VIX Hispanic AVOD Service Breaks Into U.S. Top 5 on Roku (EXCLUSIVE)
By Leo Barraclough
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – VIX’s free Spanish-language ad-supported video-on-demand streaming service has become a top five free film and TV streaming app on Roku in the U.S. – the first-ever free streaming app to accomplish the feat – and in the top 10 in most Latin American countries.
VIX has become the number four app in ’s TV en Español category in the U.S., and is fourth in Colombia, seventh in Costa Rica, ninth in El Salvador, third in Guatemala, sixth in Honduras, ninth in Nicaragua, fifth in Panama and seventh in Peru. In Mexico, VIX is the 18th most recommended app of any type on the Roku platform.
In August 2019, VIX acquired market leading Hispanic AVOD OTT company Pongalo to expand its touchpoints with VIX’s existing Hispanic audiences. Since then, VIX has established itself as the largest Latino AVOD player in the world, growing its audience more than 10 times, bolstered by its 100 million Facebook followers.
In addition to Roku, VIX’s global streaming service is distributed across more than 30 different mobile and connected TV platforms such as Apple TV, Fire TV and Android TV. Its success mirrors the rapid growth seen recently by U.S. general audience free AVOD players such as Xumo, Tubi TV and Pluto TV.
According to Kantar, Roku is the leading TV streaming platform in the U.S., and Roku reports that it has over 30 million active accounts globally. VIX’s users spend a market leading average of more than three hours per month on its Roku apps.
“We remain committed to providing Hispanic audiences with great content so that we’re a one-stop-shop for Hispanic-focused advertisers,” said Rafael Urbina, chairman and CEO of VIX. “It is important for us to make our content accessible and available across numerous devices and platforms, including important partner platforms like Roku. With 90% of U.S. Hispanics subscribed to at least one video streaming service, our exploding OTT audience is a vital part of our platform.”
“VIX’s popularity on Roku speaks to the increasing preference for free on-demand OTT offerings on connected televisions, and, more importantly, for Spanish-language content among Hispanic audiences,” said Rich Hull, chief strategy officer at VIX and former founder and CEO of Pongalo. “We’re thrilled at the success we’ve had recently on Roku in accomplishing this first-ever milestone and look forward to announcing additional milestones in our growth soon.”
