Enrique Martí­nez Discusses Discovery’s LatAm Business at MIPCancun

CANCUN: Enrique Martínez, the president and managing director of Discovery Networks Latin America/U.S. Hispanic (DLA/USH) and Canada, took part in the View from the Top keynote moderated by World Screen’s Anna Carugati at MIPCancun, where he discussed the development and evolution of the company in Latin America.

During the session, Martínez explained that the driving force behind Discovery has always been to bring high-quality television to the screen and create a network that provides factual content, along with other in-demand categories. “That has been the organization’s commitment, to provide factual content of the highest possible quality.”

Carugati asked the executive how the company has built its brands in Latin America. “Thirty years ago, we launched Discovery Channel and then five years after that, we began our international rollout,” said Martínez. “That international expansion began in the U.K. and subsequently in Latin America and the Asia Pacific. The vision was to take Discovery Channel around the world and make sure it became a brand recognized worldwide. Once we launched Discovery Channel in Latin America, we began almost immediately to investigate what people liked, what the levels of viewership were, and we realized that many children were watching Discovery Channel. That gave birth to the idea of creating Discovery Kids.”

The conversation then focused on how the company decided what channels could be brought to Latin America. “We have a deep appreciation for our relationship with our affiliates; we understand what they value and where they see opportunities,” Martínez stated. “Clearly, you can’t succeed without a high level of distribution, which is why counting on their support was critical.” When deciding what channels could be brought to the region, the executive explained that another important piece was the technology. In terms of what brands to take to LatAm audiences, “we looked at the public’s levels of interest and what they really valued about Discovery Channel. For us it was about following the existing consumers’ demands and looking to see how our partnership with our affiliates would lead them to be willing to launch another genre or particular concept. That resulted in the birth of 11 different networks.”

Martínez also said having offices in markets across the region was part of the success. “In the world we live in today, owning intellectual property allows us to do many things and broadcast throughout multiple markets. And the more we can do this, the more successful we will be. The local content, along with executives and their teams in their respective territories, help us make the right decisions when developing the content. That strategy has paid off and we are seeing growth in the leadership of our channels in different genres.”

When asked if the linear channels remain the main way in which people view their programs, the executive noted that they have the right foundation, meaning they can monetize their content. “The increase in pay TV and its audience is amazing,” he added. “If you look at households with pay TV throughout Latin America, [you’ll find that] over 50 percent of the audience is watching pay TV. We live in a fragmented world, so there is great value when you can deliver results in a particular segment with sufficient scale.”

Carugati also asked Martínez what Discovery offers advertisers. “With the evolution of the industry, you have to have an extensive distribution and once you accomplish that, you have to meet the needs of a wide audience and the needs of the distributors,” Martínez said. “Once you do that, the advertising dollars will follow you in different stages according to the various factors affecting each market.”

Finally, Martínez said that the company wants its content to continue traveling the world. “We have many production centers around the world and we share our needs, drives and content volume. We take our talents and shows around the globe. There’s also the local element in each market, where local teams have the ability to create content that is most relevant at the local level. And sometimes, those locally developed shows also travel to other territories.”