Upfront News and Views: Univision's Formidable Front

Venue Lyric Theater at 211 W 42nd St amp160Attendees found a bright blue stage in front of them with staircases at either side Note Credit theater management for giving journalists a lighted table at the back of the mezzanine level the better to view and work fromamp160amp160Grade 4 JacksPresentation From the start executives pushed the concept of quotUnited We Stand Together We Growquot All of the company39s networks are united behind superserving Latinos especially Latino Millennials to a great degree and the focus is paying off with doubledigit growth either by audience demographic or daypart this past season Examples Univision sister net UniMas increasing its primetime crowd 31 percent over the last 12 months or 71 percent of Univision39s current viewers being networkexclusive quotOur viewers are your growth customersquot said Keith Turner Univision39s President of Ad Sales and Marketing quotThey are more likely to spend more of their dollars at all kinds of retailersquot Turn over bigger ad budgets to the company39s array of networks and togetheramp160everyone grows more business Turner and his executive colleagues pointed out when not pointing to new programming initiatives quotThese viewers are cordkeepers not cordcuttersquot noted Executive Vice President of Ad Sales Steve Mandalaamp160 Grade 35amp160JacksNews In a groundbreaking development Netflix and UniMas will collaborate on a firstrun weekly drama based on the notorious and justrecaptured drug lord El Chapo Univision39s investigative news unit will contribute material to the production and Netflix will debut quotEl Chapoquot on UniMas next year before distribution among its smart TV set and TVdevice affiliates This is the first time Netflix has made a combo original content developmentdistribution deal with a broadcast network Attendees saw the opening animated title sequence postannouncement Story House already going ahead with a documentary series for HBO and a Jorge Ramos Fusion special will oversee quotEl Chapoquot Another side of this Netflix relationship will be secondruns of quotNarcosquot on Univision and quotClub de Cuervosquot on UniMas later this summer prior to launching second seasons for both originals on Netflix Staying with dramas main telenovela supplier Televisa has agreed to create two madeintheUS series quotLa Doble Vida de Estela CarilloquotquotThe Double Life of Estela Carilloquot about a USbased singer of regional Mexican tunes trying to hit big with a singer in the lead role and quotVino el AmorquotquotThen Love Arrivedquot set and produced in Napa Valley Univision also will try political drama in a novella format with quotLa CandiditaquotquotThe Candidatequot After tinkering with Saturday nights postquotSabado GigantequotquotGiant Saturdayquot Univision will turn the time period over to live soccer doubleheaders featuring Liga MX teams with other Liga matches on sister service Univision Deportes Comedy series will have an increased presence on both Fusion in English and Galavision in Spanishamp160 Also look for a Jenni Riveraderived miniseries quotSu Verdadero Numbre Era DoloresquotquotHer Real Name is Doloresquotamp160 Grade 45 JacksHosts Keith Turner Steve Mandala and Executive Vice PresidentChief Marketing Officer Jessica Rodriguez know how to work both a message and their audience One of Mandala39s asides is a nominee for Best Quote from Upfront Weekamp160quotI only have to say the words 39big data39 to get everyone39s head explodingquotamp160 Grade 35amp160JacksStar Time Fun opening number involving a parade of Univision stars the winning group of hit competition series quotLa BandaquotquotThe Bandaquot singing an original version of quotUnited We Standquot and mambo dancers And after years of wrapping the show with memorable minisets from the likes of Marc Anthony Enrique Iglesias or Shakira organizers went with a change of pace the hit Broadway show quotOn Your Feetquot featuring Ana Villafane39s breakout star turn as Gloria Estefan Villafane and cast members brought their Aplus game on stage with a knockout medleyamp160of Estefan hits from quotCongaquot to quotOyequot Villafane in this writer39s opinion should have nabbed a Tony nomination We can praise the judges for giving Sergio Trujillo39s excellent choreography a nominationamp160amp160Grade 45 JacksCuisine For the second straight year press was forbidden to partake in the postceremony eats at Gotham Hall amp160No Jack grade Note Cuisine ratings doamp160not figure in the overall Jacks scoreOverall Grade 4 Jacksamp160Sparkling onpoint presentation bookended by those musical numbersA quick recap of our Jacks system5 Jacks amp160Excellent4 Jacks Very Good3 Jacks amp160Good2 Jacks amp160Fair1 Jack amp160Poor0 Jacks amp160Don39t go thereSpecial Note It hasamp160been more than two years since El Rey Network offered an Upfront showcase of its own in public Many people want to know what kind of future this channel wants to have especially with original programming Can we get one soonUntil the next time stay well and stay tunedThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggers Photos by Phillip Angert courtesy of Univisionamp160amp160

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Upfront News and Views: Univision's Formidable Front

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