Cynthia Hudson, CNNE: US Hispanic is one of our top five audiences every month
At the end of 2023, CNN en Español completed the process of relocating part of its production to Mexico, where the company already had a considerable operation.
“We are very excited. We already had an important operation in Mexico and we have increased it. We have entered into new equipment, which we are using for everything related to production, a BRAVO system that is helping us a lot,” said an enthusiastic Cynthia Hudson, SVP and general Director of CNN en Español and Hispanic Strategy for CNN.
She reported that they now have two control rooms in Mexico and a backup one in Atlanta. “It has been a process to reorganize the structure, which we had already started to do when we added more production in Mexico and Argentina. Also with a group of staff in Colombia, who almost all work in digital and in news gathering.”
Hudson is satisfied because, with this restructuring, CNN en Español will migrate to the new control management system (CMS) Stellar, which is the same one used by CNN and allows it to be on par with its Anglo-Saxon counterpart. Until now, CNNE has worked with WordPress.
Hudson announced that they plan to launch a FAST channel for the US Hispanic US for Q1 or the second quarter of this year. “We are already evaluating and working on FAST channels with Warner Bros. Discovery,” she said. She recalled that CNN has already launched a FAST channel in Europe and another in the US, CNN Headlines, in English.
WHAT THEY GAINED WITH THE RESTRUCTURING
Hudson highlighted that with the restructuring, they gained the possibility of more multiplatform content, remaining focused within the region, in addition to the US Hispanic, which “is extremely important economically and is also one of our top five audiences,” Hudson indicated. She added that monthly, the US Hispanic is ranked first, followed by Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, and Spain.
“We will continue focusing on these opportunities which are before us. I think we’ve become more attached to the resources at Warner Bros. Discovery. We have an excellent relationship with Mike Cárdenas, who manages WBD for Mexico, and Nicolás McCormick, Head of Sales in Mexico. The same goes for Argentina, where we work very closely with Ezequiel Paz and Martín Hernández, Head of Sales. It was very important to reach an alliance with Fernando Medín’s group because, in the long run, they know the importance of our brand and its prestige. We have been one of the most trusted news brands, according to Reuters. We lead in the first, second, or the top five of countries,” Hudson said.
She emphasized that CNN can be “100% neutral and advocate for the independence of journalism, freedom of the press and democracy: the main values on which CNN was founded.”
