Mexican Broadcast Company TV Azteca Sells Its U.S. Network
MEXICO CITY — The Spanish-speaking population in the United States is an attractive market for many broadcasters, including Mexican company TV Azteca. And this week, they closed a deal with an American firm in an attempt to grow in the U.S.
TV Azteca sold its U.S. network to HC2, a New York-based holding company. HC2’s purchase includes a licensing agreement, keeping the U.S. brand “Azteca América,” while receiving a substantial amount of content made in Mexico.
“Our licensing agreement with TV Azteca will enable our larger broadcast network to bring compelling, Spanish-language programming to even more of the large, growing and underserved Spanish-speaking population in the U.S.,” said Philip Falcone, HC2’s Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer.
Azteca América, the U.S. branch of the Mexican broadcasting company, had suffered several adjustments in the past year as it tried to increase its presence and rating in the American Latino market.
This is Azteca’s latest move to position its content in the Spanish-language TV market in the U.S., where productions are dominated by Televisa, Univisión and Telemundo.
“The combination of our network assets will generate opportunities for cost synergies through the rationalization of duplicative operations,” said Manuel Abud, President and CEO of Azteca América. “Our shared business strategies and industry expertise makes this a perfect alliance to meet the ever-changing demands of the marketplace and further solidify Azteca America as an industry leader in premium Spanish-language content.”
According to the Spain-based Instituto Cervantes, the U.S. is one of two countries with the most Spanish speakers in the world, second only to Mexico. The U.S. has 41 million native Spanish speakers, in addition to 11.6 million who are bilingual.
