Telemundo’s EVP of Sports Eli Velazquez: U.S. Spanish-Language Sports Fans Drive an Increasing Share of Total Video Consumption

He says Telemundo understands ‘200%-er’ audience (100% American, 100% Hispanic)

It’s well-known that the Hispanic population is growing across the U.S., and, in media and entertainment, the younger, multi-language shift is a trend that is changing the face of sports.

A recent Nielsen study revealed that U.S. Hispanics spend nearly nine hours per day with media. Plus, they spend the majority of their media-consumption time on streaming platforms, making them a key demographic for companies looking to grow their direct-to-consumer subscriber base.

That is true for NBCUniversal and its streaming service, Peacock. During a keynote conversation at the SVG Summit in New York City on Tuesday, Eli Velazquez, EVP, sports, Telemundo, said his brand is uniquely positioned to serve the rising numbers of what he identified as “two-hundred-percenters”: bilingual speakers born in the U.S. but with deep ties to their family’s native country.

During a 20-year career at Telemundo, Velazquez has played a key part in production decisions concerning some of the world’s biggest sports events: the World Cup, Olympics, Super Bowls, and more. Earlier this year, he was promoted to EVP of sports for NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises. At the SVG Summit, he shared his belief in the growing Hispanic sports-viewing market in the U.S., his production philosophy, production plans for 2024, reflections on the World Cup, and much more.

This conversation was hosted at the SVG Summit in New York City on Dec. 12. The moderator was SVG Co-Executive Director, Editorial, Ken Kerschbaumer.

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