Hispanic niche heats up
HISPANIC MARKET GUIDE: Labels look to gain foothold in Latin market
By Chris Koseluk -- Video Business, 7/16/2007
JULY 16 | Though titles aimed at the Latino market account for only a fraction of the overall DVD market, the genre is proving to be a solid growth performer.
A variety of home entertainment companies have begun catering to Hispanic consumers.
“Spanish-language DVDs are still a niche market, but identifying large and growing niches plays to one of Lionsgate’s strengths,” says Arturo Chavez, director of Spanish-language programming for Lionsgate. “We have the opportunity to grow in this market segment faster than the overall market.”
Lionsgate has more than two dozen Latino DVD titles in its catalog. Ranging in price from $9.98 to $17.99, dramas and romantic comedies are the strongest performers. The studio recently inked a distribution deal with Distrimax, the home entertainment arm of Mexico’s largest independent distributor, Gussi, bringing such titles as Amar te Duele, Conejo en la Luna and Matando Cabos to Lionsgate’s library.
Other labels have been working to gain a stronger foothold in the Latino market over the last several years.
Reyes Entertainment has worked with 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, targeting Latino media to promote Fox En Español—an initiative to bring Spanish-subtitled films to the home market.
Last year, Warner Home Video acquired 23 classic films featuring one of Mexico’s legendary stars, Pedro Infante. To date, 11 titles (DVD $9.95 each) have been released under Coleccion Pedro Infante.
“I see the market as continuing to grow,” says Kristi Alires, VP of product management for Xenon Pictures, which carries 200-plus Latino titles. “There was a period where you saw this saturation and not the highest of quality of content. My goal is to get consumers the quality product they’re looking for.”
Xenon’s bread and butter is TV programming, specifically comedy and telenovelas. At the 2005 Video Software Dealers Assn. (now Entertainment Merchants Assn.) trade show, Xenon’s biggest seller, Chavo Del 8, a TV sketch comedy featuring Roberto Gomez Bolanos as a little boy who lives in a barrel, was honored in recognition of sales exceeding 600,000 units. The 12 volumes (DVD $11.99 to $14.99) have since surpassed 1 million total units. Xenon hopes this figure will only grow as it plans to bundle the volumes into a box set.
Another hot Xenon title is Rebelde, a youth-oriented telenovela about a teen rock group at an elite boarding school. With the third season hitting the shelves this month, the series has shipped more than 600,000 units.
“It is a very healthy industry that demands high-quality films with great stories and meaningful messages for Latin people as well as foreign-film lovers,” says Robert Lopez, sales manager for Desert Mountain Media, a distributor specializing in bringing Latin American cinema stateside.
Founded in 2001, Desert Mountain Media sales grew by 200% in 2006, as the company added 25 new titles. Dramas and historic epics top its bestsellers, with A Silent Love (DVD $14.98) and Canoa (DVD $14.95) leading the way.
Most agree that DVD technology is perfect for cross-cultural appeal. “Spanish and/or English language tracks and subtitles play a huge role in our DVD strategy,” says Lionsgate’s Chavez. “All our contemporary Latin films have English subtitles. Our English releases have Spanish subtitles, allowing for more accessibility.”
Desert Mountain’s Lopez agrees. “Subtitling for us is a must since we have high-end and award-winning productions,” he says.
But the need for subtitles can vary. For Xenon, consumer demand often determines its decision. “We had a few requests for the telenovelas,” says Alires. “A lot of people use them to learn Spanish, or vice versa, English. There hasn’t been a demand to do the comedies. For example, Chavo del 8 is not subtitled.”
And although DVD technology is perfect for subtitling, the next level of high-definition formats hasn’t yet taken hold in the Hispanic market.
Desert Mountain is still evaluating Blu-ray and HD DVD. Alires raises concern over the two formats but adds that Xenon is considering both for its upcoming release of Siete Dias.
“Like all demographics, Hispanics will fall in line behind these new technologies once they become commonplace,” says Reyes. “Younger, acculturated Hispanics are innovators and tend to get on board with new technologies.”
