ROKU Introduces New Hispanic Streaming Hub Espacio Latino


Roku


ROKU

recently announced the launch of its all-new Spanish language streaming hub, Espacio Latino.

Espacio Latino will offer a wide collection of programming content for the Hispanic audiences of the United States. The launch will make it easier for users to search and stream popular movies and TV series, telenovelas and family entertainment in Spanish on The Roku Channel.

Roku had noticed that nearly 70% of Spanish-language viewing households watching The Roku Channel did not have Pay-TV. However, they used Roku’s advertising-based video on demand service for more than three days per week. This prompted the company to launch its free streaming hub, Espacio Latino.

Espacio Latino will include over 50 Spanish language Live TV channels, of which more than 25 are brand new to The Roku Channel. Hispanic audiences will also have the facility to add Spanish-language premium subscriptions to enjoy access to all their favorite content on one platform.

Roku Originals will be available on the free streaming platform.

Natural Born Narco

, an all-new Spanish Language Roku Original, will debut on July 8 on the platform.

Rising Competition in Spanish Streaming Space

Spanish-speaking audiences make up a massive market for streaming services providers. The demand for high-quality Spanish language content is ever-expanding, almost at par with English language content among consumers. Per a

Horowitz Research Report

, 80% of U.S. Latinx TV viewers watch content on streaming services, including 64% of Latinx Spanish-language content viewers.

Roku, recognizing the importance of Spanish-language content, launched Espacio Latino. The new development will help Roku garner more Hispanic subscribers for the service.

Apart from existing key partners like Lionsgate, BBC Studios, Sony Pictures Television, and others, The Roku Chanel brought in new partners — NBCUniversal Telemundo, Hemisphere Media Group, Cisneros Media, Eurochannel, The Weather Channel en Español and Canela.TV — for the new venture. With the help of these partners, The Roku channel will be bringing more Spanish language programming to Espacio Latino.

Roku has been working on increasing the Spanish content on its platform for quite some time. Earlier this year, TelevisaUnivision, a Spanish-language media and content company, launched its new streaming platform Vix on the Roku platform in the United States and Latin America to attract more Hispanic audiences.

However, this Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) company will be facing stiff competition in the Spanish streaming space from the likes of

Netflix


NFLX

,

Alphabet

’s

GOOGL

YouTube,

Disney

’s

DIS

Disney+, among others.

You can see


the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here


.

Recently Alphabet’s TV streaming service, YouTube added two Spanish-language options to its platform. This includes the Spanish Plan for existing YouTube TV Base Plan subscribers who want more Spanish content and the add-on Spanish Plus for new subscribers who want a Spanish-only YouTube TV lineup.

Last year, YouTube expanded its live TV services by adding three Spanish-language networks to its base membership package at no additional cost, which included Univision, UniMás and Galavisión. The addition of these TV networks to YouTube’s portfolio brought in a new range of Spanish-language content, thus expanding its reach in the Spanish-language streaming market. This also resulted in an increase in its subscriber base in the addressable market.

After spending approximately $200 milling in producing Spanish content in 2020, Netflix committed to invest $300 million in 2021. The company has also invested significantly in Spain.

Netflix’s Spanish-language crime series,

Money Heist

,had earned a modest audience when it originally ran on Spanish TV. But when released to a global audience, the Spanish series witnessed a massive growth in viewership on the Netflix platform.

In 2020, Disney also launched Disney+ in Latin America, featuringmore than 70 Latin American originals developed in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Colombia. Last year, the company launched its streaming service Star+ in Latin America.


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