Where we stand today: too many Latinos have been made to feel left out of mainstream American society and politics. They’re made to feel ill-equipped or unentitled to engage in current debates, and feel they aren’t getting the “full story” from mainstream media. Bad actors exploit this disconnect, actively shaping new events and issues in harmful or misleading ways (as shown in recent findings from Equis Research).
What Spanish-language networks did for so many immigrants from Latin America was use variety shows, soap operas and news programs to entertain its audience while also meeting the need for information and connection. Media gave shape to a new Hispanic identity for people looking to make sense of their place in this country. Today, there are many Latinos who seek media content that helps make sense of new developments in an uncertain and changing world—but they aren't looking to traditional TV for it.
With $5M in initial seed funding and a goal to continue raising capital to pilot a project over the next 5 years, initial content for Lunario Media will be based exclusively on YouTube, where research shows that Latinos spend twice as much time as non-Latinos do—for music, makeup tutorials and kids shows, but also for news and education.
The goal is to take an iterative approach through cycles of experimentation - testing, learning, adapting, testing again - to create engaging, sticky and resonant content. The company will start with a network of YouTube channels and be ready to create and test different talent, styles and approaches. Our goal isn't to make money but rather to measure success by whether or not Lunario Media reaches its audience at scale with engaging content relevant to their lives.