In celebration of Easter and the approaching Spring season, UPtv continues to be a premier destination for the holiday with the launch of its 'Bring the Spring' programming slate, featuring over 60 hours of content from new romance movies to Bible favorites and the World Premiere of a new music special from Golden Globe-nominated actor and musician Dennis Quaid. We spoke with Hector Campos, UP Entertainment's Senior Vice President of Content Strategy and Acquisitions, about the network filling a void for viewers by celebrating the season in a big way and what exactly goes into curating UPtv's vast library of content while keeping brand messaging of love, hope, faith, and, above all, entertainment for their audience, at the forefront.
"We seek content in whatever ways we can and whatever ways are available. So, our offering for 'Bring the Spring' and Easter is a mix of acquisitions and original programming," Campos explained. "We're planning months in advance. What you're seeing unfold was part of a plan that started probably in late 2022 and into 2023. Through that time, we're culling through submissions from our trusted partners who know what we try to look for in the content. That's a little bit different from our competitors. We select the best ones we can, and we aim to reflect what we're trying to bring to our audience. While we know there are many players in the Christmas space, we've been able to really own the Easter season on television."
UP Entertainment is the destination for uplifting entertainment for passionate and diverse audiences across its many cable, FAST channels and the streaming service UP Faith & Family and has become known for its feel-good programming. As he oversees both the production of original programming and acquiring fan-favorite series and films, Campos spoke on seeking content that remains true to the company's brand and mission. "Early on in my career we would try to find titles that had specific messaging and maybe over-the-top in some ways, but ultimately it needed to be entertaining. Now, it needs to be entertaining and embody all the elements that we find special in the programming that we provide. We like to have an offering of movies, music, and specials and put together what we feel is the most compelling and uplifting content for our viewers."
This year's lineup included three new romance films that made their cable premieres each of the last three weekends in March, including A Royal Makeover starring Veronica Long and Ricky Martinez. Palm Sunday featured the broadcast of the Charlton Heston-starring epic The Ten Commandments, as well as a marathon of season two of The Chosen, leading up to Easter Weekend with the network premiering Dennis Quaid's Fallen: A Gospel Record for Sinners, which will also feature a sit-down interview between Quaid and Southern Gospel legend Bill Gaither.
"I know you're not supposed to have favorites, but I do and it happens to be this one," he laughed. "We have a great partnership with Gaither as part of our streaming bundle offering with UP Faith & Family and Gaither TV+, and as part of that, we have special access to be able to premiere content. We rely on them often to come up with what will make a good special and when they brought this one to us, we said, 'Absolutely!' I didn't realize that Dennis Quaid had such a spiritual background, and this was a passion project for him. I was taken aback that not only that they decided to do it, but that it turned out so well."
When it comes to curating content and catering it to their audience, Campos shared that while they rely on traditional Nielsen ratings and viewership, they look at other metrics like social media and their performance on non-linear platforms. "We have a digital team to see how much engagement we're getting and a big part of what they're doing is looking at the 'My UPtv' app, which is a way for our viewers to not just see our schedules, but how they're engaging with the content in our offerings. We're always looking to hear how our viewers are reacting to our content, both from a positive standpoint like informing casting decisions as well as if we ever miss the mark. We'll address that if some content may not be received in the way we hoped. The titles and series that do well, we'll bring back. We have now brought back a Gaither Music TV block every Sunday morning, which we did after learning from our audience that in certain parts of the day, they're more receptive to experiencing that kind of content."
The upcoming content part of Bring the Spring and UPtv's Easter programming includes:
Good Friday – March 29
The Ten Commandments – 1 p.m. ET
Mary, Mother of Jesus – 5 p.m. ET
Dennis Quaid's Fallen: A Gospel Record for Sinners – 7 p.m. ET – World Premiere
Passion of the Christ – 8 p.m. ET
Passion of the Christ – 11 p.m. ET
Easter Sunday – March 31
Writing a Love Song – 7 p.m. ET – World Premiere
Stellar: Music of Hope Easter Celebration – 2:30 a.m. ET
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