target pastors and seminary professors who populate a list of 5,000 religious gatekeepers. Fernández, whose Spanish is still drenched in the accent of his native Argentina, personally places many of those calls and pitches his books.

Although exact figures are hard to come by, several Spanish-language Christian publishers interviewed agreed there had been steady growth for close to a decade. The market is growing because "evangelicals are increasing and so is Hispanic immigration," says Tessie DeVore, vice president of the International Group at Strang Communications and president of the Spanish Evangelical Products Association (SEPA). David Ecklebarger, president of Editorial Unilit and executive director of SEPA, stresses distribution channels for the Christian book industry have expanded with an increasing portion of sales coming from mainstream booksellers and retail outlets such as Wal-Mart. "There is a greater commitment on the part of the nonreligious bookstores to commit to reaching the Hispanic market," Ecklebarger says. "The bookstores or book distributors or the discount houses are coming on board seeing the success of others selling Spanish evangelical product."

Spanish-language Christian publishers in the United States target both a domestic and an international market consisting of Latin America and Spain. Ten years ago, Editorial Unilit made 70 percent of its sales overseas and 30 percent in the U.S. That figure now has reversed and the same is now true for many other publishers. As such, the bulk of the Hispanic Christian book market consists of titles in Spanish that can be sold in both markets.

Curiously, though, the biggest best sellers in the Spanish-language Christian book market are almost all translations of English-language books. "The English authors are better known to the Hispanic audience. Very few of the books written by Hispanic authors reach the bestsellers list," Ecklebarger says. "Even in Latin America there tends to be a higher respect for non-Latin scholarship."

Translated or not, the Hispanic Christian book market is now "too big to ignore," DeVore says. Jim Powell, international marketing specialist at CBA, formerly known as Christian Booksellers Association, stresses the inevitability of demographic trends. "By 2050, half of America's population will be minorities. The future of this industry lies in finding out who they are and what they want."

And as the number of Latino evangelicals grows, "so will our market," Fernández says. — Luis Clemens

Wal-Mart Gets "Wise"

The Christian Latino market is underserved and too often ignored by mainstream marketers even those interested in the general Hispanic market. One minor deal does not change that but since it involves Wal-Mart it may have an outsized impact.

Disney has provided Wal-Mart with the exclusive right to sell a DVD of "The Three Wise Men." The popular Christian recording artists Jaci Velasquez (five million records sold) and Marcos Witt (eight million records sold) have been cast as voices in the animated film.

The Hollywood Reporter/Reuters article says, "'Wise Men' appeals to three of Wal-Mart's core demographic groups -- family, Latino and Christian, said Lori MacPherson, senior vp brand marketing and product management at Disney's Buena Vista Home Entertainment."

Yep.

PS Here's a link to the biblical passage that tells of the visit of the wise men to Bethlehem.

Marketing To The Faithful

The religious and political influence of Latino evangelicals has been the subject of some media coverage. But practically nothing has been written about their impact on the overall Hispanic market. Estimates vary wildly but the figure of eight million Latino evangelicals is routinely bandied about. Even if that number is inflated, Latino evangelicals represent a largely untapped market. (It is worth noting that Univision now has a Christian music section on its website). 

Big sweeping studies such as the Latino Intelligence Report youth study do not include a single question about religion. Aside from Barna Research Group, Christian Hispanic market research seems largely nonexistent. (Please correct me if I am wrong and email evidence to the contrary.)

To give you a sense of the paucity of information about Christian Latino marketing just look up those three terms in google. A brief piece I wrote for Marketing y Medios is at the top of the list. Now, the article is fine but cannot possibly be the definitive word on the topic unless practically no one in mainstream Hispanic marketing is talking about it (specialized trades such as Christian Retailing routinely cover the topic).

Even if brand marketers have yet to focus on this segment, Latino evangelicals have drawn notice from the White House. President Bush makes a point of attending the National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast and at the last one, according to the official transcript, he said "Que dios les bendiga."

Now I understand that for Dubya the Big D is Dallas, but surely one of the many evangelical interns and staffers at the White House should be able to point out that Dios begins with a capital letter.

PS One of the nicest aspects of covering the Christian Latino Marketing beat is that at the beginning or end of your conversation the person you are interviewing will invariably say "God bless you." When I worked at CNN, I lost count of the number of times I was berated, pushed, shoved, tear-gassed and doused by a water cannon. Some middle-class Chilean supporters of Pinochet even threw empty perfume bottles and cellphone batteries at me. Believer or not, it never hurts to be blessed.

PPS The faithful might want to make sure they link directly to the Christian music section when they visit Univision's website. Otherwise, they might chance upon "Pornovideos delatores: Un video porno de la Guzmán podría verse por Internet."