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Live from New York, it’s Telemundo’s upfront.
In addition to Telemundo presenting at NBCUniversal’s upfront event on Monday, May 13, ADWEEK can exclusively reveal that Telemundo will host its event again later that evening at cultural center The Shed in Hudson Yards.
To kick off the festivities, Telemundo will feature Saturday Night Live’s Marcello Hernández in a special appearance.
“We’re very excited to have him on our show. Hispanics, we speak English and Spanish. We’re bilingual. And the beauty for us is that NBCU can reach Hispanic audiences at such a wide level across our entire portfolio,” Mónica Gil, chief administrative and marketing officer, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, told ADWEEK. “Someone like Marcello represents both [the English and Spanish] worlds. And my message to advertisers in many ways is that when you think of Hispanic audiences, we’re not either, or. We’re and.”
In addition to Hernández, award-winning urbano and reggaeton singer Manuel Turizo, a musician who’s collaborated with Shakira, Marshmello, Sebastián Yatra, Ozuna and Beele, will serve as the musical guest. He now joins a pantheon of talent that has graced the Telemundo upfront stage, including Enrique Iglesias, Nicky Jam and J Balvin.
In 2023, Telemundo’s theme was “Come With Us,” inviting brands to join them on a journey to reach U.S. Hispanics. For 2024, Gil said the company’s theme is taking things to the “Next Level.”
“We create content by U.S. Latinos and for U.S. Latinos. We see that as an honor and a privilege, quite frankly,” Gil said. “For us, it’s not just about reaching the next level in entertainment, news, sports, reality and content. It’s our audience. We believe that we are setting the stage for a more vibrant future, and ‘Next Level’ is not a destination but our starting point.”
Telemundo is undoubtedly reaching that audience, coming in as the most-watched Spanish-language broadcast network across weekday primetime for eight weeks in a row (Feb. 26 to April 21), Gil noted, with reality series La Casa de Los Famosos and scripted drama El Senor de Los Cielos leading the gains.
Meanwhile, the company has a robust slate ahead, with the third season of Top Chef VIP premiering in May, news coverage under the banner of Decision 2024 and Telemundo “doubling down” on live events thanks to multiplatform experiences such as the Billboard Latin Music Awards and Miss Universe.