Digital media and entertainment company NGLmitú, the result of a merger last year between NGL Collective and mitú, have launched the new Latino-focused streaming platform mitúTV. Targeting bilingual and English dominant U.S. Latinos, the service also announced three new shows: “Three Gs in a Pod,” hosted by Erik Rivera, Sasha Merci and Jesus Sepulveda; “Girl, Let Me Tell You,” hosted by Jessica Flores, Ivana Rojas and Glorelys Mora; and the game show “Spill the Chisme.”
“We were more of a business-to-business type of organization,” said NGL Collective founder and CEO David Chitel, “which is why it made so much sense for us to merge with mitú, because they were the leading business-to-consumer entity connecting with we call ‘new generation Latinos.’ So the marriage of our two companies is sort of a big deal in our space.”
Chitel noted that mitú had already been producing a lot of content for the ‘new generation Latino’ market, “which we’re now going to be producing together, all available in one easy spot to get all your in-culture, Latino content over the top.”
The new mitúTV platform will include more than 120 hours of original Latino-led programming; besides the shows listed above, they include mitú originals like “Cholos Try,” “Things Latina Moms Say,” “La Cocina,” and more. NGLmitú produces much of its fare in a 14,000-sq. ft. studio in East Los Angeles. TLatino creators such as Inland Entertainment Network, Digital Bodega and the Immigration Archive Project also produce for mitúTV, which is distributed by mitu.tv, mitúTV VOD channel and app (android and iOS) as well as Roku, FireTV, and AppleTV.
Actor and activist John Leguizamo, who serves as an NGLmitú partner, said he hoped mitúTV would fill a void in the media landscape for Latinx viewers. “The problem is that we’re all absent all over the media spectrum,” he said. “That’s the huge problem. That’s what this is trying to resolve. Where it’s up to executives’ opinions, the gatekeepers and decision makers, we’re not winning. Because I’ve been pitching forever and there’s still excuses for reasons not to do Latin content. If you bring them incredible heroes, they go well, ‘we’re not doing this story piece right now.’ And if you take them feel-good movies, well, ‘Latin people don’t like feel-good movies.’ Excuse me. Who are you to tell me what we want or don’t want? It’s crazy out there. So that’s what we’re dealing with. We’re trying to change that and get the content to the people who want it.”
In explaining its target in a competitive landscape that also includes Fuse Media, Chitel notes that Fuse is focused more on a multicultural audience, “while we’re very exclusively focused on being Latino. And the end of the day, everyone knows there’s a zillion choices out there. We’re in competition with everyone. Not just things that are Latino, but people have limited time, limited attention spans. And so we feel that we’re going to be doing the best job of aggregating the best new generation, Latino content of anyone, and also leveraging the equity of mitú, which has well over 10 million followers on social.”
NGLmitú is also expanding its female lifestyle brand, ‘Fierce by mitú,’ including the video podcast “Girl, Let Me Tell You,” as well as its first-ever JEFAS Awards, honoring Latinas in business and entrepreneurship.
“With more Latinas enrolled in higher education, starting new businesses, and contributing nearly one trillion to the US economy, we believe it is the perfect time to expand the influence of FIERCE by mitú through content and activations that further enable the incredible potential within this community,” says Vanessa Vigil, Chief Brand Officer of NGLmitú.
NGLmitú’s other brands include wearemitú, somosmitú, Fierce, crema, and Hispanic Kitchen.
