Don Browne Highlights Opportunities in U.S. Hispanic Market

January 27, 2011 World Screen
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MIAMI: Don Browne, the president of Telemundo Communications Group, discussed the success of the company’s original programming model, as well as the importance of the upcoming Census results, in a Q&A session at NATPE, moderated by World Screen’s Anna Carugati.

Carugati, World Screen’s group editorial director, kicked off the one-on-one session by asking Browne about his enthusiasm toward the upcoming results of the U.S. Census. “I’ve been evangelizing the census for a long time,” said Browne. “For one, it’s part of our constitution. Secondly, it’s going to be transformational. Thirdly, in this country the majority population is getting smaller and the minority population is getting significantly bigger, being driven by the growth in Hispanics.”
 
Browne said the Census results will be a “psychological transformation in our business…. When the data comes in, it’s going to be significant. The buying community psychologically is going to go ‘Wow.’ You’re going to see a tremendous shift.” He called it a “significant game changer in our country,” and said it will “signal to the world…that the economic power and force of Hispanics have arrived. Psychologically and practically, I think it’s going to be the biggest game changer in the history of media,” he added.
 
The conversation then moved to Telemundo’s successful original programming, as it started out only in acquisitions. “It was a business model that was failing,” said Browne. “We could not compete, we had to transform ourselves. Six years ago we didn’t have a studio business, we didn’t have a digital business, we didn’t have an international business and we didn’t really have a cable business. Six years later we are the second-largest provider of Spanish-language content in the world.”
 
He explained several of the benefits that Telemundo’s original production model has brought to the company, including attracting top talent. “When we opened the door to original content people started coming; the most talented, passionate people in the world started coming in that door to produce content,” he explained.
 
Browne also pointed to the ability to create strategic alliances. “When you have content that is compelling and is respected and popular around the world you can have strategic alliances that allow you to be bigger than the sum of your parts.”
 
He also said that he welcomes competition from other Spanish-language producers in the original programming arena. “Our content is contemporary, it’s provocative and it travels extremely well around the world,” he said of Telemundo’s advantages. “Our sweet spot is speaking directly to the U.S. Hispanic audience.”
 
Another key benefit of Telemundo producing original content, Browne explained, is the ability to work closely with advertisers right from the outset. “We bring our producers and creative teams in with our advertisers, clients and agencies…. You form a relationship and understand with their business what they want to do and they understand the architecture of the novela; you begin creating together.” He said that this allows for the ability to develop a product that lives within your novela “that’s natural, that’s organic and it’s constructed and drives our business.”
 
Browne later discussed Telemundo’s integration of pro-social themes into its novelas, as well as the channel’s passion for delivering news. “No matter what network you are with, serving this community through journalism is incredibly important…because they need us. The general market is not serving the news needs of the Hispanic community, the Hispanic networks are. This is our time to step up and serve.”
 
He called Telemundo’s news a “critical fabric of connectivity to our audience,” but said it’s not only about connecting, but also being aspirational for the diverse U.S. Hispanic community.
 
“I’ll leave you with something that’s extraordinarily powerful,” concluded Browne. “Think about this: the first African-American president of the United States observing [Sonia] Sotomayor and her mother as she took her position on the Supreme Court. Her mother is our audience. She worked two or three jobs and she dreamed that maybe one day her daughter would go to college, maybe one day her daughter could dream to be a judge or a lawyer and maybe one day join the Supreme Court. That power of aspiration, that uniquely U.S. Hispanic experience is what our writers and what our producers want to capture and manifest back to our audiences. If we do that, we will have served our community and we will be very, very successful, because I don’t think there’s any more power than aspiration, any more excitement than drawing in great and talented people and letting them create and turning them loose to reflect this unbelievable audience that we serve.”


 

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