Multicultural pay-TV executives discuss how to attract and retain subscribers

The Cable Show hosted the Multicultural TV breakfast-conference. The first panel, dedicated to the acquisition and retention of subscribers, was composed by Adrián Adriano, VP of Multicultural Marketing of Comcast; Eddie Hill, senior VP of Brand Strategy and 360º Consumer Marketing of BET Networks; Ted Kim, president and CEO of Mnet America; and Sameer Targe, general manager of ZEE TV Americas.Comcast’s Adriano opened by saying the company is observing growth everywhere. “We’re in 39 of the 50 states of the Union and the Hispanic market continues to grow, but we also see potential in the Asian market. The growth of the country is dependent on minorities,” he added.Hill, from BET Networks, said that a mix of paid advertising and community involvement has worked well for promoting the channel. He pointed out the big challenge has always been achieving economies of scale. He said social media is great for promotion, but the dilemma still exists of how to translate social media traffic into ratings for the channel.ZEE TV Americas’ Targe predicts more digital distribution in the future, more IPTV, while Hill of BET says that people are increasingly watching content on their mobile devices, but he is unsure how these metrics are being taken into account. “It’s a paradigm that needs to be resolved in the coming months,” added Hill.