David Eilenberg de Roku
Early this year, Roku announced its plans to increase original production in Spanish. David Eilenberg, Head of Content at Roku Media, noted that the upcoming Roku Originals will feature some of the “most important Latin creative voices.”
These original productions are Carpe DM with Juanpa, starring and produced by Juanpa Zurita; Desde la Raíz, starring and produced by Jaime Camil; and La Divina Comida with Alex Lora, Belinda, Carlos Gatica, Dulce María, Emmanuel, Erik Rubín, Faisy, Itatí Cantoral, José Ángel Bichir, Karol Sevilla, Manu Nna, Margarita La Diosa de la Cumbia, María León, Michelle Rodríguez, Rafa Márquez and Verónica Toussaint. Plus, Serenata de las Estrellas, hosted by Julissa Bermúdez, which debuted on the 13th.
“We are excited about these titles because they show our commitment to offering high-quality, culturally relevant original programming,” he said.
He recalled that they continually improve the user’s streaming experience, and last year, they expanded their offering to include Espacio Latino, a unified space within The Roku Channel devoted to all types of programming in Spanish. “Although The Roku Channel has always offered a variety of content in Spanish, we wanted to make it easier to find this type of content by creating a singular, easy-to-navigate space that allows viewers to start streaming immediately. Espacio Latino features thousands of hours of free movies and TV shows in Spanish, as well as more than 50 FAST channels,” said Eilenberg.
Eilenberg said audiences are embracing FAST channels because they provide a “relaxed, familiar viewing” experience. “It’s easy for the viewer to recognize a brand, show, or genre of entertainment that they love and immediately jump to it. The Roku Channel is a leader in FAST because we have made it easy to identify content and start streaming. We are always looking at how best to fill programming gaps to give our users more of what they want to see.”
He mentioned Roku’s original series Thanks a Million, executive produced by Jennifer Lopez, and Batalla en Abuela’s Kitchen of LatinWE and Dhana Media. “Both resonate with our audience in a meaningful way. Thanks a Million was the number one Spanish on-demand title on The Roku Channel during its first month.”
He noted that during the third quarter of this year, 60% of Hispanic households with Roku in the US streamed The Roku Channel. “We are excited about the momentum we continue to see and look forward to providing this audience with more great content to enjoy for free on The Roku Channel.”
