LatiNation Celebrates Its 25th Anniversary at NAB

As part of NAB, Ríchard Izarra EN VIVO spoke with Bruno Ulloa, Co-Founder, COO and President, and Andrés Palencia, Co-Founder and CEO of LatiNation, which this year celebrates the 25th anniversary of the LATV channel.

Ulloa, the son of LATV founder Walter Ulloa, who passed away a few years ago, said it is an honor to reach 25 years “with this level of access to the community, of celebrating Hispanic culture and giving an authentic perspective of the culture that we celebrate every day in our country, in our cities. A company that was founded by my father and now Andrés Palencia and I lead it, creating content from our own perspective—we are Latinos, we speak Spanish, but we also speak English with our friends, we watch TV, we watch Netflix, Hulu, but there isn’t always authentic representation in many programs. It’s like a mission for us to celebrate and showcase our culture.”

Ulloa noted that LatiNation’s target audience reflects who he is himself. “We create content for an audience that, like most of the Latino population in the U.S., speaks English, speaks Spanish—a mix of everything. It’s very important for us to have an outlet for the second, third and fourth generation who want to celebrate Latino culture but don’t always know how to connect with it. That’s why LatiNation, LATV, serves as a gateway into the culture, to celebrate it and be part of it. We also create content for people who may not be Latino but are curious. It’s for curiosity—regardless of language, race. If you’re curious, we have content for you,” Ulloa said.

MICRO-DRAMAS

Asked about the channel’s sales, Ulloa said they are growing “tremendously.” He added that they are expanding their programming slate, moving into sports and micro-dramas, and cited a partnership with Red Bull for a series titled Batalla Nation.

Regarding micro-dramas, Ulloa said they will be distributed across all platforms. “On our app, LatiNation Plus in the App Store, on TikTok, Instagram—across all social media platforms used daily. We’re also exploring a live shopping concept, which is still very popular on TikTok. Step by step, we want to do something different, something that comes from authentic emotion and authentic culture,” he said.

He also noted the company’s growth in staff: in 2019 they had around 12 full-time employees, but now they have about 50 in Los Angeles alone and around 100 in total.

CONTINUING TO REFRESH TALENT

At NAB, Ulloa and Palencia also took part in the session “How LatiNation Scaled Production Successfully in the Cloud,” where they discussed the role of AI in the company’s growth and workflow to increase production, as well as introduced LatiNation to attendees.

Bruno Ulloa and Andrés Palencia took part in NAB’ session “How LatiNation Scaled Production Successfully in the Cloud”

Palencia told Ríchard Izarra EN VIVO that during the presentation they addressed how to keep talent in the media and entertainment world fresh, even as companies consolidate.

The executive also referred to what LatiNation’s new digital era represents.

“We have to produce content that really resonates with our audience—Gen Z and Millennial Latinos in the U.S., who live their lives in English, understand Spanish, and have a deep curiosity and passion for their cultures. Our programming reflects that. We focus on talk shows, documentaries, and our creative teams concentrate on identity aspects that reflect the Latino experience. We have teams like LatiNation Latina, LatiNation Queer for the LGBT community, LatiNation Roots for Afro-Latinos, and LatiNation Culture, which reflects this generation—this Latino movement that you even see at the Super Bowl, where we’re speaking Spanish just as we are. That’s what our programming reflects. Right now, we’re in a moment where everything has a bit of Latino flavor,” Palencia said.

He added that one of the projects he is most excited about is the new series Jenicka’s Journey, featuring Chiquis Rivera’s sister, set to premiere in the coming weeks. “For me, this reflects what many Latinos are going through. It’s a series where she works on improving herself, taking on challenges and going on adventures with her famous friends. That really excites me because it gives us insight into what these young Latinos are experiencing,” Palencia said.

He emphasized that the company has “an incredible team of producers, salespeople, distribution professionals, and advertising experts. We are at a very special moment because I believe we have the best of the best in every area, which will help us grow and do our part as a media company in this moment.”

Palencia added that at NAB they saw many artificial intelligence solutions “for advertising and similar areas. We’re looking at all of that to stay ahead and up to date. That’s why we’re here—to learn and not fall behind.”

Watch LIVE with Bruno Ulloa, Co-Founder, COO and President of LatiNation, from NAB in Las Vegas.

Watch LIVE with Andrés Palencia, Co-founder and CEO of LatiNation, from NAB in Las Vegas.