Donna Speciale on How She'll Shake Up Univision Ad Sales

Much has changed in the industry in the year and a half since Donna Speciale was last a TV ad sales chief—most notably, the pandemic—but in her new role, she’s picking up right where she left off: thinking about streaming ad formats and how to transition the industry toward addressable advertising. Just two weeks ago, Speciale was named president of ad sales and marketing for Univision, part of the new executive team brought in by new CEO Wade Davis, the former Viacom CFO whose investor group acquired a 64% stake in the company late last month. It’s her first major gig since she was ousted as WarnerMedia ad sales chief in July 2019, just a week after she had wrapped that year’s upfront negotiations. (She replaces Steve Mandala, who exited as part of Davis’ executive overhaul.) One of Speciale’s last tasks at WarnerMedia was to start work on what would eventually become HBO Max’s ad-supported tier (which is finally due to roll out this year). She also has a new streamer to focus on at Univision: PrendeTV, the first free ad-supported streaming service created exclusively for the U.S. Hispanic audience that features premium Spanish-language programming. When it debuts in the first quarter, PrendeTV will include more than 30 channels and 10,000 hours of on-demand programming. Its launch partners, locked in before Speciale’s arrival, will include Clorox, Coca-Cola, Dunkin’ Donuts, Johnson & Johnson, Toyota and Walmart. Speciale spoke with Adweek about why she chose Univision, how she’ll shake up ad sales at her new company, and avoiding the mistakes made by Univision’s broadcast peers. Adweek: Why was this the right move for you? Speciale: I knew that in my next chapter, I wanted to work for a company that was going to be very transformative. Wade was definitely a force to be reckoned with, and he wants to take Univision to a whole new level. There’s a huge opportunity, given the growing audience segment, so I was just thrilled. You’ve been on both sides of the negotiating table. As you looked for your next job, were you open to whatever opportunity presented itself, or were you sure you wanted to stay on the TV side? I looked at everything. I was very open. My background is very diverse, so I was having conversations across the gamut. I was talking to people in the local area, I was talking to publishers, I did have some conversations on the agency side. I wanted to work for a really good company. You know how important that is for me to work for the right person, and also work for a company that wants to help transform and push the status quo, which is what I do best. Most companies today are going through transformation, but not all companies actually walk the walk. Talking about it and doing it are two different things. Last week, we announced Prende. I wouldn't have come to a media company, if we were just going to be in the broadcast/cable business. That wasn't where I wanted to go. But [Wade] wants to push Univision into a powerhouse, global entity, and streaming is the first part of what he's doing. I wouldn't have come to a media company if we were just going to be in the broadcast/cable business. That wasn't where I wanted to go.Donna Speciale The first question that marketers are going to have is, how are things going to be different in the new regime? What can they expect from you? We need to get Univision much more [into] advanced advertising. They started dipping their toe in the water—the good news is that they were a member of Open AP [the audience targeting platform that Speciale helped create and launch in 2017]—but I need to build that up. I don't think they were focusing on it as much as they should have. And Wade coming from Viacom, both of us truly believe that advanced advertising is the future, which then builds us to addressability. But I need to jumpstart it. And I really want to make sure it's cross-platform. Obviously, I focused on linear when I was at Turner. But we've got to do that—and some. And now with Prende, to me, Univision should be the resource for marketers for all U.S. Hispanics. We're on all platforms. Think about all the local stations we own, all the radio stations we own, now we have Prende, a streaming service, we have cable [Galavisión and TUDN], we have not one but two broadcast networks [Univision and UniMás]. So I just need to piece it all together so a client can come to us and have scale across all the platforms. I also want to be a resource for them to help them with strategy. Not all clients know a lot about the U.S. Hispanic market. We have a huge consumer insights team that can help them build their strategies. They might not know how to do creative in Spanish language. I will want to have a content studio that helps them do creative if they don't have the resources. So we want to be able to have Univision be that resource for them, for whatever aspect of the U.S. Hispanic audience you want to tap into. At Turner, you rolled back linear ad loads for multiple networks. Is that something you anticipate doing at Univision as well? I haven't looked at it. But what I'm happy about is Prende—and Wade and I talked about that, because he was building it. We talked about putting the consumer at the center and have the experience be correct. We could now start from scratch. We don't have to go back and look at Univision and UniMás and try to go backwards. I guarantee you at the end of the year, we are going to be a different company.Donna Speciale And he started with AVOD, not with SVOD, which I was happy about—which was not what my other company did. We're going have limited commercial breaks, all the innovation around it. Right now we're only starting with [less than 8 minutes] of ad breaks in an hour, so we're limiting it from the get-go. And we're going to keep it that way. We're not going to make the mistakes that the other broadcast networks have done. Last year, Univision was the only broadcast network to see ratings growth, both in total viewers and adults 18-49, so you’re starting with a wind in your sails that none of your competitors have. To say that we're growing ratings a little bit—and nobody else in English language is—is a pretty impressive statement right now. We have supply. They don't have supply. That's a good problem to have. Anything else you want to say about Univision? You’ve got to keep your eye on us. I know that Wade has a two- to three-year vision, but I don’t think it’s going to take that long. I guarantee you at the end of the year, we are going to be a different company. (This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.)