• by Wayne Friedman , August 6, 2024

Core sports properties that saw major interest include U.S. soccer and European-based football programming from Liga MX and UEFA Champions League, Copa America and UEFA Euro.

The company says it signed on a “number of new clients” in its pursuit of closing the “gap in advertisers who are not investing in Spanish-language advertising,” but did not provide details.

For its streaming platforms, TelevisaUnivison’s ViX grew at a double-digit percentage from last year.

It also notes that 40% of overall upfront volume was transacted on “alternative currencies,” in reference to using non-legacy, non-Nielsen measurement services.

Social media advertising revenue was also 40% higher.

TelevisaUnivision says major active brands for upfront ad spending came from automotive, alcohol beverages, pharmaceuticals, and finance. The financial category -- which the company said continues to be one of its "most underpenetrated" categories -- made huge inroads in higher upfront spending.

First-quarter 2024 U.S. TelevisaUnivision advertising was flat at $399.4 million year-over-year, while the fourth quarter of 2023 was down 5% year-over-year (to $467.2 million).

In 2023, U.S., advertising revenue declined 1% to $1.8 billion, but rose 5% when excluding political and advocacy ads and the impact of divested radio stations.