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Will Online Video (Advertising) kill the Univision Star?

Hispanic media consumption has a very strong TV component. It makes sense that as Hispanics move towards online and mobile content consumption, videos will play a very important role. According to ComScore data, in June 2011, Spanish primary speakers spent substantially more time (50% more!) than English – primary speakers watching online videos: 1,238 minutes per viewer/month, versus 811 minutes.

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(Article from our Current Q4 2011 Print Issue)
Hispanic media consumption has a very strong TV component. It makes sense that as Hispanics move towards online and mobile content consumption, videos will play a very important role. According to ComScore data, in June 2011, Spanish primary speakers spent substantially more time (50% more!) than English – primary speakers watching online videos: 1,238 minutes per viewer/month, versus 811 minutes.

The ComScore data also shows that out of a total universe of 26.4 million unique Hispanic online video viewers in June 2011, only 5.1 million were Spanish primary speakers. Something here does not seem to make much sense: while Spanish-dominant viewers watch much more videos online, they are a small part of the total number of current Hispanic online video viewers. The answer to this conundrum lies in the scarcity of Spanish-language online video content.

“Right now the Hispanic market is still broadcast, there is no time shifting yet as in the general market,” says Lisa Torres, president of Zenith Media Multicultural. In fact, Univision and other major Hispanic broadcasters have not put most of their primetime shows online, something most general market broadcasters have done for years. “There is a lack of content particularly from Univision. Online video advertising is only going to change once Univision primetime comes online”, Torres adds.

The offering of online advertising options, and online video advertising in particular, still runs short of what advertisers and their agencies are looking for.

“There is not a lot of online video content inventory. We are seeing more of a drive to generate and consolidate video content. Advertisers and agencies are asking for it,” says Chris Stanley, CEO of Alcance Media Group, an online ad network targeting the U.S. Hispanic and Latin American markets. Jorge Mercado, Associate VP, Marketing and Communications – Americas at Prisa Digital in Miami, agrees “while video has grown there are still limitations such as reach, the increase of subscriber only video (Hulu/Netflix), studios and networks limiting the content out there on ad supported sites, as well as the high cost of rights for professional quality video content.”

While online pure plays like Yahoo!, MSN or Terra don’t have any conflict of interest, big broadcasting companies like Univision and Telemundo have a reason to fear that their billions of advertising revenues in broadcasting get cannibalized by online video advertising. Univision leads in the Hispanic online video advertising market, but the size of the Hispanic online video advertising market is less than 1% compared to the Hispanic TV advertising market.

Asked by Portada why Univision doesn’t stream its primetime schedule on univision.com. Kevin Conroy, president of Univision Interactive Media, answers that Univision streams an array of programming, including primetime content from Univision,TeleFutura and Galavisión on its sites, as well as on the Univision channel on YouTube. Conroy adds that “In fact, the first Univision Studios produced hit novela “Eva Luna” was made available after each broadcast on NovelasySeries.com and on mobile via the Univision Video App. “ “In addition, other popular programs are available online, including Sunday talent competition “Pequeños Gigantes” and our novelas on TeleFutura “La Pola” and “Doña Bella.”

Conroy adds that Univision recently provided a 360 experience of its “Premios Juventud” youth awards, which included four simultaneous live streams from never before seen angles of the stage and backstage areas on PremiosJuventud.com. Conroy also says that every game for the FIFA World Cup was streamed live as well as in the recent Copa Oro and Copa America soccer matches.”

However, most observers say that Spanish-language audiovisual online content is still very scarce. “Advertisers try to reach US Hispanics via English sites, but feel that such environment is not contextually right,” says Jan-Luc Blakborn, president of Maximum TV. Start up companies like MaximumTV and ButacaTV are trying to fill this gap as they are 100% focused on Spanish-speaking U.S. Hispanics.

Google’s YouTube, which mostly provides user generated video content, has been and still is the driver of overall online video viewership. Digital media veteran Juan José Duran was recently hired by YouTube as Strategic Development Partnership Manager for YouTube in the U.S. Hispanic market. Duran tells Portada that his main aim is to bring Hispanic content into YouTube through partnerships with all premium content players in the U.S.

“While the US Hispanic audience over-indexes on use of internet and mobile, the advertising offering is trailing behind. Ad agencies and their brand customers are constantly looking for online video opportunities to advertise to US Hispanics in the right context, not just another US commercial somewhere on a Hispanic site,” Blakborn says. Maximum TV provides a Hispanic online TV destination. It claims to have the largest TV and video content library, mostly in Spanish focused on the U.S. Hispanic audience/ population. Its content partners include Venevision, SUR, Azteca, Caracol, Multimedios, RCN, etc. “

GROWTH IN THE GENERAL MARKET

In the general market, video advertising is growing faster than all other online ad formats, and this year eMarketer estimates online video will surpass rich media in terms of ad spending. US online video advertising spending will grow 52.1% to $2.16 billion, up from $1.42 billion last year, when the video ad market grew 39.6%. By 2015, eMarketer expects the online video advertising market to grow to $7.11 billion. According to David Hallerman, an expert of research firm eMarketer, “Marketers increasingly see the internet as a place where brand advertising, especially in the form of video advertising, is effective,” said Hallerman. “Combined with greater targeting and measurement than marketers get with TV ads, the growing consumption of online video has done more to attract brands than any other online ad format.”

The volume of the U.S. Hispanic online video advertising market is much lower, in a big part due to the scarcity of offerings. According to Maximum TV’s Blakburn, “As brand marketers / advertisers start to shift more and more to true US Hispanic contextual (Spanish language) advertising, two categories will grow significantly: online video (professional content sites) and mobile advertising (including mobile video).”

CURRENT HISPANIC ONLINE VIDEO CAMPAIGNS…

Many advertisers targeting Hispanics are already using online video. Right now telecommunication companies (e.g. Verizon, Sprint), car companies (e.g.Toyota), insurances (Allstate and Farmers) and some consumer goods companies (P&G) are taking a very active role in creating this category.

Differently than regular TV advertising, online video advertising can be targeted and measured, much more so than TV advertising, says Karen Treydte, VP, Director of Media Services, at Casanova Pendrill where she buys and plans media for brands including General Mills and U.S. Army. “We incorporated online video both in-banner and pre-roll for Tr3s. They were revamping their programming line-up and our primary strategy was to get examples of the new programming in front of as many potential viewers as possible. So, in addition to television/cable, online video was a primary component of the media plan,” Treydte notes.

Yahoo-and Procter & Gamble renewed their agreement for the De Moda site (https://espanol.blogs.mujer. yahoo.com/de-moda/) in July. In 2009 Yahoo partnered with P&G to launch the Démoda site, a site promoting style and fashion for Hispanic women. Currently the partnership is entering its fourth year. The site is sponsored by P&G’s brand Olay during the first six weeks and then will rotate every six weeks to other P&G beauty brands such as Covergirl and Pantene.

DeModa has a strong brand integration worked through online videos, premium product placement and theme specific blogs. Tapestry Multicultural in Chicago and MG’s Connected Tissue unit in NYC worked together with Yahoo!’s team on the project.

…PROVIDING MORE TARGETED AND ENGAGED AUDIENCES

According to Casanova Pendrill’s Karen Treydte, “online video gives advertisers the ability to target lighter TV viewers with video content. The online space in general provides access to video outside of typical television day parts and programming and can engage users in a more active fashion (viewers may tend to multi-task when viewing television, not the case with online viewership). In addition, the combination of online video in addition to television can elevate the overall effectiveness of both platforms. Hispanics are embracing online video more than their non-Hispanic counterparts, in part due to the fact that content relevant to them is not prevalent in mainstream broadcasting. This behavior provides advertisers with an opportunity to engage users when and where they chose to consume video content.”

Kevin Conroy from Univision says that Univision sells video advertising primarily on a premium CPM basis both online and on mobile. “We sell live streaming, pre-roll with tandem ad units, and clickable video pre-rolls. Video is by far the most sought after and most premium of the ‘display’ ad types in the market today.” .

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