Eddy Ruiz Alex Marin
“There is nothing nicer than to watch what you want, where you want, and when you want to,” expressed Alexander Marín, Distribution and Channels VP for Latin American, the Caribbean and Canada at Sony Pictures Television (SPT) in the context of the talk “Media Groups: How to Deploy a Direct to Consumer Service?” in the NEXTV CEO LatAm in Miami.
Eduardo Ruiz, president, and general manager of A+E Networks Latin America explained that the OTT is another brand that offers content. “We already have our VOD applications. Today more than ever, our brand becomes something more important. Content is important, but the brand is what differentiates it. We must be on all the platforms. The challenge is how to monetize those other audiences” and added that it has a 20% additional audience lift that watches the contents of the group´s channels daily but they don´t have a mechanism to monetize and present it to advertisers.
“We are lucky that in Latin America, except for Brazil for economic issues, there is still growth in the pay-TV area,” added Ruiz, and mentioned that they, as a group has made the decision to not go direct to consumer, but through affiliates.
Ruiz mentioned the case of the launch of the mega-production Hernán on the screens of TV Azteca, Amazon, and History in the region. “Five years ago, reaching an agreement like this would have been impossible, but today, we three partners are launching a super production”.
When consulted on the importance of data and analytics for the business, Marín expressed that data for advertisers are an essential topic, “it is an agnostic way to be able to measure the impact of the product you are trying to advertise”. He added that there are other topics like the relation of talent on-screen with the brand that has a more subtle and impacting valuing. “Data is important, but it is not the end of the world,” he said.
