Our History

For over two decades, the Summit has served as the leading, “must attend” annual conference for those in the business of television for Hispanic audiences in the U.S. and worldwide.  The initial summit reflected a commitment among its founders to further the growth of Hispanic television.  The successful execution of this annual event, consistently for nearly a quarter-century, belongs to a each sponsor, speaker, panelist, host and award recipient, plus those current and past staffers at Schramm Marketing Group, as well as the editors, publishers and marketing staff, past and present, at Broadcasting & Cable and Multichannel News. (These two publications presented the Summit annually until they ceased active publication in 2024. The Schramm Marketing Group preserves the legacy of this event by continuing to produce it again in 2025 as they have done every year of the Summit’s history.)

 

The idea first started in early 2003.  The then-Group Publisher Larry Oliver, and then-Associate Publisher Larry Dunn of Broadcasting & Cable and Multichannel News requested that Schramm Marketing Group collaborate with them to create and produce a new conference.  This conference would serve those in the growing business of television intended for Hispanic viewers.  At the time, as now, Schramm provided Hispanic marketing support to leading pay TV providers, platforms, and numerous networks, as well as leading sports properties and therefore, was very familiar with the industry’s leaders and topics of greatest interest for those in the business.  

 

The initial “idea” conversation took place at a breakfast in New York City.  The idea was to present a two-day conference that would attract attendees from the U.S. and Latin America.   The breakfast meeting was followed by a planning meeting between Joe Schramm and Larry Dunn at a pub in Huntington, Long Island, called Canterbury Ales. (As fate would have it, that same restaurant location today reflects a more apropos Latin theme, and features Argentinian cuisine.)  The result of the planning meeting was the outline of the first agenda, scrawled on the back of a paper napkin. 

 

The event was intended to feature the leaders at the very top of the business of television and video for Hispanic viewers.  The first Summit was held later in 2003 during Hispanic Heritage Month at the New York Marriott Marquis Hotel.  The Summit attracted numerous sponsors, many of which continue to sponsor this event today. 

 

The first conference featured a legend of Hispanic television, Mario Kreutzberger, best known to fans as Don Francisco, the host of Univision’s long-running Sabado Gigante.  Over the years, many other giants of Hispanic television have also been featured including noteworthy figures as boxing champion and entrepreneur Oscar De La Hoya; Host, Singer & Actress, Lucero; Actors Rafael Amaya and Diego Luna; sportscaster Andrés Cantor; talk show hostess Cristina Saralegui; Univision news anchors Jorge Ramos and María Elena Salinas, Univision talk show co-hosts Lili Estefan and Raúl De Molina; Telemundo / MSNBC news anchor José Díaz-Balart; news anchor and journalist Maria Celeste Arrarás, as well as advertising executives like Starcom Mediavest Group’s Monica Gadsby; P&G’s Edgar Sandoval, AARP, Publicis’ Lisa Torres;  GroupM’s Gonzalo Del Fa, Zubi’s Isabella Sanchez, as well as industry titans like Cesar Conde, Chairman of NBCUniversal International Group and NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises and Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber and many others from sports, brands and advertising.

 

The formula for the success of the summit is that the producers and the presenting publications recognize the importance of the Hispanic audience, and the profitability of the television and video business that serves this audience segment. That’s why the summit feature speakers who are leaders that share new ideas and discuss issues that matter.  Plus, it’s also important to ensure that the summit respects and caters to the cultural and social interests of its attendees.

 

Schramm Marketing Group proudly continues this legacy of commitment to Hispanic audiences.   On Monday, October 20, 2025, the idea that was originally scribbled on the back of a napkin, will again be presented as the 23rd Annual Hispanic Television Summit at the New York Marriott Marquis, 1535 Broadway, 3rd floor, New York City.