Spanish-Language Streaming Continuing to Grow; Latinos More Likely to Stream Live Content Than Watch on Broadcast
According to the 2020 Census, there are over 62 million people identifying as Hispanic in the United States. That’s approximately one-fifth of the population, and though obviously not all of these people are active Spanish speakers, it’s nevertheless a sizeable audience for providers of Spanish-language content to target.
Streaming services that focus on content in Spanish are finding themselves dealing with issues that are plaguing the industry at large. Namely, younger audiences are more and more difficult to reach, as social media viewing on platforms like TikTok outpaces the amount of time youthful viewers are spending on streaming platforms.
A report from the Los Angeles Times outlines the steps that Spanish-language providers are taking to lure young audiences back. Telemundo, which houses its Spanish streaming service Tplus within NBCUniversal’s streaming service Peacock, has done so by making subtle tweaks to the classic telenovela genre. These shows have evolved into what Telemundo calls “SuperSeries,” which maintain the melodrama of a classic telenovela but are updated with real-life storylines and more diverse characters to appeal to younger generations.
“The whole family can sit down and watch the SuperSeries because they feel very contemporary,” Karen Barroeta, EVP of production and development and the head of Telemundo Global Studios told the Times. “Younger audiences are going through TikTok all the time and they get a story every 10 seconds. They cannot stay watching a traditional story.”
Forty percent of Tplus’s audience watches SuperSeries episodes exclusively via streaming. The Times cites the 2023 Focus Latinx survey, which shows that Latinos are more likely to use streaming than the general population, and more likely to watch live content on streaming services than via traditional linear broadcasts. The 2022 edition of the same survey found that Spanish-language viewership was up 11% year-over-year, and that nearly 40% of Latino viewers used streaming exclusively to get their entertainment, because of the relative ease of finding Spanish content.
There are more Spanish movies and TV series available all the time, with a service adding a new option seemingly every month. Sling Freestream added five free Spanish streaming channels at the end of May, and ViX’s paid, premium tier recently became available in Roku's premium subscription store. Distribution of Spanish-language content is rising, and users are responding.
At last count, ViX had 25 million monthly active users on its free tier. Peacock carried Spanish-language broadcasts of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and became one of the most-downloaded apps in the world during the competition last winter. The service hopes to double down on the influx of subscribers that offering soccer broadcasts in Spanish brings, as it announced a deal to become the Spanish-language home of the U.S. national soccer teams in January.
Demand for Spanish content is growing, and streamers are thus far answering the call. Spanish-language streamers are even appealing to younger audiences, and their successes should be looked at by all streaming platforms as they attempt to lure Gen Zers off social media with new shows and movies.
ViX Premium
ViX Premium is a video streaming service focusing on Spanish-language content. Users will see 100+ TV channels, thousands of movies, TV series and soap operas, soccer leagues, and 24/7 news. Users can choose an ad-free plan, which has 40,000 hours of content, featuring originals and library content from Univision and Televisa’s pool of programming. ViX Premium includes 7,000 hours of live sports, including Liga MX and UEFA Champions League soccer.