Emilio Romano Touts Strength of Telemundo’s Original Programming

MIAMI: During his One-on-One session today with World Screen’s Anna Carugati, Emilio Romano, the president of Telemundo Media, stressed the role that original programming has played for the U.S. Hispanic broadcaster, strengthening its ties with audiences and allowing for successful product-integration campaigns with advertisers.

Romano, who began his role in September 2011, told the audience that a number of factors led him to take the position at Telemundo, but paramount was the allure of the originals the company was creating. “Eight years ago Telemundo made the very very clever decision to create its own content. The studios were created and now we have consistent, quality content that gets better every day and will get better still even in the future. That has created a huge asset, which we are using to keep building Telemundo.”

He said that 2011 was a banner year at Telemundo “because we were able to capture the content that is delivering passion to the largest Hispanic audience in the U.S. We produce our own prime-time programming, and have done so for a number of years, and we have seen consistently high ratings. It’s not only the fact that we’re creating this very relevant programming, it’s that we’re creating it consistently. That’s what’s driving the company going forward.”

Another advantage, Romano noted, is the value this brings for working with advertisers. Product integration has been key for Telemundo, and “has proven [to be] an efficient way to create top-of-mind [brands] and make the cashier ring for the advertiser, which is really what drives our business.”

The high costs of producing original content have led Telemundo to look toward co-productions as well. “Our strategy to be the most powerful producer of Spanish content for the world brings us to a position where we must keep partnering with the best in breed. We want the best partners that can help us bring the best stories, the best execution.”

He cited as examples El Clon with Globo, Una Maid en Manhattan with Sony and La Reina del Sur with Antena 3. “We’re looking constantly to partner with the best in breed. This is clearly going to be increased going forward. We’re very flexible as well. We don’t have a preconceived model. We’re there to make sure that we are partnered for the best content possible.”

This content has also sold well internationally, Romano noted. “Telemundo Internacional is a cornerstone of our long-term strategy…. It enhances the ability for us to create even more and better programming because we can amortize it to a larger platform and that will increase over time, therefore we have more resources to invest in our programming over time.”

While Telemundo has been selling its finished programming successfully for some time, Romano said that “going forward, we think formats are going to be an increased opportunity for us.”

Earlier this week, it was announced that Fox International Channels has teamed up with Colombia’s RCN Television Group for the launch of MundoFox. This brings a new player to the U.S. Hispanic media landscape, yet Romano says he welcomes the competition. “It validates our industry. The fact that such powerful companies are coming into the market shows that they know that this is a market that has huge growth potential. We welcome competition; it makes us work hard, it makes us be awake at night even more and it gives our viewers a better experience. We’re all for competition and this will only engage us more to give the extra mile to our viewers, to our advertisers and all of our clients.”

Alongside the strong slate of originals, news and sports remain key to Telemundo’s programming. Romano stressed one sports event in particular that Telemundo believes will be a powerful offering. “If there is anything in our industry that is a game-changer it’s having the World Cup in our company.”

Romano said that Telemundo has big plans for the event coverage as well, much of which involves multiple platforms and embracing digital media. “We’re going to provide the linear coverage, but we’re really going to make sure that we bring the stories alive…. We’re going to bring it in ways that our audience has never seen before. We’re going to provide digital coverage as well to make sure they can see it anywhere they want and everywhere they want. We’re going to make sure we surprise them with how we will make them get into the game instead of just watching in linear.”

Romano reflected on his move back into the media industry with fondness, saying that his bottom line goes beyond just delivering strong financials. “We’re in the business of connecting with our audience and making sure we make them cry, we make them laugh, we make them have goosebumps. I believe that sometimes in this industry, and in our lives, we forget how lucky we are to be alive, to be healthy, to have a family, to be educated, to have a passion—that puts us in a unique position and creates a huge responsibility for us. We can impact our community in ways that people cannot imagine. We can make a difference. I believe so strongly that this is the meaning of working for Telemundo, to give something beyond the profits, to increase the quality of living for our community, for the Hispanic community. I’m proud of the opportunity and that’s what really drives us the extra mile to make this a leading company."