Mexico. A new competitor has been born in the global audiovisual content market. The combination of Televisa and Univision assets involves the addition of the muscle of creative products, infrastructure, technological and financial capacity of two major players in the production of Spanish-speaking content.
Televisa-Univision, the new company that results from this strategic action will combine a long tradition and historical leadership in the generation of content that amounts to more than 300 thousand hours and the largest catalog of creative property in the Spanish language.
It is worth noting that additionally financial and technological muscle is added from partners such as Google, the main technology company in the world, SoftBank, a fund for the deployment of technological developments and The Raine Group, an investment bank with specialization in this same turn.
Potential Market and Multiplatform Efforts. The implementation of this strategic action will result in the strengthening of the position, no longer local but rather international, of the players involved, aligned with the recent strategies observed in the global market. Televisa is the first Mexican company that will expand the reach of its content to reach a potential market of 600 million Hispanics, 6 out of 10 located in Mexico and the United States.
However, and again in line with its global peers such as Disney, WarnerMedia, NBCUniversal, ViacomCBS, among others; the development and provision of content will not only concentrate actions on a single route of delivery of content to the consumer, but includes all the channels available from both players, namely: broadcast, restricted and digital television and subscription streaming platforms. Although the next launch of a strengthened Over The Top (OTT) platform with international reach is planned.
Fresh Investment Additions for Content Generation. It also highlights that this partnership involves the addition of $1 billion in resources for content generation in a market where the creation of 'original' products has become the name of the game.
At the same time, it seeks to bring together the current talent and creative alignment, but also to add new ones for the launch of new local / national productions for delivery and access in international markets, an opportunity to showcase the products of content creators in Spanish.
Strengthening in the Content Business. This strategic move does not modify the remaining structure of Grupo Televisa, which evolved from being a content company to being a conglomerate of media and services, that is, it only focuses on the content business. So the operation and administration of telecommunications companies (izzi, Bestel, SKY and others), PlayCity, Editorial, Club de Fútbol América and other businesses remain unchanged.
As far as the generation of news, information and cultural content is concerned, it will be the Azcárraga family that will continue to be in charge of this strategic area. This is in order to preserve the identity and dissemination of Mexican values in this type of content, in compliance with the provisions of the Constitution for the provision of broadcast services.
This meeting of creative, technological and financial capabilities contributes to the competitive dynamics in the audiovisual content market in which a growing number of players seek to attract audiences and position themselves. In this regard, Televisa-Univision have a long history, but their vision is to become a global player of content in Spanish. Here is their competitive advantage over other players, newcomers and already consolidated.
Text written by Ernesto Piedras of The Competitive Intelligence Unit, CIU.
