Hispanic Heritage Month, which is celebrated between September 15 - October 15, is well underway and a great time to pay tribute to the culture and language of Hispanic Americans, and to continue to embrace diversity and inclusion as an industry.
Cable programmers have put together initiatives that not only honor and recognize the contributions of the Hispanic community in America, but ones that also speak directly to their Spanish-speaking audiences and that strive to give Hispanic Americans a strong voice in the entertainment world. Here are just a handful of many that are currently underway:
NBCUniversal Telemundo kicked off its campaign, "Be The Next Story Told," calling on Latinos to continue seeking opportunities and achievements. A bilingual spot aired on "Today" and Telemundo's morning show, "Hoy Dia." On "Today," Latino entrepreneurs, medical experts, and authors are taking the spotlight for the full duration of the show. NBCU is also showcasing bilingual content throughout the month featuring celebrities including George Lopez and Camila Cabello.
Then on "Noticias Telemundo," stories spotlighting Hispanic Heritage Month will be played during newscasts. Likewise, NBCU News Group has produced in-depth stories on Hispanic history and culture across its channels. And on Universal Kids, animated spots created for young audiences will air throughout linear, digital, and social platforms.
ESPN kicks off their "Somos" campaign again this year, which commemorates the influence of Latinos in sports. This year, content centers around MLB and the music influence Latinos bring to the league, the Latina players of the WNBA, and UFC's biggest Latin names. Then on "SportsCenter," the top 15 most influential Latino athletes will be highlighted during weekdays through special video features.
"This month-long 'Somos' initiative is part of our continued commitment to present content that genuinely portrays ESPN’s diverse audience while highlighting specific stories that not only celebrate the influence of Latino athletes but also showcase what Hispanics and the rest of the U.S. population already enjoy in unison," said Freddy Rolón, ESPN Senior Vice President of Programing Planning.
TelevisaUnivision launched "Univisionarios" this week, an initiative that selects and celebrates Hispanic community leaders in the United States. Winners are awarded funds for the foundations of their choice. The honorees were recognized in a gala in Washington, D.C., this week, with top performing artists, journalists, and talent of Hispanic heritage, including rapper and singer Daddy Yankee, civilian astronaut and the first Mexican-born woman to travel to space Katya Echazarreta, and former baseball pitcher for the New York Mets Orlando "El Duque" Hernández.
TelevisaUnivision also launched another noteworthy project earlier this year when ViX, the network's large-scale streaming service, was released. ViX was created specifically for Spanish speakers. TelevisaUnivision created the platform to fill a void. As Executive Vice President & General Manager, SVOD, Rodrigo Mazon explained at the Televisions Critics Association summer press tour, despite there being almost 600 million people in the world who speak Spanish, "only a fraction of the global streamers’ content is originally produced in Spanish. And Spanish language storytelling is what we’re all about. We know Hispanic audiences everywhere are hungry to stream more native Spanish language content. This is why we are investing a massive amount of incremental dollars in original content and sports rights, above and beyond our existing linear businesses."
ViX was then followed by ViX+, the premium tier of ViX. In its first year, ViX+ already offers more than 10,000 hours of entertainment of original series and movies, as well as over 7,000 hours of live soccer in the U.S—more original content in Spanish than any other network or platform, according to TelevisaUnivision. While Hispanic Heritage Month ends on October 15, TelevisaUnivision has made it a priority to put Hispanic culture front and center every day of the year, and to produce content that is authentically Latin for Spanish-speaking audiences.
