Ignacio Meyer de TelevisaUnivision
The reality singing contest show, Tu Cara me Suena, an Endemol format, will premiere its second season in the US on Sunday the 27th on Univisión, simultaneously with its first edition in Mexico on Televisa. According to Ignacio Meyer, Executive VP of Music and Non-Scripted Entertainment of TelevisaUnivision, the reality show is a “real creative collaboration” between the US and Mexico.
“We have always been allies, but there is no doubt that the recent merger has allowed us to work more hand in hand. With Tu Cara me Suena, which is the first TelevisaUnivision production with a binational broadcast on the same Sunday, we have taken advantage of that opportunity,” says Meyer. He adds that with this execution they advanced the calendar of collaborations of the merger.
The joint work begins from pre-production, continues with the casting with the Mexican team, content planning, rundowns, the strategy of how it will air in the US and how it will air in Mexico “because the commercial breaks may not fall in the same place”, how they are going to record for both screens, the marketing strategy since it is the first year that the franchise is seen in Mexico and in the US it is the second year, the coordination with relations public and even social networks.
“We are working totally together. The purpose is to entertain both US and Mexican audiences. We produce from the US, but indistinctly for both territories. We have team members from both Mexico and the US here. A whole family of TelevisaUnivision. With the best of each country, we have everything to generate a winning project,” he points out.
For Meyer, more than a challenge, this project offers opportunity and responsibility. “It represents a possibility to generate content together from the moment of inception and it entails more responsibility because we are serving a binational community and viewers, simultaneously, taking advantage of social networks,” he said.
The show includes very innovative elements that range from the use of cameras to the immersive 360° set and augmented reality technology (Augmented Reality – AR) that will be used for some musicals.
“Endemol’s original format is brilliant, it’s very noble and it allows us to have fun and deliver a high-quality program. It is a show where we are also highlighting innovation in production processes to protect health. This pandemic has been positive regarding innovation in technology. Both a very immersive set and studio, because we wanted all the energy to stay there with us, right down to the use of technology to bring in something from the outside. We want to leverage this and continue using it to enhance and enrich the production,” he explained.
To conclude, Meyer expressed that the opportunity of addressing both markets -the US and Mexico- at the same time “is something we have always wanted to do. Any producer in our position, both in Mexico and the US, would love the opportunity to target both markets at once. We welcome this opportunity with great emotion, enthusiasm, humility, and responsibility because we know that it is not easy, but we want to do it well and take advantage of this merger to do better work more often and with better planning”.
