Inside Telemundo’s Upfront: Jokes, Music and a “Huge Business Opportunity”

NBCUniversal may have kicked off TV’s upfront week with the Wicked trailer, Snoop Dogg, and adorable penguins, but it closed Monday with a more dedicated pitch to one of its marquee divisions: It’s Spanish-language business Telemundo.

Held inside The Shed’s eight-story glass-encased McCourt space, Telemundo focused its tight presentation on its recent ratings wins over arch-rival TelevisaUnivision, with some not so subtle jabs at its competitor.

“We constantly change and give our audiences what they want, while others continue to do the same thing, night after night, week after week, year after year,” Telemundo’s new chairman, Luis Fernandez, told the crowd.

“We are known for being innovators, and filling the void of content to represent Latinos from all walks of life,” added Cesar Conde, the head of the NBCU News Group who also oversees Telemundo. “No other media company can do that because we are the only ones who create content by us Hispanics, for us Hispanics.”

Colombian artist Manuel Turizo performed, and Telemundo brought out its stars, news anchors and sports hosts to introduce sizzle reels, but the pace was faster than earlier in the day, letting guests get back to the bar.

And Saturday Night Live star Marcello Hernandez opened the event with a routine about growing up Latino.

“I grew up in Miami, which is a bubble. Definitely. It’s very, very Latino place. We didn’t have American people in Miami,” he quipped. “The only American people that we had in Miami when I was little were the accident attorneys on TV that were trying to get us as clients.”

“Some things are more fun to watch in Spanish, Okay? Football is better in Spanish. Without a question, what would you prefer? An American guy going ‘and he scores’ or a man that screams ‘goal’ until he loses consciousness.”

“Our music is better, that’s not my opinion. Shakira has more monthly Spotify listeners than Beyonce with all due respect to bey hive. Don’t kill me, I love Beyonce,” he continued. “Our sports are bigger, Lionel Messi has 33 times as many followers as Tom Brady. I know, and Tom Brady married a Brazilian woman in case you’re wondering.

“And of course our food is better, right? Which is why in grocery stores salsa is outselling ketchup. Because remember it is always Taco Tuesday and it is never Meat Loaf Mondays.”

But there was also a fair bit of selling.

“I was told this year there’s a lot of companies here that are invested in the Latino community and a lot of people don’t know what Telemundo means, you know, and I’m happy to tell you all, especially those of you that don’t speak Spanish, that Telemundo is actually Spanish for ‘an incredible advertising opportunity.’”

“So as you heard Marcelo this market represents a huge business opportunity,” Conde told the crowd after Hernandez left the stage. “And here at NBCUniversal, we believe that Telemundo is our competitive advantage, and we sincerely believe it can be yours as well. It makes our company the only media company in America where you can reach the full spectrum of Latinos.”