Ernesto Vargas, president of MVS Multivisión México: The challenge is who will survive and provide an offer available to our customers
Considered one of the pioneers of pay TV in Latin America and with more than 37 years of experience, Ernesto Vargas Guajardo, president of Grupo Multivision Mexico, spoke with Richard Izarra in #PRODUprimetime about the launch of MVS Hub, a platform making available all the streaming offer of its clients, enabling the users to choose what to watch in one place.
“We see it now; we saw it many years ago when we had ESPN, Disney, FOX, Paramount, and all the channels we represented and packaged. Nowadays, we are not talking about channels but about applications or companies that have launched their streaming, and we decided to create MVS Hub to put all these platforms together so the subscriber can choose, à la carte, what package they want, having the opportunity to change it from one month to another. We also offer recommendation services and customization of the content they like the most. They will only need one password; it works like a concierge,” he commented.
CONSUMER-FRIENDLY
He highlighted that one of the main concerns of the platform is to consider the neglected consumer’s pocket. “The challenge is who will survive and provide an offer available to our customers. In Mexico, we have 160 thousand collection points. It is an infrastructure, created after many years and effort, that MVS Hub service makes available to many people without credit or debit cards. We want something consumer-friendly by becoming a single concierge that helps you and answers all the where, how, when, and what questions.”
Regarding the response of clients and platforms to the new hub, Vargas assured that it has been well received because it makes their lives easier: “Instead of dealing with thousands of cable companies, they can deal with a single platform and a single payment. For example, if you have Netflix and Prime separately and you subscribe to them with MVS Hub, you will have a 20% discount, which will increase volume and loyalty; this is a learning experience over many years, greater loyalty and penetration, as opposed to being hired individually.”
After three and a half years of “in the making,” as they call it, it was at Content Americas where they began to offer it, while in Mexico, it is already available with more than 160 thousand subscribers: “It is a platform that has no borders, it can reach any country in the world and supply them already with authorized content. We are talking to interested players to make a win-win deal in which we can all win.”
He announced that they seek a 10% penetration in Mexico in five years -5 million users -, 10% of those who stream in the country, without including everything they can reach in other countries.
He explained that the MVS Hub offer is based on four points. First, the 130-150 Dish satellite live channels, including catch-up. Plus, platforms, such as Netflix or Prime, each independently or together through the user-preferred package. “We are distributors, so we pay a commission for each one, but here, we sacrifice it to offer it to the user and thus generate greater loyalty. We bring video on demand with exclusive content that is paid per view, making a relationship with the idea of having a pay-per-view, – as it used to be called – but now is streaming. Finally, we have the advertising-supported FAST channels.”
Finally, he spoke about the 57 years of Grupo Multivisión México, founded by his father, Joaquín Vargas, which comprises today three important areas. “We have FM radio stations; we are the first national frequency modulated network in the country, plus the affiliates; we have more than 350 restaurants, and the telecommunications part with Dish and MVS Hub, as well as the content production part, where we assemble channels, produce things and broadcast them.”
