Michael Cerdá: “ViX will probably be the fastest-growing streaming service around”

Last February, TelevisaUnivision unveiled its upcoming Spanish-language streaming service, ViX. The platform, which officially launched its AVOD version on March 31, aims to be the world’s largest Spanish-language streaming service, offering thousands of hours of entertainment, sports, and news.

The two-tier service includes a free AVOD product, ViX, launched with 100 channels and a vast-content VOD experience. An SVOD option, ViX+, with premium content including originals and exclusive soccer, will launch in the second half of 2022. Such a robust project required a significant investment in technology, which is why TelevisaUnivision was especially careful with the technological development of both tiers.

“We essentially built a video streaming technology from the ground up. We are bringing together a world-class streaming experience. We knew that this had to be a consumer experience that works. We had to make sure our apps launched quickly, that people can find something to watch easily,”  Michael Cerdá, Executive Vice President, Product & Engineering – Streaming at TelevisaUnivision, told Señal News.

Before the launch, the company carried out an exhaustive survey of its target audience to better understand the tastes and consumption habits of the Hispanic viewers. “We went into people’s homes, had conversations, and showed prototypes. We learned, for example, that sometimes they are overwhelmed by the so many things they find in streaming services. When you get people too many options, they do not know what to choose, or they take longer to do it. Being simple and aggregating content into certain categories could help. For instance, if people just want to watch a movie, we have a category called ‘Movies’ and a movie channel, rather than making them scroll through hundred films,”  Cerdá said.

According to the executive, on-screen representation is also a crucial factor. “Another fascinating thing we learned by talking to people is that they want to see themselves, their families, and their lives in a streaming service. In ViX, everything is produced in Spanish, so they will get what they want from us. They will identify with the stories, as we are delivering on what people told us,”  he assured.

Furthermore, Cerdá explained that a large part of its target audience wants to discover what content to watch in a more linear way, where they can browse channels. However, a large part of that audience also wants to see specific content, such as a soccer match or a film. “Part of the art and the science of this is having both VOD and linear content co-existing and making it easily accessible,”  he commented.

Although Cerdá believes that the “content is king” phrase is still accurate, he gives equal importance to the user experience in terms of a streaming service’s success. “A lot comes down to content discovery, finding what you want to watch quickly, and picking up where you left off if you need to stop watching and come back later. Also, the recommendations you get after watching something you like. All of those things are super important,”  he remarked.

After the launch of the AVOD option on March 31 and ahead of the premiere of the SVOD version, Cerdá anticipates a promising future for this new great bet from TelevisaUnivision. “ViX will probably be the fastest-growing streaming service around. We have much experience from the three other streaming services that we have built, and we are going to be migrating all of those audiences into ViX. It will be the mothership of streaming for TelevisaUnivision. It is very significant, and we are bringing all together,”  the executive concluded.

By Federico Marzullo