Tati Muniz, Producer of Suite929tv, has been named Chief Content Officer of the video outlet’s parent company, Suite929 Global.
Muniz, who joined Suite929tv in 2022 and took the reins as Lead Producer in early 2023, has gradually expanded her role to include programming development and production and leadership of the company’s video production effort. Arjen LaGuerre, who served as Chief Content Officer since February 2022, has exited the company. Freedom Aviles, who served as Lead Producer since October 2021, has also exited the company.
Muniz brings over two decades of experience to the role, most recently as Contributing Producer at Spanish-Language channel WAPA TV (San Juan, Puerto Rico) where she led and implemented a lifestyle-themed vision for the media outlet that fueled audience growth at a record pace.
“We are thrilled to welcome Tati to Suite929 Global to champion innovative storytelling opportunities and develop strategic content initiatives to expand our audience and drive growth,” said Chuck Holliday, Suite929 Global Founder. “With experience across national and regional outlets and strong expertise with consumer segmentation, we look forward to Tati fostering the powerful stories that have cemented our content creators as trusted storytellers.”
Prior to her role at WAPA TV, Muniz served as a Reporter at Brazilian television network Rede Gazeta, leading the channel’s coverage and in-depth reporting of the Brazilian Women’s Basketball League. Muniz reported primarily in Portuguese.
“Both Chuck and I deeply believe in the importance of storytelling and being of essential service to our community,” said Muniz. “I’m looking forward to a new chapter ahead for Suite929 Global with Taj and Nicole. It’s been incredibly rewarding to work for and with Chuck, and I’m delighted knowing he will continue to have a huge impact on Chicago in our shared vision.”
Suite929 Global will also launch a Spanish-language Lifestyle & Culture video network in late 2023, to be produced by Muniz and Holliday. We spoke to the new Chief Content Officer about Suite929tv’s pending OTT app, strategic choices and investing in long-form content.
Firm Biz: So you talked during your media conference call about Suite929tv’s future in relation to OTT streaming efforts. Have you started to formulate a picture of what that might look like, specifically, in terms of what everyone’s role is?
Tati Muniz: There’s a lot of work to be done once the new year sets in to try to hone in on a specific strategy.
How much pressure has been put on your ability to maintain creative relationships, given the big deals that former Content Officers Freedom Aviles and Arjen LaGuerre put together prior to their controversial dismissal?
What puts pressure on it is the growth, to be quite blunt. That said, we’re not trying to corner the Chicago, New York or Miami markets on talent; we’re trying to have enough talent in-house to be able to have this extraordinary brand, and I will say that there’s an attention to detail on each relationship on each season of each show that airs there. You just can’t do it.
How are you expanding Suite929tv’s platform?
I want to shore up the business part. That primarily means bringing in revenue, whether corporate underwriting or development fundraising, because I want to make sure the team has tools, resources and the money it needs to continue doing great work.
You’ve had an amazing and diverse career before moving to America: As a reality TV show host, producer, director, chef even. Looking back over all that, your entire career, what are you most proud of?
I would say my career is so diverse because I was not able to lock down and master one thing, and then I would try the next thing and then the next thing and then the next thing. I’m just proud to have something that others can call a career.
Does this next chapter scare you at all? This is your first media forray under the English language.
It entices me. Change is always scary, but I’ve gone through enough over the years so I don’t have the same fear of it. Look, in my mind, I’m still 21. I don’t feel older, but I don’t know what the world outside is ready for. You either have no ego or you have such a ridiculous ego that you have no sense of what’s going on. So you don’t think about any of the outside circumstances or what can happen if it goes wrong; the consequences just don’t exist.
Let’s talk a bit about the change in advertising revenue models and the chase for advertising dollars across digital. How do you see this playing out?
We have to find a way to work with advertising partners to improve the overall viewing experience for viewers. The industry’s ability to better target ads will only continue to improve over time, so that will certainly help as well.
I focus on pushing this team to concentrate on the content solutions that are in our control today. Every product has a story to tell, and the more engaging the story the more likely viewers will lean in as part of an immersive and individual viewing experience. As I said, with time, technology will only improve, allowing us to better target those stories.
Disclosure: Suite929 Global owns Suite929tv and Firm Biz.