The Hispanic Television Summit is an annual conference for those in the business of television and video for Hispanic viewers in the United States, and worldwide. The Hispanic Television Summit is presented by two business publications for the television industry, Broadcasting & Cable and Multichannel News, and is produced by Joe Schramm and Rafael Eli (deceased, 2020) of Schramm Marketing Group. It is held each Autumn in New York City. Topics focus on trends in the US Hispanic market related to brand advertising, consumer marketing, Media buying, video content creation, content acquisition and distribution, and the effects of those trends on the Hispanic television and video industry. The full-day event features multiple keynote and panel discussions, networking breaks, and the awards luncheon. The awards luncheon is the highlight of the event, where three or four executives, businesses or organizations are recognized for their achievements and leadership within the Hispanic television and video industry.
Founding and history The Hispanic Television Summit was first outlined in 2002 on the back of a paper napkin, during a meeting between current Summit producer Joe Schramm and Larry Dunn (then the associate editor of Broadcasting & Cable and Multichannel News). They had been directed by Larry Oliver (then the group publisher) to plan a conference to serve those in the business of TV for Hispanic audiences, following an increase in Hispanic television households, and an increase in annual consumer spending.
Show highlights
2023 The 21st Annual Hispanic Television Summit was presented on Wednesday, September 13, 2023 at the etc. venues location at 360 Madison Avenue, New York City. The timing of the event coincided with Hispanic Heritage Month, which began on Friday, September 15.
The event was presented by Future plc’s Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News, as part of Fall TV Week, a series of conferences and special events for the television industry from September 11–14. The event was again programmed and produced by Schramm Marketing Group.
The summit opened with welcoming remarks from Future’s Kent Gibbons and opening comments from Summit Producer, Joe Schramm. Hispanic Marketing Council Chair, Isabella Sanchez kicked off the morning sessions with an address on the State of Hispanic Media & Marketing in 2023. She was followed by a panel focused on Trends in Global & Local Media, moderated by VAB’s CEO Sean Cunningham. The panel featuring media executives such as Gloria Constanza of D’exposito & Partners, Alex Minicucci and Michael Roca of Elevate and OMG, and David Tardio of Warner Brothers Discovery. The panel discussed the rapidly growing opportunities with ad-supported streamed content in Hispanic Television.
The morning sessions continued with a fireside chat, featuring T-Mobile’s Emma Velez Lopez. Emma shared perspectives and examples of creative advertising that reflect best practices for positioning a brand’s voice in the current Hispanic market, both locally and nationwide. This fireside chat was followed by a session featuring executives from Comcast and Gallegos United.
The morning concluded with a keynote discussion, featuring NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises’ Chairman Beau Ferrari. The conversation covered topics including the U.S. Hispanic demographic's potential as an economic growth catalyst, as an influencer of pop culture, and as a consumer force in today’s multicultural landscape. He also shared insights into Telemundo's streaming and FAST channel strategy, sports offerings, news coverage and programming in entertainment and reality.
The annual Hispanic Television Awards recognized individuals, program series, talent, and organizations for leadership in evolving the business of television intended for Hispanic audiences worldwide. The ceremony included a set of awards given in the name of the late Rafael Eli, a co-producer of the Summit who passed from Covid in 2020. The ceremony was hosted by ABC’s Joe Torres. The awards were presented in several categories. Two awards recognized “pioneers in Hispanic television” who continue to grow the industry by their continued efforts of 20+ years. The pioneer awards were presented to Horowitz Research, division of MARC Research, accepted by Adriana Waterston, Executive Vice President, and ESPN Deportes, accepted by Freddy Rolón, Head of Digital Content & Audience Expansion, ESPN. Three awards were presented in recognition of leadership in Hispanic Television. These awards were presented to Isabella Sanchez, Chair of Hispanic Marketing Council, Vice-president of Media Integration, Zubi Advertising Services, Miguel Gurwitz, Sports Anchor, Soccer Analyst, and NFL Commentator, Telemundo, and Tony Hernandez, Founder of the Immigrant Archive Project and Co-founder, President and CEO, Latino Broadcasting Company.
The ceremony was immediately followed by the awards luncheon. The luncheon was a celebration of the summit’s award recipients and included a selection of Latin-fusion foods, networking, and entertainment. Networking.
2022 The 20th Annual Hispanic Television Summit returned live and in person for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic on Wednesday September 14, 2022 at etc. venues in New York City. The 20th Annual Hispanic Television summit explored the multiple ways that television programming embraced Hispanic culture in 2022 across platforms from streaming to broadcast to traditional pay TV, with a special focus on the increasing preference for programming made by Hispanics for Hispanics. The summit featured keynote conversations, panel discussions, presentations, and numerous networking opportunities, and honored six recipients with the distinguished Hispanic Television Award. Participants and attendees included executives and managers from brands and companies such as Telemundo, Estrella Media, Castalia Communications, Condista, ESPN Deportes, Comcast, and more.
The Summit opened with an address by Gonzalo Del Fa, President of Group M Multicultural on the state of Hispanic media, followed by an opening keynote conversation featuring Gio Benitez, transportation correspondent for ABC News. Morning sessions included a panel discussion about television media placement that included leading media buyers and sellers, featuring Canela Media's founder and CEO Isabel Rafferty, Canvas WW's, SVP, Client Director, Laura Willis, Horizon Media's SVP, Multicultural, Karina Dobarro, Omnicom's Managing Director DEI Investment, Michael Roca and Roku's Head of Ad Sales & Strategy, Katina Papas Wachter. The morning sessions also featured a detailed presentation by noted multicultural researcher Carlos Santiago of current data on “cultural visibility” in TV programming.
The annual Hispanic Television Awards recognized individuals, program series, talent, and organizations for leadership in evolving the business of television intended for Hispanic audiences worldwide. These awards were given in the name of the late Rafael Eli, a co-producer of the Summit who passed from Covid in 2020.The ceremony was hosted by Ana Jurka, Telemundo's Spanish language commentator for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The awards were presented in several categories. Three awards recognized “pioneers in Hispanic television” who continue to grow the industry by their continued efforts of 20+ years. Another award was presented in recognition of executive leadership while another recognized corporate leadership.
The final and most prestigious award was the Legacy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Hispanic Television. Sunny Hostin, the three-time Emmy winning co-host of ABC's The View, and best-selling author was honored with the Legacy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Hispanic Television. She was recognized for her contribution as a leading voice for Hispanic culture on television. Ms. Hostin joined a unique “club” with other notables who have previously been recognized with this award including variety and talk show personalities Don Francisco, and Cristina Saralegui, Lili Estefan, and Raul De Molina.
The ceremony was immediately followed by the awards luncheon. The luncheon was a celebration of the summit's award recipients and included a selection of Latin-fusion foods, entertainment, ample time to network and re-connect, all in a party-like atmosphere held within the Gallery of Honorees.
The Summit continued with notable afternoon sessions that highlighted Hispanic cultural visibility on television with a series of conversations about programming and its promotion, including a session, moderated by Sunny Hostin, that discusses the evolution of the iconic telecast of the annual Puerto Rican Day Parade, now aired on the English language broadcast station, WABC-TV. A fireside chat, featuring Comcast's Vice President of Multicultural Marketing, Jose Velez Silva, focused on how Comcast has been effectively tackling subscriber retention in its marketing efforts. Another discussion on audience promotion featured executive participants representing Canela Media's Chief Product & Technology Officer, Shampa Banerjee, HBOMax's Director of Multicultural Marketing, Jessica Vargas, Pluto TV's Head of Content & Partnership Marketing, Serge Gojkovich, Vevo's Sr. Director, Multicultural Sales Robert Velez and Tarima TV's Digital Media Executive, Freddy Arias.
The final sessions in the afternoon focused on delivering content to the Hispanic consumer. One session balanced between traditional cable TV distribution and streaming partnerships, with executive representatives from cable provider Comcast, streaming platform Vidgo and programmers Condista, and Castalia. The final session examined the dynamics of content partnerships on streaming platforms with executives from Google, Pantelion Films/Pantaya, Somos Next and Univision.
The Summit concluded with closing reception where attendees had a final opportunity to network and re-connect with old friends and associates.
2021 The 19th Annual Hispanic Television Summit was presented on Thursday, November 18, as part of Future's Fall TV Week, that took place November 15 through 19, 2021. As a health and safety precaution due to COVID-19, the summit was hosted virtually. The 19th Annual Hispanic Television Summit has been presented annually by Future's Broadcasting & Cable and Multichannel News. Likewise, the Summit has been consistently produced all nineteen years by Schramm Marketing Group.
The 19th Annual Hispanic Television summit examined the role of Hispanic television and the influence of Latino audiences on the television and video industries. Its programme covered Latino representation in sports, entertainment programming and election coverage, alongside cultural and economic trends.
The Summit's agenda included keynote interviews, presentations, and panel discussions with leading executives. The topics addressed media and advertising sales, brand marketing, Hispanic audience metrics and data, new programming (with a focus on election coverage and news), audience promotion, subscription marketing and content distribution.