elevision
is one of the world’s most popular forms of entertainment and it
is a Mexican company that happens to be the largest programme producer
in the Spanish-speaking world. The giant Grupo
Televisa is now expanding its services to meet the fresh demands
created by new technology.
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“The
rapid pace of technological development means that no-one knows exactly
how people will entertain themselves in the future, whether it will
be through cable, satellite services, the internet or any future innovations
that may be developed,” says Alfonso
De Angoitia, Chief Financial Officer of Televisa. “So
we think it is important to diversify and participate in different distribution
channels.”
Televisa has a 51 per cent stake in Cablevision,
the largest cable television operator in the country. And the group
is witnessing impressive growth with its Sky satellite platform.
“Our internet division is very important because it is a massive
distribution platform in which we need to be involved to distribute
our content,” says Mr De Angoitia.
“We have been able to maintain our
position as one of the most visited portals in Mexico. At the same time,
we have reduced costs by 50 per cent.”
Grupo Televisa has more than 73 per cent of the television market share
in Mexico. It operates Radiopolis and is the biggest Spanish-language
magazine publisher.
The long-term growth strategy is focused on the US
“Televisa is also the largest television producer in
the Spanish language. The content of Televisa has been exported around
the world for many years,” says Mr De Angoitia.
“We have covered the Mexican market and positioned ourselves as
an important player in Latin America.
“In the US, no profitable Spanish television company has operated
without our content, which has proven over time to be the favourite
of the Hispanic community. Therefore, our growth strategy in the long
term is focused on the US Hispanic market.”
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Televisa’s
television serials are popular across four continents. Recently, the
group has begun to co-produce serials with foreign companies such as
Europroducciones of Spain. “This is a huge opportunity for Televisa
to participate in other markets,” says Mr De Angoitia.
Cablevision, which was floated on the stock
exchange in April last year, has cornered three-quarters of the market
in the Mexico City metropolitan area where it has its cable network.
Guadaloupe Phillips, the company’s Chief Financial Officer, says
only about 40 per cent of the network is used.
“Historically, pay television in Mexico
has not been a great success. We have 75 per cent of the market in the
Federal District, but it is still a relatively small market in penetration
terms,” he says.
The company has around 431,000 subscribers,
not a large number relative to the size of the capital’s population
of more than ten million. Mr Phillips hopes this picture will have changed
by next year, as Cablevision offers new services for data and voice
transmission.
“Our main interest is to encourage
the basic subscriber to move to digital television, because once we
put in place a decoder, the number of additional services we could provide
to them is far greater,” he says.
“We can offer them interactive options,
the internet and e-commerce. But penetration is slow and we don’t
yet have a market demanding these types of products.”
Like others in the media business, Mr Phillips
believes e-Mexico will stimulate the desire for greater access to IT.
“In this sense, it is interesting, because IT will be introduced
through the schools. So the educational factor is very important, and
any company in this sector will definitely see important changes,”
he says.
Mr De Angoitia adds: “E-Mexico is a very ambitious programme and
we believe it is the right model to use to connect people to a wide
range of services and, most importantly, to knowledge.”
Meanwhile, Sky has been pursuing a promotional
drive to bring its subscriber base in Mexico to more than a million,
up from 700,000 late last year.
Overall penetration will pick up in the future, say market analysts,
although the cost of computer equipment and the internet is still too
high for a great many Mexicans.
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