By Stephen Brooks
Augmented reality. Skinny bundles. Virtual reality. Original series and films debuting on over the top (OTT) platforms. In 4k. Feature films shot on iPhones. YouTube stars.
If you pause to survey the filmmaking and distribution landscape and suddenly wonder when everything changed, you’re not alone. And barring an apocalypse, technology promises more change—and at a more rapid pace, to boot.
The changes are not only technological, but they’re also demographic. The Millennial cohort is more mobile, technologically savvy and culturally diverse than its predecessors (just wait: the digital-native Generation Z right behind it is even more so across the board). Multicultural Millennials—and Hispanic Millennial viewers in particular—are challenging many of our long-held assumptions about how to tell a visual story (and the proof is in the ratings and ticket sales).
Hispanic Millennials are the single largest cohort in two of our most important media centers (Los Angeles and Miami). Filmmakers and brands alike covet this ascendant demographic, to varying degrees of success and frustration. So how can they be reached?
Mobile Entertainment
Hispanic Millennial viewers consume the plurality of their video entertainment through smartphones—and as smartphone penetration and 4G carriage continues to expand, this proportion will only increase.
Narrative formats that adapt to the reality that the mobile screen is the first screen will capture the Hispanic Millennial viewer’s interest. Shorter form content—film shorts, mini-episodes, vignettes, music videos—meet the mobility and attention span demands of a generation untethered from programmed and structured television.
Interestingly, this attention span extends even to mobile advertising, where, according to a 2015 study by the Hispanic Millennial Project, this cohort is more receptive to brand messages on mobile platforms than are other cohorts, a critical factor as distributors try to augment advertising revenue from thinning broadcast viewership.
It’s the What, Not the How or Where
This is not to suggest mobile is the only platform for Hispanic Millennials—far from it. If the content they are looking for is not available on one platform (e.g., television or YouTube), Hispanic Millennials will seek out the niche services that can deliver it (subscription services, streaming/over-the-top apps).
Optimism and Identity
Hispanic Millennial viewers are inherently optimistic about the future and their ability to impact it positively, even as they increasingly identify culturally with their ancestral country or region. This unique paradox—one foot seeking connection with the past while the other moves confidently toward the future—creates the backdrop for exploring complex narratives about self-identity, belonging and separateness.
The filmmaker or creative agency who is able to explore these narratives and convey them in a short format stands a good chance to recapture the viewership lost from more traditional media outlets.
Incidentally, this paradox is playing out around the world, as technology brings us closer together, economic mobility is increasingly widespread and entertainment becomes more globally produced and consumed. So chances are, the narrative that captivates the imagination of the Hispanic Millennial in the U.S. will find captivated audiences elsewhere.
Stephen Brooks is EVP & general manager of VidaPrimo, one of the largest Latin Music multi-platform networks with presence across YouTube, Dailymotion, Amazon Video Direct and its owned and operated platform, VidaPrimo.com.
A TV as big as a bed? With the holidays approaching, stores stock more supersize sets
For some television viewers, size apparently does matter.
Forget the 65-inch TVs that were considered bigger than average a decade ago. In time for the holidays, manufacturers and retailers are rolling out more XXL screens measuring more than 8 feet across. That's wider than a standard three-seat sofa or a king-size bed.
Supersize televisions only accounted for 1.7% of revenue from all TV set sales in the U.S. during the first nine months of the year, according to market research firm Circana. But companies preparing for shoppers to go big for Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa have reason to think the growing ultra category will be a bright spot in an otherwise tepid television market, according to analysts.
The 38.1 million televisions sold with a width of at least 97 inches between January and September represented a tenfold increase from the same period last year, Circana said. Best Buy, the nation's largest consumer electronics chain, doubled the assortment of hefty TVs — the 19 models range in price from $2,000 to $25,000 — and introduced displays in roughly 70% of its stores.
"It's really taken off this year," Blake Hampton, Best Buy's senior vice president of merchandising, said.
Analysts credit the emerging demand to improved technology and much lower prices. So far this year, the average price for TVs spanning at least 97 inches was $3,113 compared to $6,662 last year, according to Circana. South Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung introduced its first 98-inch TV in 2019 with a hefty price tag of $99,000; it now has four versions starting at $4,000, the company said.
Anthony Ash, a 42-year-old owner of a wood pallet and recycling business, recently bought a 98-inch Sony for his 14,000-square-foot house in... Read More