Television follows the audience. Right now, the audience lives in vertical formats.
In the weeks before the LA Screenings, Itoydani secured exclusive rights to represent PBS Distribution across all of Latin America — a quiet but consequential agreement that positions American public broadcasting at the center of a region-wide conversation about educational content, cultural prestige, and the future of how stories are told and consumed. The partnership arrives at a symbolically charged moment: Ken Burns's documentary on the American Revolution, narrated by some of Hollywood's most recognizable voices, lands just as the United States prepares to mark 250 years of independence. Itoydani is not simply moving content from one market to another — it is wagering that the audience for serious, beautifully made storytelling is growing in Latin America, even as the screens on which that audience watches grow smaller and more vertical.
- A deal signed less than a month before the announcement gives Itoydani exclusive PBS Distribution rights across all of Latin America, compressing a year's worth of regional strategy into a single, high-stakes pivot.
- Ken Burns's U.S. Revolution series — narrated by Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, and Lawrence Fishburne — arrives timed to America's 250th anniversary, giving Itoydani a prestige anchor that commands attention from broadcasters and streaming platforms alike.
- The FAST channel portfolio through Cisneros Media is gaining real traction as Venevisión International raises its programming quality, turning what could have been background noise in a crowded streaming market into a genuine regional draw.
- A package of over twenty-five Spanish-dubbed Hollywood films featuring Antonio Banderas, Russell Crowe, and Megan Fox has already begun closing deals, with the screenings serving as a final push to reach untapped clients.
- The most forward-leaning signal is Itoydani's vertical video initiative — nearly thirty scripts built for TikTok, Reels, and Shorts — a deliberate move to plant a flag in the format before the business model fully solidifies rather than scrambling to catch up afterward.
Itoydani arrived at the LA Screenings this May carrying a deal that could quietly redraw the map of American public broadcasting in Latin America. The company has become the exclusive regional representative for PBS Distribution, a partnership finalized just weeks before the announcement. Senior vice president Daniel Rodríguez outlined the plan: a year of travel through the region, introducing broadcasters and streaming platforms to PBS's catalog and building a durable presence for educational and documentary programming in markets where that content has loyal but fragmented audiences.
The flagship offering is Ken Burns's new documentary series on the American Revolution — a production timed deliberately to coincide with the United States' 250th anniversary. Narrated and anchored by Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, and Lawrence Fishburne, the series represents exactly the kind of prestige documentary that Latin American public broadcasters have historically struggled to acquire and promote at scale.
Itoydani is also advancing on other fronts. Its FAST channel ecosystem — Novelísima, B Plus, and the newly launched MasTalk — has found growing regional appetite, aided by an improved programming lineup from Venevisión International. A separate package of more than twenty-five Spanish-dubbed Hollywood films, sourced through Square and featuring names like Antonio Banderas and Russell Crowe, has already generated closed deals, with the screenings serving as a final push toward remaining clients.
The most telling signal of where Itoydani sees the future, however, is its vertical video initiative. In partnership with creative agency InHouse, the company has developed nearly thirty scripts designed natively for TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Rodríguez described demand as immediate and highly specific — almost made-to-order. The underlying conviction is straightforward: the audience has moved to vertical formats, and the companies that position themselves ahead of that shift, rather than reacting to it, will be the ones who capture value as the business model matures. For Itoydani, 2026 is the year to plant the flag.
Itoydani walked into the LA Screenings this May with a deal that reshapes how American public broadcasting reaches Spanish-language audiences. The company has become the exclusive representative for PBS Distribution across all of Latin America, a partnership sealed less than a month before the announcement. Daniel Rodríguez, senior vice president at Itoydani, laid out the plan plainly: they would spend the year traveling through the region, introducing broadcasters and streaming platforms to PBS's catalog and hunting for ways to deepen the foothold of educational and documentary programming in markets where it has loyal but scattered viewership.
The centerpiece of this push is Ken Burns's new documentary series on the American Revolution. Burns, whose historical documentaries have become a global standard for the form, directed this production specifically around the founding conflict that led to American independence. The timing is deliberate—the series arrives as the United States marks 250 years since July 4, 1776. The production enlisted three major Hollywood names to provide narration and commentary: Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, and Lawrence Fishburne. For Latin American audiences, this represents the kind of prestige documentary content that public broadcasters have long struggled to acquire and promote outside their traditional strongholds.
But Itoydani is not betting everything on historical prestige. The company is also pushing the FAST channel ecosystem it manages through Cisneros Media—Novelísima, B Plus, and a newly launched talk-show channel called MasTalk. These free, ad-supported streaming services have seen their audience appetite grow as Venevisión International improved its programming lineup. Rodríguez noted that this uptick in quality has sparked genuine regional interest in channels that might otherwise blend into the crowded streaming landscape.
The company brought another product to the screenings: a package of more than twenty-five Hollywood films dubbed into Spanish, sourced through Square. The slate includes films starring Antonio Banderas, Russell Crowe, and Megan Fox. Rodríguez acknowledged they had already closed several deals on this package but wanted to reach clients who had not yet heard about it—a straightforward play to convert awareness into distribution agreements.
Perhaps the most revealing part of Itoydani's strategy, though, concerns vertical video. Working with InHouse, a creative agency run by Pablo Ordóñez, Itoydani has assembled nearly thirty scripts designed for vertical storytelling—the format native to TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. The demand for this material is immediate and highly specific, Rodríguez explained, functioning almost like a made-to-order service. Television has always followed the audience, he suggested, and right now the audience lives in vertical formats on social platforms. The companies that position themselves ahead of that shift, rather than chasing it afterward, will be the ones positioned to capture value as the business model solidifies. For Itoydani, the bet is that 2026 is the moment to plant the flag.
Citas Notables
We signed an agreement with PBS Distribution for all of Latin America less than a month ago. It's a very specific product with loyal customers. We'll be visiting the region this year to bring them new productions and find ways to strengthen the product's presence in the market.— Daniel Rodríguez, SVP of Itoydani
Television has been following the needs of social media. Now we're at the moment to ride that wave. We need to be there to live the evolution of the business and not arrive late when the benefits start happening.— Daniel Rodríguez
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does a Latin American distributor need to physically tour the region to sell PBS content? Couldn't they just send a catalog?
Because these relationships are built on trust and specificity. A broadcaster in Mexico City has different needs than one in São Paulo. You need to sit across the table and understand what their audience actually watches, what gaps exist in their schedule. A catalog is just paper.
Ken Burns is famous in the United States. Is he known in Latin America?
Not the way he is here. But that's partly the point—his reputation gives the series credibility, and the names attached to it—Streep, Hanks, Fishburne—those travel everywhere. It signals quality. For a regional broadcaster, that's valuable currency.
Why launch a U.S. Revolution series in July 2026? That seems very American-focused.
It is American-focused, but educational content about foundational history has always had an audience in Latin America. Schools use it, cultural channels program it. And the 250th anniversary gives it a news peg, a reason to promote it now rather than later.
The vertical video scripts—are those competing with TikTok creators, or supplementing them?
Supplementing. Broadcasters and platforms need content at scale, and they need it fast. Thirty scripts ready to shoot is a product. Individual creators make one video at a time. These are different markets.
Does Itoydani make any of this content themselves?
No. They're a distributor and aggregator. They find content, package it, and place it. The value is in knowing what sells where and having the relationships to make the sale happen.
What happens if the Ken Burns series doesn't resonate in Latin America?
Then they've learned something about what that audience actually wants, and they adjust. But the real bet isn't on any single title. It's on being the trusted broker between American producers and Latin American platforms. One series fails; the relationship survives.