I didn’t even imagine it, and they basically brought it to me about a week-and-a-half before the upfront. They wanted it all fleshed out. And Luis, literally a week before, sent me a video of the steps.
A week before is crazy. What would you have done if you disagreed with the idea? What would have been the backup plan?
Listen, I trust them implicitly. We have been working on the vision of what we wanted for months. So, we were all pretty much in lockstep on what we wanted to do. Being in New York, in a theater that was Latin-owned—it was everything that we were trying to do and bring it to life. It sets the stage.
Shakira was there—did she see it?
I didn’t get to talk to Shakira about it, but she was as surprised as everybody else when she saw it on stage. But we’re really happy that Shakira was there. Univision is her family. We’re excited about [soccer tournament] Copa América and about her song representing it for us. I think everybody was really excited about the outcome.
Let’s talk a little bit about the nontraditional format. This was an upfront event that did not feel like an upfront. Can you tell us a little bit about the strategy behind it?
I loved it. We transformed the venue into Casa Cultura. It was to ensure that our community that we served was not [only] heard, but also felt. We [TelevisaUnivision] live and breathe Hispanic culture and the Hispanic audience 24/7. But a lot of our marketers and a lot of the people in that audience don’t. So, it was important for us to bring culture front and center for everybody in that audience to know what we know and feel what we feel every day.
The food came from the different [Latin-owned] places within New York. The soccer jerseys with personalization were about converting them into fans. Having them feel the fandom of what fútbol is all about. That was a huge hit—you couldn’t get into the space.
Latin culture is just special. We wanted everybody to experience its uniqueness—their vibrancy, their immense pride in their culture. We’re going to take that thread line from Casa Cultura, and you’re going to see a lot of it. It’s not a one-time-only thing for us.
Love that. Now, can you tell us anything about early negotiations following this beautiful upfront? What have the conversations been like coming out of Wednesday?
Yes, upfront is a point in time, but we are talking to our marketers 365 days a year. So, this is an ongoing process. We have been talking to them for months. English-language is definitely being commoditized. There are a lot of streaming services out there that are doing all the same old stuff. Obviously, content is crucial. But we are unique.