NGLmitú plans to announce the launch of its new streaming platform mitúTV, aimed at the fast-growing English-dominant U.S. Latino population, at its NewFront presentation on Tuesday.
mitúTV will feature more than 120 hours of original Latino-created programming.
The network is available through a free downloadable app and is being promoted on all of NGLmitú media platforms, Joe Bernard, chief revenue officer of NGLmitú, told Broadcasting+Cable.
Parent company GoDigital Media Group last year combined NGL Collective with mitú, bringing together NGL’s distribution with mitú’s production capabilities to create a Latino digital powerhouse, Bernard said.
“We are our own best customer now,” he said. “Instead of asking advertisers to use our platforms, we should use it ourselves. So we will.”
The app is available on a number of platforms including Amazon Fire, Roku, Android TV and Apple TV, as well as iOS and Android mobile.
The company is talking to additional distributors and plans a phased rollout that will include free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels.
“Once people understand the proposition of the programming service, more people will raise their hand and say I want to put that on my channel because it's free and different and unique,” Bernard said.
The new channel also will be attractive to advertisers looking to reach a unique and growing portion of the Latino audience, through organic, authentic programming, the CRO said.
“Our goal at the upfront is to elevate the combined company,” Bernard said.
Bernard said that most Hispanic media properties are aimed at Spanish-dominant audiences. “This is one of the few, if not the only channel whose proposition is, it's an English-dominant and bilingual channel offering,” he said. “We’re saying this 24-hour channel focuses on the content that mirrors what is essentially the bigger side of the Hispanic USA pie, which is the English-dominant side.”
With the merger, NGLmitú already has scale in digital, delivering 32 million unique viewers monthly, according to Comscore.
“This is what a lot of advertisers want,“ Bernard said. ”They want to buy the smaller company for the authenticity and get upset when the small company doesn't have scale. And then they want to buy the big company for the scale, but the company doesn't have enough credibility and authenticity. We are that business with big scale and the small company credibility and authenticity.”
In an ad market that’s been soft overall, Hispanic media continues to grow. “Right now, the company as a whole is on fire,” Bernard said. “Our second quarter is very strong right now so we're expecting to exceed our goals.”
New series that will appear on mitúTV include:
Three Gs in a Pod, a video podcast where hosts Erik Rivera, Sasha Merci and Jesus Sepulveda discuss relevant topics and share childhood memories and dating horror stories.
Girl, Let Me Tell You has hosts Jessica Flores, Ivana Rojas and Gorelys Mora telling personal stories about things women are tight to keep to themselves.
Spill the Chisme is mitúTV’s gossip game show designed to put players in the hot seat with increasingly personal questions and awkward answers.
Some of mitúTV’s programming originates from a 14,000-square-foot studio facility in East Los Angeles populated by young producers and influencers who have been creating content for the company’s social channels.
Bernard said mitúTV is also looking at independent films for properties featuring or created by young Latino talent.
“mitúTV is changing the game when it comes to entertainment created by Latinos for Latinos all in one place,“ actor, activist and NGLmitú partner John Leguizamo said. “Everyone knows we’re a huge part of today’s streaming audience. mitúTV provides an easy way for Latinos to access authentic content and see themselves positively portrayed like never before.”
In addition to mitúTV, the company will be selling inventory in its 200 music channels on YouTube. Those channels have been organized to enable clients to buy them as part of a video-everywhere package, Bernard said.
Besides Latino music, the channels feature hip hop and other genres, enabling advertisers to reach young viewers.
NGLmitú will also be expanding its female lifestyle brand Fierce by mitú, which was originally launched in 2017 for Latinas and women of color.
“With more Latinas enrolled in higher education, starting new businesses, and contributing nearly $1 trillion to the U.S. economy, we believe it is the perfect time to expand the influence of Fierce by mitú through content and activations that further enable the incredible potential within this community,” NGLmitú chief brand officer Vanessa Vigil said.
