Fuse Media is hoping its Fuse Plus streaming service will connect with a growing audience of young Latino viewers who are consuming video on the digital platforms. 

The Fuse Plus SVOD service, which launched in September and offers more than 500 hours of original and acquired content, looks to appeal to Latino viewers who are voracious consumers of streaming content. Approximately 80% of Latino TV content viewers subscribe to at least one SVOD service, with Latino viewers paying for an average of four streaming services, according to a 2021 Horowitz Research survey. 

Further, half of Latino households subscribe to both a traditional MVPD and at least one streaming service, according to the survey.

Among the shows streaming on Fuse Plus are reality series Shine True, a new season of Made From Scratch and new original series Sex Sells, which focuses on sex-focused businesses from a female perspective. Debuting in December on the service is original talk/documentary series Don't Cancel Me With Amara La Negra, part of a content deal made with musician and activist Amara La Negra. 

Fuse Media CEO Miguel Roggero recently talked to Multichannel News about Fuse’s strategy in reaching underserved young Latino viewers across multiple platforms. An edited version of the interview appears below. 

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Picture This: Why is it important for Fuse to offer services that reach young, Latino viewers on the digital platform?

Miguel Roggero: It really comes down to the original mission of Fuse, which is to put underrepresented people on TV. We started off first with Latinos and then we obviously evolved our lens to be a little bit more inclusive. We focus on showcasing stories from all people of color. The goal is no different with Fuse Plus, which is just another vehicle for that audience to see themselves. We look at it as another extension of the Fuse brand and then another way for us to reach our audience. What we do know is that viewing habits have changed a lot and there’s a lot more fragmentation. We're still big believers in linear TV, and I don't think that’s going to go away. We look at Fuse Plus as just another way of providing another option for our viewers. They can watch us on linear, or if they choose, they can watch us digitally on Fuse Plus or one of our FAST Channels we launched this year [music themed Fuse Backstage, Black lifestyle-themed Fuse Beat, and home fitness-themed Fuse Sweat]. It’s really kind of a complimentary extension of the fuse brand.

PT: Are Latinos underserved on the digital platform?

MR: Absolutely. I think the reason why we exist is that there's a serious white space out there and it shouldn't exist. Media today still does a terrible job of showcasing people of color. I thought it was changing, but to me it’s shocking that we haven't really moved the needle as far as it needs to go. That's why [Fuse Plus] is really important to us -- to make sure that this brand, what we stand for and the representation that we bring to this audience is available everywhere. Fuse Plus allows us to continue to move forward toward that mission.

PT: Are you confident that young people of color will be willing to pay to see themselves represented on screen?

MR: I think time will tell -- I don't have the answer yet. We’re trying to make our services as compelling as possible, so we try to reduce the barriers financially so that money is not an issue for people. We're very competitively priced at $1.99 per month or $20 per year. We also try to make this as frictionless as possible for all our partners, so if you’re a Dish subscriber or a Charter subscriber and you get Fuse, you're also going to get Fuse Plus -- it’s all part of your package. Our goal is to make our service ubiquitous and offer it in the manner that our viewers want to see it. Some of them want to see it on linear and some of them want to see it on digital. We want to make sure we are everywhere.

PT: Will you offer different and exclusive content on Fuse Plus that is not available on Fuse?

MR: It’s going to be similar, if not the same. That’s by design because we’re not trying to favor one service over the other -- it’s about extending the Fuse brand and making it available to everybody, however they want to see it. Any new shows that show up on the linear channel are going to show up on Fuse Plus day and date. It’s not about favoring one service over another, but making it possible for our viewers to consume the way they want to consume.

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PT: Do you see any competitors for Fuse Plus in the marketplace?

MR: I think different services are going after certain niche audiences, and then there are the larger players going for the mass market with general entertainment programming, which offers a little crossover of the audiences. But I don’t see any services that are going after our multicultural, unified and inclusive approach. There are services that do focus on Spanish language programming and there are services that focus primarily on showcasing Black movies, but there is no one that’s going after this white space that we’re going after, and I’m really surprised by that. ■

Disney Junior will say goodbye to its animated series Elena of Avalor with a series finale special on Aug. 23, the network said.

The series, inspired by diverse Latin cultures and folklore, debuted in 2016 and follows a teenager who has been learning what it takes to be a great leader by ruling her enchanted fairytale kingdom as crown princess until she is old enough to be queen, said Disney Junior.

The network will air new episodes of the series leading up to the finale beginning July 26, said officials. 

Charter Communication said it planned to add five Latino TV networks to its Spectrum TV lineup.

The networks--Kids Central, ¡HOLA! TV, Inglés Para Todos, Tarima TV and Hogar de HGTV--are in English and Spanish and will be available at no additional cost to subscribers of Spectrum’s Mi Plan Latino and Latino View TV packages.

Related: Hogar de HGTV set to launch on Cox, Charter

“Charter is dedicated to providing our customers with the best programming that reflects their diverse interests,” said Tom Montemagno, executive VP of programming acquisition for Charter. “These networks offer a wide variety of programs in Spanish and English, providing even more choice, entertainment and value for our subscribers.”

The additional  networks will join Charter’s lineup of Latino targeted, English and Spanish-language programming for Spectrum TV subscribers.

Charter’s Mi Plan Latino has more than 140 channels in English and Spanish, including more than 75 Spanish-language channels. Charter’s Latino View tier offers customers more than 75 channels in Spanish, on top of any Spectrum TV Select, Silver or Gold package.

As Hollywood prepares for Sunday’s Academy Awards, Fuse is shining a light on the underrepresentation of Hispanics among the major Oscar acting categories.

Fuse has teamed with the National Hispanic Media Coalition to bring more attention to the fact that none of the Oscar nominees for best actor or actress is Latino. Further, Latino actors and actresses have only garnered 16 nominations and six wins in 90 years, according to the Huffington Post.

The NHMC is planning to demonstrate the day before the Oscars to bring light to the disparity.

“We want to help them get the conversation going – they are the watchdog of Latinos in media, and they are there to elevate Latino voices on air and online, and that’s what we are here to do,” said Judi Lopez, Fuse senior vice president of distribution and affiliate marketing. “It’s important that we’re raising the issue and locking arms with them.”

Added NHMC president Alex Nogales: “We applaud Fuse for standing up for the Latino community by helping us drive awareness for this incredible inequity in representation. More media companies need to take notice and need to follow the example.”  

On Sunday, against the Oscars telecast, Fuse will air commercial-free the 2014 dramedy film Dear White People, which examines escalating racial tensions at a fictitious college. As part of that telecast, Fuse will also premiere several interstitials featuring footage from the 1950 classic film Cyrano de Bergerac, starring José Ferrer (pictured) -- the only Latino actor ever to win an Oscar for best actor. The remixed footage will use humor to call attention to the lack of Latino representation and provide thought-provoking facts on inclusion in entertainment, Fuse said.

“The interstitials are a play on what’s going on and how ludicrous the [Latino] representation – or lack thereof – is in the Oscar categories and in Hollywood,” Lopez said. 

Indeed, Latino actors and actresses represented only 3.1% of speaking roles in major Hollywood films from 2007 to 2016, Lopez said. With 56 million Hispanics in the U.S., the numbers are embarrassing.

The lack of Latino actors and actresses in prominent speaking roles may also be affecting Latino movie attendance. Lopez said Latinos represent 24% of movie ticket buyers today, down from 32% of movie ticket buyers just four years ago.

On the flip side, movies that have significant Latino representation and reflect the culture, such as Disney’s animated film Coco, can perform well at the box office. The Mexican folktale-themed film with a predominately Hispanic vocal cast has generated more than $208 million in domestic box office sales since its November 2017 release, according to Box Office Mojo.

“At 18% of the population, Latinos are still over-indexing on buying movie tickets, but you have to ask the question as to why those movie ticket buying numbers are down,” Lopez said. “Maybe its because they’re not seeing themselves represented in the movies, and representation and engagement is key. When you see yourself on television or in the movies, it resonates deeply.” 

Lopez said the network is in the planning stages of developing other initiatives that will continue to tackle the issues of inclusion and diversity beyond the Oscars both on its linear network and online. 

“This is going to have at least raised the issue during the moment in time we have here during the Oscars, and we’re going to keep on that mission,” she said. “I think there’s going to be a lot of visibility within the Latino community, and we’ll continue to look for opportunities to keep amplifying it.”

Starz has signed Vida executive producer Tanya Saracho to a three-year production deal, network officials said.

The deal calls for Saracho to produce new projects for the premium channel as well as to remain executive producer of Starz's drama series Vida, which focuses on the lives of two Mexican-American sisters. The series debuts May 6 on the network.

“Tanya Saracho’s unique voice brings a fresh and real perspective to Latinx programming,” said Starz President of Programming Carmi Zlotnik in a statement. “We’re thrilled to have an overall deal with this tenacious playwright-turned-TV writer/executive producer who doesn’t pull any punches when bringing these characters – who are not usually seen in mainstream media –  to life.”

The deal follows Starz’s multi-year production agreement with Power creator Courtney Kemp announced in May 2017.

“I was a playwright who was still learning the ropes when Starz took a chance on me to create and showrun ‘Vida,’” said Saracho in a statement. “They nurtured and supported me during every step of the strenuous process and that is a debt that cannot be repaid. They now open their doors and offer me a home – a fertile ground to grow and amplify my voice as I continue my mission of bringing Latinx and Queer characters to the screen and I am steeped in gratitude." 

Toddler-targeted BabyFirst network has reached a carriage agreement with AT&T U-verse, the two parties announced Friday.

BabyFirst, which offers educational content targeted to Latino families, will launch on the telco's Paquete Español package, said network executives. An English-language version of the BabyFirst service is already on U-verse's lineup on channel 310.

"With every third baby born in the U.S. being Latino, there is an increasing recognition among programming distributors that this community is hungry for age-appropriate content for their kids," said Sharon Rechter, EVP Business Development and Distribution, BabyFirst. "We have enjoyed a great relationship with AT&T U-verse through its carriage of our English-language channel, and we look forward to now working with them to provide their Latino customers with the same high quality, engaging programming experiences."   

Added Julie Tran, head of foreign language programming, AT&T U-verse: "We are pleased to offer this unique service as part of our Paquete Español package – which further enhances our extensive lineup of channels aimed at diverse communities.”