Media

A new graphic using statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau’s International Data Base shows the populations of the 32 participating countries in this year’s FIFA World Cup and past champions. The combined population of this year’s participating countries is 1.9 billion.

Fusion announced a new slate of original series including “Drug Wars” (from the producers of the critically-acclaimed series “Whale Wars”), “The Dukes of 2 Square,” and “Rootas”; the English-language version of Vik Muniz’s feature doc “This is Not a Ball” in time for the opening of the 2014 World Cup; and “Daily Show” correspondent Al Madrigal will host and report a one-hour primetime comedy special for the network on the power and influence of the booming Latino community in America, which will air in advance of the 2014 midterms.

The first matches are only hours away, and over the course of the month-long tournament billions (with a “b”) of fans will look to catch some of the action, whether on TV, on the radio, via other assorted media or even on-site. But while most of the world is getting ready for the event, here in the U.S. neither the tournament nor soccer itself have reached mainstream acceptance. However, demographics give reason to believe this might change over time, as younger generations of Americans are showing far more interest in the sport and event alike than their older counterparts.

World Cup fans will be watching the 2014 games across multiple devices, often simultaneously, according to an analysis from Experian Marketing Services. Specifically, World Cup fans are 31 percent more likely than average to watch online video across multiple devices, with 64 percent of adult fans watching online video during a typical week, compared with 49 percent of all adults.

Mike Sievert – Chief Marketing Officer /  T-Mobile

This week, the 2014 FIFA World Cup kicks off in Brazil, and we’re helping to bring this awesome global spectacle to your living room – and your phone – in typical Un-carrier style.

The World Cup is an amazing, incredible quadrennial event, and T-Mobile’s Simple Choice plan is hands-down the best option for the hundreds of thousands of Americans travelling to the games – with unlimited data and texting and low-cost calls while in Brazil.

Consumers around the world are rushing into the embrace of the smartphone market, according to new figures from eMarketer on mobile usage worldwide. By the end of 2014, we expect 1.76 billion people to own and use smartphones monthly, up more than 25% over 2013.

Among Hispanic soccer fans, filling the World Cup “sticker album” is a time-honored tradition. ESPN Deportes’ marketing team pays tribute to that ritual in its latest marketing campaign promoting the network’s news and information coverage around the World Cup.

MundoFox announced the U.S. premiere of ‘Los Simuladores’ (‘The Pretenders’), the original television series about a small team of con artists for hire who put their intelligence towards solving the day to day conflicts of their clients.

El Rey Network executives announced hat Austin, Texas will be home to the production and corporate headquarters for the new English-language cable network founded by filmmaker Robert Rodriguez. 

Long considered an up-and-coming sport to both watch and play, the popularity of soccer has been growing steadily since the rise of the soccer mom. In fact, advertisers and programmers looking for a unique opportunity to connect with fans outside well-established American sports, such as football or basketball, take note: the World Cup could be that space. After all, the sport’s fans are dedicated to the teams they root for, avid spenders and quite social when it comes to digital dialogue. Soccer’s fans are also a pretty diverse lot, which isn’t surprising considering it’s the preeminent sport throughout much of the world.

Digital video advertising will make up nearly 12% of all digital ad spending in the US this year and is projected to grow significantly faster than search or overall display advertising for the next several years, according to a new eMarketer report, “50 Best Practices for Digital Video: Do’s and Don’ts for More Effective Advertising.”

Cinelatino is joining in on the World Cup excitement by presenting a collection of action-packed soccer-themed movies from Mexico and Latin America, as well as the exclusive world television premiere of La H No Es Muda, a documentary about the Honduran National Soccer Team as they prepare for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

The new mobile medium represents an appealing opportunity for brand marketers—enabling them to reach a pool of consumers that is growing by the day anytime and anywhere. Because of mobile’s relative youth, however, there is still confusion over how best to engage in mobile advertising. Differences in technology mean that marketers can’t always employ the same best practices in mobile that they use for television or online advertising.

Querying sports enthusiasts from 11 markets – Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico and the United Kingdom, as well as the United States – who have smartphones and plan to follow the tournament, the survey reveals that 48 percent overall plan to use their phones to follow the World Cup, second only to TV (63%) when it comes to media channels for keeping up with the game.

DISH expanded its programming lineup with the addition of Fusion Network.

impreMedia unveiled a new and greatly enhanced reader experience for its iconic brand, El Diario daily newspaper. Tthe new editorial approach embraces and highlights the brand’s century-long mission of empowerment through information and civic engagement with a renewed commitment to better address the needs of the Latino community and continue to serve as “El Campeón de los Hispanos” (The Champion of Hispanics).

From the pre-tournament build up, through the final whistle, the LISTERINE Brand will react to the news of the day, recap the biggest matches and connect with sports and brand enthusiasts through its social channels and the hashtag #PowertoYourMouth. 

When people speak of “digital kids,” the novelty of the adjective may obscure the importance of the noun. Above all, kids—those ages 12 or younger—are still just kids. Their engagement with technology is limited by the immature interests and capabilities that go with being very young, and further limited by restrictions their parents impose. In important respects, kids are digital natives who aren’t all that digital, according to a new eMarketer report, “Digital Kids: ‘Digital Natives’ with Analog Tendencies.”

Univision Television Group announced the appointment of Karl Alonso Meyer as regional vice president of National Sales. Karl will be responsible for leading the West & South West National Sales Operations. Karl will report to Antonio Roman, senior vice president, National Sales, Univision Television Group.

WSJ. Magazine, The Wall Street Journal’s glossy luxury lifestyle publication, announced the launches of WSJ. Magazine Brasil and WSJ. Magazine América Latina.