Speaker 1: Welcome to another episode of Strictly Business, the podcast devoted
Speaker 1: to thought leaders in the entertainment industry on varieties co
Speaker 1: editor in chief Andrew Wallenstein. There may be no more
Speaker 1: sought after demographic than millennial Hispanics, which means it's a
Speaker 1: lot of energy being spent on attracting them with content.
Speaker 1: One of the companies doing that is Raise, and it's
Speaker 1: CEO and Miliano Collumsook is here to talk about it.
Speaker 1: Thanks for joining me. Thanks Andrew, very very nice to me.
Speaker 1: You good to have you. So in terms of the
Speaker 1: you know, being a Latino media company, I think that
Speaker 1: can mean like so many different things, and you actually
Speaker 1: do a lot of different components in your business. So
Speaker 1: walk us through what exactly Raise is. Yes, I mean,
Speaker 1: we we saw a great opportunity where, you know, some
Speaker 1: of the dominant forces in the Hispanic business in the
Speaker 1: US are catering to an older audience through business broadcast,
Speaker 1: which is in secular decline. And we asked ourselves if
Speaker 1: we were to create a Hispanic sort of focus company
Speaker 1: to the in the US, what it would what would
Speaker 1: it look like? And we look at some, uh, some
Speaker 1: some previous successful companies like the case of MTV. You know,
Speaker 1: can we create a brand that talks to a generation,
Speaker 1: uh and and really take advantage of the fact that
Speaker 1: a lot there's a lot of transitioning and kind of
Speaker 1: sunsetting of the audience that's been historically on those two broadcasters,
Speaker 1: like you know the case of Univision and Telemundo. But
Speaker 1: we knew that in order to be a successful company
Speaker 1: you have to put creative first, you know. You know,
Speaker 1: I spent about fifteen years at Fox and and and
Speaker 1: and every time that success was created financially was it
Speaker 1: because it was a great story at the center. And
Speaker 1: we said, we have to put talent and story at
Speaker 1: the center, and then trying to figure out how to
Speaker 1: exploit those things through digital, through traditional media, and really
Speaker 1: also taking advantage of the fact that the platforms like
Speaker 1: Netflix and Amazon are ex ending dramatically into the into
Speaker 1: the demographic and need a lot of content. So how
Speaker 1: how do we create a company that on one end
Speaker 1: creates that brand for the future of his Spanish in
Speaker 1: the US and at the same time takes advantage of
Speaker 1: all the immediate business opportunities that are happening today. And
Speaker 1: I think that's how Race was born. Does one really
Speaker 1: sort of take care of the finances for the other
Speaker 1: selling into Netflix and Hulu. I it imagines where the
Speaker 1: money is whereas monetization in setting up a brand on
Speaker 1: digital platforms, that's really tough. I think you're right. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, you look at a lot of the digital
Speaker 1: media companies at the last three to five years, and
Speaker 1: I think everybody's fighting for the tent of the budgets
Speaker 1: that Google and Facebook don't take. And we don't believe
Speaker 1: that created content for a brand is a sustainable business
Speaker 1: proposition for any media company. I look at the Simpsons.
Speaker 1: You know, Simpsons wouldn't have been the Simpsons if they
Speaker 1: were created for a butterfinger or for a brand like
Speaker 1: you know, the creative process needs to be independent from
Speaker 1: sort of a brand that comes coming on board. So
Speaker 1: we founded Raised on that premise. We said, we have
Speaker 1: to do the best as the best content that we
Speaker 1: can and then if Netflix and Amazon or Hulu or
Speaker 1: TNT want to buy it, great, and then over time
Speaker 1: we'll develop a brand relations brand related business. But it
Speaker 1: has to start with the programming and and I think, um,
Speaker 1: you know, I think I think that's that that that
Speaker 1: holds true to to today. I mean we were not
Speaker 1: a branded agency. We are a company that creates content
Speaker 1: for demographic that's actually looking for a lot more than
Speaker 1: what you currently exists. And you have some interesting partners
Speaker 1: working with h and some interesting backers. Talk about that
Speaker 1: we are we are blessed. I mean, what can I say?
Speaker 1: I mean, this is my first experience in raising money
Speaker 1: and having BC partners, and all we get is is
Speaker 1: help and support and encouragement and actually, you know, can
Speaker 1: we do more? Can we invest more? Can you know?
Speaker 1: And I think in that in that regard great Craft
Speaker 1: and Rain who had great experience with Vice, with awesome STV,
Speaker 1: with Maker Studios, ut A partners as well. Uh, you know,
Speaker 1: we're really been very health full in sort of helping us,
Speaker 1: uh make you create this architecture for for for raise.
Speaker 1: And obviously my partner Louise Ba and Sofia are obviously
Speaker 1: people who have been in the Latino world for a
Speaker 1: long time, and and I've had extensive relationships with you know,
Speaker 1: other talent with brands. So I think it's a very
Speaker 1: interesting ecosystem. But at the end of the day, I
Speaker 1: think we're all very convinced that, you know, we do
Speaker 1: have to create a brand and at the same time,
Speaker 1: we have to be a company. Went to a company
Speaker 1: that makes money, uh, you know the way that historically
Speaker 1: production companies and media companies have made money as well.
Speaker 1: So um, I have to ask the Sofia Vergara. People
Speaker 1: might assume raises. You know, a lot of big talent
Speaker 1: like her had these vanity shingles, as Variety would call it,
Speaker 1: is raised just that or Sofia really bringing some ambition
Speaker 1: to that. Sofia is one of the hardest working people
Speaker 1: I think I've ever met. And and Sofia doesn't do
Speaker 1: anything where she doesn't believe there's real upside in it.
Speaker 1: And she's got a lot of ideas as well. So
Speaker 1: I think we have you know, our ecosystem is an
Speaker 1: interest seeing one. You know, I come from a studio,
Speaker 1: which comes from talent management. Sophia has had extensive brand
Speaker 1: relationships and work in Big I p our VC partners
Speaker 1: have been involved in creation of successful companies. So I
Speaker 1: think everybody has a role to play. Obviously, you know,
Speaker 1: Sofia has has a lot of performing work that she
Speaker 1: does as well. So you know, some of us, you know,
Speaker 1: you know, spend more time than than mm hmm. So
Speaker 1: you've been around a year or so, what are the
Speaker 1: winds that have put Raise on the map. I think
Speaker 1: we've I'm actually very excited and and and quite pleasantly
Speaker 1: surprised by by the by the progress, you know. I think,
Speaker 1: you know, we've announced a series with Netflix. We're co
Speaker 1: producing within the Mexican production company series for Amazon Prime,
Speaker 1: so you know, and these are these are very significant shows.
Speaker 1: I think for a company one year old that kind
Speaker 1: of comes from from a from the digital digital space
Speaker 1: is a great win. We're having conversations with studios and
Speaker 1: strategics about partnering for developing of i P which hopefully
Speaker 1: we'll get to announce in the next few months. We
Speaker 1: launched Raised dot tv and our presence across all social media,
Speaker 1: and we amassed you know, a million and a half
Speaker 1: subscribers on YouTube and you know, definitely growing Instagram. So
Speaker 1: we're starting to see our KPIs and A metrics really
Speaker 1: really grow very fast, and particularly engagement. One of the
Speaker 1: things that we look at is that's our content resonate
Speaker 1: with the audience, and I think, you know, compared to
Speaker 1: any other digital media company that puts content on on
Speaker 1: social media, our engagement sometimes doubles the average. So we're
Speaker 1: very excited about having created a combination of content and
Speaker 1: audience fit that we think has a very long, you know,
Speaker 1: you know, long path that we can continue to exploit.
Speaker 1: What is the secret sauce of raise from a brand perspective,
Speaker 1: from a programming perspective that makes it resonate with this
Speaker 1: Latino millennial audience. Things a special sauce, and I don't
Speaker 1: think we have it down to the center. I think
Speaker 1: we're iterating and there's sorta of things that work better
Speaker 1: than others. We recently launched kind of our live show,
Speaker 1: live variety show, which is purely focused on the digital
Speaker 1: space out of our Mexico office, and we're gonna try
Speaker 1: to see if we can add now from Los Angeles
Speaker 1: to have that Mexico Los Angeles kind of corridor, which
Speaker 1: from an audience perspectives are important for us. And we
Speaker 1: try stuff all the time. You know that we've we've
Speaker 1: done high budget content with some of the town that
Speaker 1: we that we that we work with, We've done we're
Speaker 1: planning to do some big tent pole initiatives over the
Speaker 1: next year. They're gonna be relevant, but you know, at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, I think is respect for
Speaker 1: the digital audience in terms of their uses and how
Speaker 1: they use social media, being genuine to to to our market,
Speaker 1: and and being innovative, I mean all those things that
Speaker 1: we believe that linear broadcasts has struggled with. I think
Speaker 1: we're really trying to put an overdrive and and so
Speaker 1: far the results are there. I mean, our growth and
Speaker 1: again across the KPIs is there, and that we're also
Speaker 1: being able to sell a lot of shows to third
Speaker 1: party platform So actually we're very happy on both ends.
Speaker 1: And what is your competitive set look like? Because I
Speaker 1: know there's other companies like me too that have some
Speaker 1: similarities to what you're doing. And as you mentioned, you
Speaker 1: know the fact that there's these giants like Univision and
Speaker 1: Telemundo that don't really seem to be focused on this
Speaker 1: younger audience. So what does this competitive set like? You know?
Speaker 1: I think I think we look at how can we
Speaker 1: create something for the eighteen to thirty five where Univision
Speaker 1: and Telemundo are are continuing sorting to hold to an
Speaker 1: all the audience. Uh. I think that's what we look
Speaker 1: at a sort of our main objective in terms of
Speaker 1: other companies playing the space. I think everybody every you know,
Speaker 1: you know, rising tide raises all boats. I think it's
Speaker 1: a it's a large enough market their space for everybody
Speaker 1: do was done a phenomenal job on the English language
Speaker 1: side and develop a massive sort of Facebook following. I
Speaker 1: think we're doing the same from a form of IP
Speaker 1: perspective where we sort of established our place in the ground.
Speaker 1: But I do think that there's there's enough for all
Speaker 1: of us to do in that space. Um, I'm really
Speaker 1: focused on trying to get as much as we can
Speaker 1: in that Spanish language sort of US and Latin America.
Speaker 1: Where where where that we think there's a great opportunity
Speaker 1: And is it entirely Spanish language programming. It seems that
Speaker 1: over the years, as I've looked adventures like your own,
Speaker 1: everyone sort of takes a slightly different tack. We started
Speaker 1: with Spanish because the strength of our talent was in
Speaker 1: Spanish language. Sorry, Um, you know, we're producing some shows
Speaker 1: for some of the big SAT platforms where it's in Spanish.
Speaker 1: We have development in English. Uh, you know, we think
Speaker 1: that you know, the Latino population in the US, you know,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of shades. Uh you know, actually a
Speaker 1: d plus percent speak either a lot of Spanish or
Speaker 1: some Spanish, and the English only audience is actually quite small,
Speaker 1: so you can't paint with just you know, you have
Speaker 1: to be able to sort of you know, be you
Speaker 1: know in every kind of you know, midpoint and ultimately,
Speaker 1: you know, some things that are for a very young
Speaker 1: adult audience, maybe more English dominance, some things that are
Speaker 1: that are older you know, maybe a mixing Spanish and English.
Speaker 1: And I think if you look at some successes like
Speaker 1: Netflix is Narcos, where it's a show that comes out
Speaker 1: of Latin America with you know, a lot of it
Speaker 1: in Spanish, but still being able to attract a very
Speaker 1: significant audience in the general market. So we see that
Speaker 1: as sort of you know, becoming the norm across the board,
Speaker 1: and we definitely want to play there. Talk a bit
Speaker 1: also about the talent component, uh, you know, who are
Speaker 1: the stars of Raise and what does it tell us
Speaker 1: about the venture. I mean, we're lucky that we, you know,
Speaker 1: we have an ability to sort of you know, Louise
Speaker 1: and and and and Madi sort of come from a
Speaker 1: management role for for decades, so you know, I think
Speaker 1: we do have management relationship with some key talent on
Speaker 1: the writing side, doctorial acting. You know, obviously Sophia partner
Speaker 1: we lose on Latin world. Uh. So, you know, we
Speaker 1: definitely we you know, we definitely look at talent and
Speaker 1: as a as a as a as a main component
Speaker 1: of of of what we do. And uh and you know,
Speaker 1: obviously we have a relationship with some of the biggest
Speaker 1: social media influencers in Latin America and and Hispanic. We
Speaker 1: also have creative ambitions for movies and series which we're
Speaker 1: helping develop. We have relationships with talent that's been on
Speaker 1: univisional telemon and from the camera that we're also developing
Speaker 1: programming for. So I think it's also an interesting ecosystem
Speaker 1: where you know, some of the writers and directors and
Speaker 1: some of the acting talent and some of the social
Speaker 1: media influencers, and we try to make everybody kind of
Speaker 1: playing the same mix. Uh. And you know, obviously, you know,
Speaker 1: you know, profably in the putting, but we're very confident
Speaker 1: that that I think it's a good it's a good
Speaker 1: combination of of assets to to to create content with.
Speaker 1: So there's film in this mix as well. Yes, Yes,
Speaker 1: Actually one of the conversations we're having right now is
Speaker 1: to develop three You know, obviously these are not you know,
Speaker 1: forty million dollar movies. You know that the more and
Speaker 1: the sort of a single digit million, But if you
Speaker 1: look at the talent UH and the and the influencers
Speaker 1: being a part of UH, you know, there's there's really
Speaker 1: really very very strong appeal for that demographic. I mean,
Speaker 1: if you and if you combine the social media reach
Speaker 1: other people that will ultimately be in this in this project,
Speaker 1: it's in the tens of million. So we're trying to
Speaker 1: figure out is there a way for director consumer so
Speaker 1: the you know s about platform UH play that we
Speaker 1: can do with talent that really wants to do more
Speaker 1: and and and you know, I think the word influencers
Speaker 1: being kind of thrown around a lot. I mean, we
Speaker 1: were these are people that have been doing social media
Speaker 1: for ten years and be the top of their field,
Speaker 1: and we've been able to place them in Disney Channel
Speaker 1: series and Nicola. I mean, so these are also very
Speaker 1: good performers. So we're very confident that the town that
Speaker 1: we work with is very capable for doing sort of
Speaker 1: the next the next generation of content. As I hear
Speaker 1: you talk though, when I pull away the Latino audience target. Really,
Speaker 1: your business is not that different advice or buzz feed
Speaker 1: in Europe roach to market. And then I look at
Speaker 1: those companies and they've had their share of victories, but
Speaker 1: they've really taken some LUNs in recent years, a lot
Speaker 1: of questions about their growth pattern for the future. How
Speaker 1: are you avoiding some of the pitfoil, sorry, pitfalls that
Speaker 1: those companies are facing. I think it's a good question.
Speaker 1: And you know, to begin with, you know, at revenue
Speaker 1: and branded content are miniscule part of our of our
Speaker 1: business model. So you know, if if brands decide that
Speaker 1: the digital space is not safe and we don't invest,
Speaker 1: you know, our exposure is very limited. And again I
Speaker 1: think having learned at Fox for many years, you know,
Speaker 1: one solid hit will solve a lot of problems. So
Speaker 1: we're very focused on what is that piece of content
Speaker 1: that really is going to create a franchise for us?
Speaker 1: You know, how can I create the next Twilight? How
Speaker 1: can I you know, I think you know, coming from
Speaker 1: the Latino space gives you a lot of opportunity because
Speaker 1: you know it's an under certain audience. But but I
Speaker 1: think if you look at all those companies you mentioned,
Speaker 1: they were they were born out of. We reach billions
Speaker 1: of people, like we're not. We're not in the business
Speaker 1: of you know, hopefully we will reach buility, but that's
Speaker 1: not a selling proposition. This is sort of you know,
Speaker 1: we have the best combination of idea, talent and execution
Speaker 1: to create a great franchise. And I think that's that's
Speaker 1: how we see our company um and I think of
Speaker 1: the game being able to sort of be able to
Speaker 1: sell to all these you know, you know, we have
Speaker 1: the credibility to do so, we have the creative expertise
Speaker 1: to deliver. And I think that's very that's that's that's
Speaker 1: why we think we're different from from from all those
Speaker 1: companies that really come from a volume business eyeball and
Speaker 1: impression business, and and and I think, you know, volume
Speaker 1: and high quality ideas are not always compatible. Uh so
Speaker 1: you know, we're we're patiently trying to grow that stable
Speaker 1: of I P looking for great opportunities where we can
Speaker 1: also own intellectual property. I mean, ultimately we want to
Speaker 1: build our library. So I think I would say that's
Speaker 1: probably one of the biggest differences with those companies. I mean,
Speaker 1: we're very we're not in the branded content we're not
Speaker 1: in the agency business, and we're clearly not in this
Speaker 1: sort of you know. But I would imagine, not only
Speaker 1: when you look at the size of the Hispanic market
Speaker 1: in the US, but obviously around the world internationally, you
Speaker 1: guys are probably very well positioned. Yeah, I mean we're
Speaker 1: in Latin America, we're we're absolute leader today. Uh. And
Speaker 1: and in the US, I think we're carving our space.
Speaker 1: We have the demographic playing in our favor because I
Speaker 1: think dollar you know, it's the dollars. Ultimately will try
Speaker 1: to follow those younger demographics. And I think because we're smaller,
Speaker 1: we're nimbler, uh, and we can take much more risk
Speaker 1: than some of these established broadcasters. I think we're looking
Speaker 1: we're really trying to carve out that that space. But yes,
Speaker 1: you're right. I mean in Latin America we've got a
Speaker 1: very significant audience, and you know, right now we're planning
Speaker 1: talent tours. Things that will start in Latin America will
Speaker 1: give us an opportunity to test before we're bringing to
Speaker 1: the US. I have to say though, sometimes and this
Speaker 1: is not just with regard to the Latino market, but
Speaker 1: really for lots of them, different demographics. I find myself
Speaker 1: skeptical about the whole notion of sort of ethnic targeted content,
Speaker 1: that perhaps the Hispanic audience in the US doesn't necessarily
Speaker 1: care whether they're watching Hispanic content or not, and they
Speaker 1: could love a lot of the English language stuff. Am
Speaker 1: I being a little shortsighted there though? No? I think
Speaker 1: I think, you know, I'm always wary of some of
Speaker 1: the extremes black or white zero hundred, like you know,
Speaker 1: And I think I would consider my house to be
Speaker 1: somewhat sort of you know, in in that in that
Speaker 1: in that average mix where you know, I watched a
Speaker 1: lot of stuff in English, is something interesting in Spanish.
Speaker 1: I'll watch the same thing with my kids. My kids,
Speaker 1: you know, in Netflix watch sort of you know, the
Speaker 1: traditional sort of you know, English language stuff, but there's
Speaker 1: this show from Argentina that they love and they're watch
Speaker 1: it in Spanish. And I think ultimately people get attracted
Speaker 1: to stuff that's good and you know, and if you
Speaker 1: have the ability to be able to switch between two languages,
Speaker 1: then you know, you still watch what's good in respective
Speaker 1: of which language it is. I agree with you that
Speaker 1: just because you brand yourself Latino, people are not going
Speaker 1: to flock to you and watch. And I think that's
Speaker 1: one of the things one of the challenges when you
Speaker 1: do stuff in English is you know, the Latino audience
Speaker 1: will watch something Latino screwing, but they also will go
Speaker 1: to complex advice and bus feed and box and and
Speaker 1: all these things. And and I think it's much harder
Speaker 1: to find great competitive content when you do it in Spanish.
Speaker 1: And for Spanish language content, I think the first word
Speaker 1: that comes to mind for a lot of people is
Speaker 1: the telenovela. And yet I've heard plenty that the telenovela
Speaker 1: may not necessarily be a format that's well situated for
Speaker 1: the future. To put it kindly, do you guys have
Speaker 1: a take on that? Are you in that business? I mean,
Speaker 1: what's the telenoila? Telenoila is yeah, it's it's this is
Speaker 1: this is this kind of story that's convoluted with sort
Speaker 1: of a lot of feelings and betrayals and love and
Speaker 1: inter twines and and it's gets crazy. I can point
Speaker 1: a Desperate Housewives and tell you what a great soap
Speaker 1: opera that was. And so I think the genre in
Speaker 1: from you know, when you look at it from the
Speaker 1: Spanish language content world, I think it's been you know,
Speaker 1: I think Telemundo has done a great job in sort
Speaker 1: of bringing that genre to a much more a sort
Speaker 1: of you know, enjoyable hole for millennials or or you know,
Speaker 1: so you're really taking all that intertwined crazy love story
Speaker 1: and put it in a context that's that's much more
Speaker 1: appealing for a younger audience. Ah, a good story is
Speaker 1: still a good story. I would argue the Shakespeare would
Speaker 1: have been a great telenovela writer. It just a question
Speaker 1: is if you if you shoot it in Mexico, where
Speaker 1: there the Mexican rancher falls in love with the maid,
Speaker 1: that for someone living in East l A, it's like
Speaker 1: I can relate to that. But if you put it
Speaker 1: here in East la or if you put it in
Speaker 1: sort of you know, and you know whatever, in a
Speaker 1: more and more and more and more and more Hispanic context,
Speaker 1: then it's just a great story. So I think, you know,
Speaker 1: we don't discard things just because of the lenovela, but
Speaker 1: we do believe that you have to make things that
Speaker 1: relevant to the people that live here today and are
Speaker 1: sort of within that age range. And I think that
Speaker 1: the broadcasters you mentioned struggled with that process. Because you know,
Speaker 1: Univision was importing programming directly from Televisa Mexico and Televisa
Speaker 1: was still stuck doing that kind of Illinois. I think
Speaker 1: everybody got a wake up call now and both are
Speaker 1: trying to sort of reinvent themselves and talk to a
Speaker 1: younger audience. And we definitely are in that mix as
Speaker 1: a program supplier, but also sort of you know, as
Speaker 1: as as as developing content for Race too well. But
Speaker 1: can't you become the next Univision or Telemundo? That's how
Speaker 1: that's my goal. Are they looking over their shoulders at
Speaker 1: you or you just a program supplier to think we're
Speaker 1: I think we're still small, and I think you know,
Speaker 1: they got a mass again between both of them, they
Speaker 1: make you know, they have a three billion dollar business,
Speaker 1: So I don't I'm sure that they're not losing sleep
Speaker 1: over Race, but we're definitely going in that direction. We
Speaker 1: do want to become that brand for for the Hispanic
Speaker 1: millennial in the US but also in Latin America. And
Speaker 1: it's interesting because you know, you know, I think even
Speaker 1: when you go to main land American country in Mexico
Speaker 1: or in Colombia or Argentina, you still don't see a
Speaker 1: company like like like race what we're trying to to
Speaker 1: to become. And I think it's a massive opportunity if
Speaker 1: we can really become the company I think we will be.
Speaker 1: Don't think we will have a great opportunity to great, great,
Speaker 1: great content. So you've got the brand out there on
Speaker 1: digital platforms, adds supported, social friendly. Why that approach as
Speaker 1: opposed to or in addition to some sort of direct
Speaker 1: consumer subscription, don't sell the Netflix, be your own Netflix
Speaker 1: just for that market. I don't think you're mistaken. I
Speaker 1: think that's ultimately their plans. I think you want to
Speaker 1: established credibility, you want to sort of get you know
Speaker 1: what we're seeing that's good revenue there today, but over time, yes,
Speaker 1: we do want to manage our own business with our
Speaker 1: our own consumers. And I don't know if if if
Speaker 1: the subscription is to be able to sell the audience content,
Speaker 1: but definitely, you know, sort of have a community of
Speaker 1: people that really engage with the brand, with the tours,
Speaker 1: with the music, with the content, and and and and
Speaker 1: all those things. I'm also seeing e commerce in Latin
Speaker 1: America skyrocket in markets. So the opportunity of creating a
Speaker 1: consumer brand are really really, really appealing. So I think
Speaker 1: that's all part of the mix. But you know, we're
Speaker 1: very happy that in the first year we're able to
Speaker 1: sels sort of the big guest platforms, real shows, real
Speaker 1: dramas with real budgets at the same time that we're
Speaker 1: developing our digital director consumer brand. I think that's that's
Speaker 1: for for our first year. I think it's a it's
Speaker 1: it's a good first step. Uh. And and also the
Speaker 1: fact that a lot of the strategics want to play
Speaker 1: with us in different shapes and forms. That's very exciting
Speaker 1: because we don't what do you mean by that strategic
Speaker 1: to play with studios, some of the big established cable
Speaker 1: brands coming to us and say, let's develop things together,
Speaker 1: let's partner on some of your strategic initiatives that maybe
Speaker 1: you cannot afford on your own. It's great, I mean,
Speaker 1: because we don't believe that we're here to completely replace everybody.
Speaker 1: I think, you know, we're growing slow the uh that
Speaker 1: that sort of digital space, and and it's great to
Speaker 1: be able to learn from and collaborate with some of
Speaker 1: the bigger legacy media brands. You know, we're not We're
Speaker 1: not here to sort of to to to. We're here
Speaker 1: to sort of try to grow our business. We believe
Speaker 1: that it's not again, it's not an all or nothing.
Speaker 1: And a lot of these companies have resources, have an audience,
Speaker 1: have great programming, and they're great partners. The Latino media
Speaker 1: market being as big as it is, I'm almost surprised
Speaker 1: that there isn't more attention, more momentum there. Do you
Speaker 1: think it's something that is looking a sector that's looking
Speaker 1: for its next big hit, that next show that's sort
Speaker 1: of re retrains people to understand the importance of that demographic. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think a lot of it comes from, you know,
Speaker 1: I mean two things. Some of the big media companies
Speaker 1: have a lot of other issues to worry about that
Speaker 1: are sort of real threats of the business. And you
Speaker 1: see sort of cable bundle or you know, we sell
Speaker 1: to Netflix, so we don't sell to Netflix. Uh And
Speaker 1: Latino is always priority. It's important, but it's proborily number
Speaker 1: nine or ten. Uh and and and and and I
Speaker 1: think you know, in your day to day if you're
Speaker 1: an executive, because I I'm being that in that position,
Speaker 1: you know, you only get to prior number ten one
Speaker 1: the other time. And I think that creates a situation
Speaker 1: where there's not a lot of investment and a lot
Speaker 1: of a lot of aggressive beds. But I do think
Speaker 1: everybody understands that the demographic change in the country. I
Speaker 1: think everybody understands they need to do it. And I
Speaker 1: think there's been on the Latino side that's been growth
Speaker 1: in the amount of executives, amount of writers. So I
Speaker 1: think you're you're seeing growth, you know, at all sides
Speaker 1: of of of of the mainstream market with respect to Latino.
Speaker 1: But you're right, I think it will usually takes a
Speaker 1: big hit to sort of make everybody, oh, oh my god,
Speaker 1: how come didn't do we see it coming? I think
Speaker 1: that there's been some examples of good content, but you know,
Speaker 1: you got a program, you know, continue to sort of
Speaker 1: to build on top of that, just to create a difference.
Speaker 1: I would imagine part of the opportunity is that there
Speaker 1: does seem to be some under representation of Latinos on
Speaker 1: screen in TV in the US. Uh there you know,
Speaker 1: on pace to be a third of the population by
Speaker 1: you know, twenty thirty years from now, and yet looking
Speaker 1: at the air waves nowadays, you wouldn't really get that sense.
Speaker 1: Is that an opportunity for Raise. I think it is
Speaker 1: because ultimately, I think, you know, I don't necessarily believe
Speaker 1: that you have to make a quota how many people,
Speaker 1: you know, I think the best people need to be
Speaker 1: on the air, and I think the talent on the
Speaker 1: Latino side is also growing. Um, you know, the opportunities
Speaker 1: weren't great, but I don't think I don't think. I
Speaker 1: don't think we should play victim. I think we should say,
Speaker 1: let's put more people to do better stuff. And I
Speaker 1: think we're in the business of trying to make that
Speaker 1: Latino content better so it automatically will bring more more
Speaker 1: actors and actresses and writers and directors uh to it.
Speaker 1: And I think there's a lot of work to be
Speaker 1: done from the creative side of the Latino space, where
Speaker 1: the story has become better, where the stories engage a
Speaker 1: wider audience that are not just Latino. And I think
Speaker 1: that's our job. That's where I see Raises as as
Speaker 1: a real player. How can we really elevate the game
Speaker 1: So when someone is sitting at NBC, ABC, CBS, turns around,
Speaker 1: that's a great show. I love it happens to be Latino. Okay, great,
Speaker 1: but not the other way around. I understand that a
Speaker 1: big part of the strategy going forward is live content.
Speaker 1: Talk about what you're doing there and why you're doing that.
Speaker 1: It's amazing. I mean, we were doing Race Live uh
Speaker 1: out of Mexico and we won't add another hopefully in
Speaker 1: the next month or two from Los Angeles. It's you know,
Speaker 1: the opportunities for for digital audience to be live. You know,
Speaker 1: I can I can look at h Q the game show,
Speaker 1: but you know, there are a lot of opportunities to
Speaker 1: sort of jump into something and we've done it, and
Speaker 1: it's we're you know, we've been global trending topic on
Speaker 1: Twitter and two of the four shows that we've done
Speaker 1: uh and and uh and it's just great. I mean
Speaker 1: it's a lot of work. Well what are the shows?
Speaker 1: What exactly? What? Two one, it's it's Raised Live, which
Speaker 1: is essentially it's a variety show. There's music, there's gaming,
Speaker 1: there's sort of you know, competition between celebrity talent, uh
Speaker 1: and and and the audience tuns in from pretty much
Speaker 1: online America and the US and Spain. Uh And Again,
Speaker 1: we launched it like a month ago, so we're in
Speaker 1: the very early stages, but it's an opportunity to have
Speaker 1: this demographic tune in at once on the phone and
Speaker 1: and it's great. It's great the feedback that we get.
Speaker 1: It's great to see the interaction between the fans and
Speaker 1: the talent live. We're learning a ton and I think
Speaker 1: that that becomes a great platform. You know, hopefully we'll
Speaker 1: be able to add another show on Wednesday's, another show
Speaker 1: on Thursday. So you know, a year from now, can
Speaker 1: we own one hour of this demographic daily across all
Speaker 1: Laine America US. I think it's an ambitious goal, but
Speaker 1: if we can pull it off, it's something that no
Speaker 1: broadcaster has been able to do. Uh So, I think
Speaker 1: it's one of one of the things that we're really
Speaker 1: excited about. Well, I'm excited to see how that develops
Speaker 1: and so much more array is Amiliano Columns. Look, thanks
Speaker 1: for coming in and talking to me. Thank you, thank you,
Speaker 1: thank you for for taking the time, and you know,
Speaker 1: look forward to keeping you up to speed on the progress.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to another episode of Strictly Business. Please
Speaker 1: do subscribe when you get a chance and tune in
Speaker 1: next week when my guest will be Pluto TV CEO
Speaker 1: Tom Ryan m