Telemundo Unveils Upfront Event Plans, Sets Nicky Jam to Perform

Upfront week is right around the corner, and Telemundo wants to kick things off in style. Adweek can share exclusively that NBCUniversal's Telemundo Celebration on Monday, May 15, will take place at The Glasshouse in New York City. This will be the first-ever upfront event at the 75,000-square-foot, glass-enclosed space. And to get the celebration going, the company has booked reggaeton artist Nicky Jam, known for hits such as "X" and “El Perdón,” as the night's performer. Telemundo’s 2022 FIFA World Cup Ad Sales Hit ‘Record Revenue’ Ahead of Kickoff Jam follows in the footsteps of past Telemundo upfront performers Enrique Iglesias, J Balvin and Ozuna—all of whom he has collaborated with. Telemundo's 2022 upfront messaging was about marketers "future-proofing" their businesses as the Hispanic demographic continues to grow in the United States. This year, the theme is "Come With Us," which Beau Ferrari, chairman of NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, said, "invites brands and clients to join us on this journey." "What we're looking to do is to tie that to these popular franchises in Telemundo history and obviously defining cultural moments as America's No. 1 content powerhouse," Ferrari said. "And to bring brands and clients on that journey with us is at the heart of all of that." Last year brought several highlights for Telemundo, including the launch of Tplus on Peacock, ad sales reaching record revenue for its Spanish-language broadcast of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and Telemundo Deportes serving as the exclusive Spanish-language home of Super Bowl LVI, marking the first time a Super Bowl was televised on a Spanish-language broadcast network in the U.S. In 2023 and beyond, the company promises similar tentpole opportunities across news, sports, entertainment and FAST channels. In January, Telemundo became the exclusive Spanish-language home of the women’s and men’s national soccer teams across all platforms, including Peacock. The company will also air every match of this summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup from Australia and New Zealand on its linear networks, with all matches also available in Spanish on Peacock, marking the first time the women’s competition is broadcast live in its entirety in Spanish in the U.S. Plus, looking forward, the Paris Olympics in 2024 and the 2026 Men's World Cup present even more opportunities. And scripted and unscripted programming, including franchises such as La Casa de los Famosos and El Señor de los Cielos, continue to perform, with Telemundo growing 9% in prime time to-date in 2023 and quarter-to-quarter prime growth reaching 44%. "It's top artists. top talent and the best of entertainment, news and sports across all platforms," Ferrari said. Adweek Podcast: Why HHM Is More Than Translating Ad Copy Into Spanish Reaching consumers at scale And cross-collaboration with NBCU continues to be a pivotal part of the strategy. Recent highlights, in addition to Telemundo's Super Bowl collaboration with NBC Sports, include Top Chef VIP, Telemundo's version of the long-running Bravo franchise, and several productions filming at the Telemundo Center in Miami, such as NBC’s Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party and Jose Diaz-Balart Reports on MSNBC. Along with NBCU, the company creates scale among the Hispanic demographic, telling Adweek it reaches nine out of 10 Hispanics in the U.S. every month. "We don't stand alone, obviously, in all of this," Ferrari said. "With NBCU's TV and streaming portfolio, and collaborations with NBC News and others, we've been able to do this across entertainment news and sports content, and do it at scale and in both languages, like no other media company to reach the largest number of Latinos." To showcase the brand, NBCU will highlight "Telemundo moments" during its upfront presentation at Radio City Music Hall on May 15. "It's a big part of it," said Mark Marshall, president of advertising sales and client partnerships at NBCUniversal, speaking to the importance of showcasing Telemundo in the upfront presentation. "The differentiator between us and a lot of the other major media companies is that we can reach English language and Spanish language for marketers. They don't need to bifurcate their buys." The U.S. Hispanic market has around $2.5 trillion in spending power, and Marshall told Adweek that marketers are realizing their growth needs to come from multicultural audiences, especially the Hispanic market. "It used to be a marketplace that was really driven by auto, retail and restaurants, but we saw huge growth last year in tech, travel and pharma. And travel and pharma both were upwards of triple digit percentages year-over-year," Marshall said. "As we're going into this marketplace and upfront time period, really concentrating on continuing to see these different categories really lean into the Spanish language marketplace has been fulfilling." CreatorIQ Identifies The Most Impactful Creators In The Hispanic Community Prioritizing the market And despite a soft ad market to start the year, Marshall noted that the Hispanic audience is one marketers can't afford to ignore. "Fifty percent of the population growth in the U.S. since 2000 has come from U.S. Hispanics. And 58% of the growth over the next five years will come from this demographic," Marshall said. "So the idea of having to base your allocations on if it's a good market or bad market—if you want to continue to grow as a brand, you have to be talking to the U.S. Hispanic audience." Though last year was about "future-proofing" businesses, Ferrari told Adweek that the future is now here. And that makes Telemundo's "Come With Us" theme even more powerful. "Latinos are continuing to fuel the demographic and economic engine of our country," Ferrari said. "And it's making Hispanics the single most important growth opportunity for business in America."