Pitaya Entertainment to Serve U.S. Latino Podcast Market

RADIO ONLINE | Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Five powerhouse executives from the entertainment, podcasting, and advertising industries have joined forces to create Pitaya Entertainment, a new company dedicated to producing podcasts for U.S. Latinos. Pitaya Entertainment launches with six podcast series featuring some of the most popular Latino personalities in entertainment--including television stars, award-winning comedians, and major YouTube influencers--with a combined social media following of more than 27.5 million.

"While podcasts are exploding in popularity in the U.S., the Latino podcast audience is underserved and underdeveloped, and Latino voices are seriously underrepresented in podcasting," said Zach Horowitz, Managing Partner and Co-Founder. "Pitaya Entertainment aims to change that by bringing podcasts to the forefront of the Latino community."

Most of the series will be in Spanish, with some in English or Spanglish, but all are for and about Latinos. All will be free to listeners and available worldwide on multiple platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pandora, and Pitaya Entertainment's website, pitaya.fm.

Pitaya Entertainment's podcast hosts are as diverse as the U.S. Latino community itself, with the debuting series featuring Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cuban-Americans, and Venezuelan-Americans. What all the hosts have in common is a deep and powerful connection with their fans.

"Latinos want programming that speaks to their interests and authentically connects in-culture. Our podcasts give them just that-culturally relevant and popular hosts whose passionate fans will now be able to engage with them weekly through our shows," said Diana Mejia-Jones, Co-Founder & Partner.

Pitaya Entertainment's five principals are a virtual dream team with over 100 years of high-level experience in successfully developing and promoting talent and programming in the entertainment and podcasting industries, with a special focus on Latino entertainment.

Zach Horowitz is the former long-time President & Chief Operating Officer of Universal Music Group, the world's largest music entertainment company. He started the U.S. Latin music division at Universal Music and championed its growth to become the industry market leader. He also co-wrote and co-produced the Latin Grammy-nominated Los Tigres del Norte at Folsom Prison, Netflix's fourth most-watched documentary in Mexico in 2019. He is the Managing Partner of the company.

Guillermo Santiso is the former head of Fonovisa Records, one of the world's leading Latin record companies. He developed such multi-platinum artists as Enrique Iglesias, Marco Antonio Solís, and Los Tigres del Norte. He is currently the Executive Vice President of Campanario Entertainment, the Latinx T.V. and digital content production company responsible for Netflix's Selena: The Series.

Andy Bowers is a podcast pioneer who's been called "the godfather of the podcasting industry" by the New York Times Magazine. He founded one of the first professional podcasting networks at Slate.com in 2005 and built it into a significant force. He then co-founded podcast industry giant Megaphone, which Spotify purchased in 2020. Bowers has created and developed dozens of successful podcasts and has overseen podcast partnerships with Malcolm Gladwell, The Wall Street Journal, Vox, Vanity Fair, Netflix, HBO, Politico, and Buzzfeed.

Diana Mejia-Jones is a top Latina marketing, advertising, and branded entertainment expert with almost 20 years in the field. She is currently the V.P. of Spanish Development and Integrated Marketing at Campanario Entertainment, where she develops and produces original T.V. series and films for the Latin market. She has secured tens of millions of dollars in brand marketing endorsements and licensing programs targeting U.S. Latinos.

Jordi Oliveres is an award-winning producer and media executive. He comes to Pitaya Entertainment from Univision Communications, where he developed digital video series at Fusion T.V., started the online music magazine TrackRecord, and negotiated important celebrity endorsement deals. He will serve as General Manager of the company.