A Digital and Streaming Media Exec Arrives At Estrella

LOS ANGELES — It’s been stated that the post-bankruptcy version of Estrella Media, formerly LBI Media, would propel itself into the OTT and rapidly growing advertiser-driven video on demand (AVOD) space.

Those efforts are now ramping up with the addition of a digital and streaming media executive who arrives from Sony Pictures Television Digital Networks and had a hand in the rollout of Crackle.

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Joining the Burbank-based Hispanic media company led by CEO Peter Markham is René Santaella.

His new job is as EVP of Digital and Streaming Media, and he is tasked with leading the transformation of Estrella Media’s digital strategy, building operations and generating new revenue initiatives, the company says.

At Sony Pictures Television, Santaella was SVP and head of ad sales and operations. This role extended beyond making Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee a viral hit.

Santaella managed ad sales, operations and strategic initiatives and led the creation of a premium video network for advertisers targeting a large audience of “connected gamers” that included PlayStation Store, PlayStation Vue, Funimation, Pluto TV and Crackle.

Before Sony, Santaella was Director of Ad Sales Marketing for Disney Interactive, leading digital and cross-platform advertising and integrated marketing solutions across the company.

“René has an amazing track record in working with some of the world’s largest media brands and transforming their businesses into digital leaders,” Markham said. “We could not be more pleased to have him plot the course of our continued transformation into a Hispanic digital leader across all platforms.”

Santaella says he’s “thrilled to join Estrella Media and be a part of bringing culturally authentic news, music, sports and entertainment to an underserved Hispanic audience and making it available everywhere for free. The Spanish-language direct-to-consumer marketplace is taking off and I look forward to accelerating their leadership position and super serving this important community.”

Estrella Media produces more than 2,500 hours of original video programming on an annual basis and is one of the largest U.S. producers of Spanish-language content. However, Estrella seeks to set itself apart from its peers, including Entravision, SBS’s Mega TV, Univision and NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, by actively ramping up its digital footprint in a manner that is inclusive of devices such as Roku.

Indeed, Estrella notes that it will soon announce “several new streaming TV distribution partnerships.” This comes in addition to recently announced partnerships with TubiTV, FuboTV, Samsung TV Plus and Roku LATAM.