• by Daisy Whitney , Op-Ed Contributor, October 30, 2012

More evidence of the emerging growth in the Hispanic digital video market came from Univision. The network officially launched UVideos yesterday with Starcom advertisers Allstate, Microsoft and Wendy's on board via a deal Starcom struck during the upfront. The service gives the network a berth in the TV Everywhere world in an interesting play that brings most of its prime-time shows to both the Web and to Android and iOs apps for free the day after they air, with programming subtitled in English.

An online video strategy is par for the course for a TV network, so in some ways the multiscreen strategy from Univision is an “it’s about time” service. But the “any device” aspect is innovative, as is the social TV component. Also, Hispanic consumers overindex in digital video consumption, suggesting the service could be embraced quickly.

UVideos lets users view a social stream synched to their time zone. That means viewers can see social comments timed as they were posted during the original broadcast. That feature is powered by social TV technology firm Arktan. Also, Univision is relying on search and recommendation services from Digitalsmiths. Video discovery is an increasingly important component of any video service.

Univision said it commissioned research with Nielsen indicating that more than 60 percent of Spanish-speaking U.S. Hispanic consumers surveyed said they wanted more Spanish-language digital video content .

Also, the Interactive Advertising Bureau recently said in its “Digital Hispanic Consumer ” report that 47% of Hispanics watch mobile videos, compared to 35% of the general population 18 and older who watch mobile videos, with 64% of Hispanics watching online video , compared to 56% of the general population who watch online video.

In addition, comScore reported this month that online video usage in Latin America is growing quickly. Earlier this month, social video platform Jun Group introduced a targeting technology that lets marketers target Spanish-language speakers for online and mobile videos.