Media companies expand Spanish-language content for Latinx audiences

The FOCUS Latinx: State of Pay TV, OTT & SVOD 2022 survey was conducted in February-March 2022 in English and Spanish among 2,200 TV content viewers. Data have been weighted to ensure results are representative of the overall TV universe.

It found that seven in ten US Latinx TV content viewers watch Spanish-language programming–up 11% from in 2021–and two-thirds watch international content, an increasing amount of which is accessed via SVOD and AVOD streaming services.

The study added that with more Spanish-language and Latinx-themed SVOD and AVOD content and services available, Latinx households—who have been among the most loyal to MVPD services—are now as likely to have similar penetrations of MVPD services compared with the total market, at 52% and 51% respectively. Horowitz notes that the current share of Latinx TV content viewers who rely only on streaming has continued its upward trajectory: 38% of Latinx only subscribe to streaming services and not to an MVPD.

The analyst noted that the SVOD over-indexing was due, in part, to the fact that these households want access to both Spanish/Latinx-themed and English language mainstream content. On the SVOD side, Latinx households subscribe to an average of 4.7 streaming services, an increase from 4.0 last year. Concomitantly, spending on streaming services among Latinx also grew dramatically. Latinx SVOD subscribers report spending an average of $70.7 in 2022 on subscriptions to streaming services, compared to just $48.83 in 2021 and $38.54 in 2020.

For AVOD, YouTube and Peacock were revealed as the most-used free streaming services for Latinx TV content viewers. Notably, Peacock offers content not just from NBC’s family of mainstream networks, but also has a wide array of content from Telemundo, one of the two leading Spanish-language broadcasters in the US.

Yet despite the increase in Spanish-language content now available in the market, the survey also found that almost half (45%) of Latinx TV content viewers found the quality of Spanish content to not be on par with the quality of English content. This said Horowitz was likely to change moving forward as media companies continue to invest in quality Latinx-themed and Spanish-language content.

It noted Peacock recently increasing its commitment to the Latinx market by announcing Tplus, a bilingual content hub and YouTube TV added Spanish-language plans for its subscribers. Pantaya, the Spanish-language SVOD service whose popularity grew tremendously with the success of its original series El Juego de Las Llaves, was recently acquired by Spanish-language media powerhouse TelevisaUnivision.

“We have always been bullish about the Spanish-language and Latinx-themed content space, but until recently, this audience was underserved and presented an opportunity that was not being fully realized,” remarked Adriana Waterston, chief revenue officer and insights & strategy lead for Horowitz Research commenting on the FOCUS Latinx: State of Pay TV, OTT & SVOD 2022 survey .

“The fact that Spanish and English mainstream and Latinx-themed content were offered in silos, rather than within the same channel or platform, was a major barrier to its growth and evolution. The introduction of Spanish-language content within ‘mainstream’ platforms, starting with shows like Narcos, La Casa De Papel, and others on Netflix, has made media companies rethink their Latinx strategies. We are excited to see what lies ahead.” Rapid TV News