• by Fern Siegel , November 22, 2019

As cultural demographics shift, so do Telemundo Deportes’ delivery options. It has signed a multiplatform deal with ESR 24/7 eSports Network to air English-language content.

Joaquin Duro, vice president of digital for Telemundo Deportes, tells Television News Daily it’s all about reaching the desired demographic.

“The audience we’re trying to target is an 18-34 demo Hispanic user that data shows is bilingual or English-dominated. By having Sofia (“Kipi” Ornelas) and Juan (“Patan” Sotullo) creating content in Spanish, and with Jaime (“neroxx-“ Penalso) and our deal with ESR creating English language, we have all esports fans covered,” he says.

The three popular streamers are playing 70+ live hours combined every week. Their content is also available on-demand and in short-form videos across Telemundo Deportes’ digital platforms. Since Penaloso joined the network, Duro says there has been a 20% increase in fans.

The ESR programming will air on Telemundo Deportes’ esports channels, available via the Telemundo Deportes app, YouTube, Twitch and Instagram.

“We have presented coverage of FIFA Interactive World Cup for two consecutive years, which is of great appeal to our audience. With ESR, we are getting many highlights and short-form content from some of the most relevant games out there, including Fortnite, FIFA, Apex Legends and Overwatch,” Duro tells TVND. (ESR content also includes live events, match highlights, reality shows, docuseries and talk shows.)

In July, Telemundo Deportes’ Summer of Soccer, which included FIFA and FIFA Women's World Cup France and 2019 Copa America, reported generating more than 490 million total engagements across all platforms, including television, digital, video on demand and social media, according to official national data provided by Nielsen and digital data from Adobe Analytics.

Duro isn’t just tracking popularity, but getting a more realistic picture of viewers. “As we collect more data, we are seeing the average age for an esports fan is within that [18-34] range I mentioned, and not 13-18, as it was believed a few years back.”

That factor also makes ESR’s gaming content appealing.“Inside Fortnite World Cup,” is an original documentary series produced by ESR around the Fortnite World Cup, the largest esports competition in history.  

ESR distributes on numerous platforms, including Stirr, Pluto TV, Xumo and Infinity, as well as Roku and Apple TV.