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2018 Hispanic TV Upfront Guide Presented by HispanicAd.com
AZTECA AMÉRICA
While much has been said about Telemundo’s quest to “close the gap” with the No. 1 Hispanic broadcast network in the U.S., Univision, significant moves from what until now has been an also-ran in the Spanish-language television world could make a brand widely known across Mexico a much stronger challenger to both Telemundo and Univision in the months and years ahead.
The next chapter for Azteca América has arrived.
Thank Philip Falcone for giving the Azteca brand new life in the U.S.
Falcone is the Chairman/CEO of HC2 Holdings, described as a publicly traded diversified holding company which seeks opportunities to acquire and grow businesses that can generate long-term sustainable
free cash flow and attractive returns in order to maximize value for all stakeholders. HC2 has been actively acquiring TV properties following the FCC’s spectrum auction, which concluded in mid-2017.
For Hispanic television, HC2’s moves began in mid-November 2017, when HC2 agreed to purchase two Mega TV affiliates in Florida. Days later, it made its big move: For an undisclosed price, HC2 announced it is acquiring Azteca from affiliates of Mexico’s TV Azteca. Concurrently, HC2 Network signed a definitive acquisition agreement to acquire the broadcast TV assets of Northstar Media LLC. Northstar owns a collection of low-power TV stations that comprise the largest Azteca América affiliate group in the U.S.
The Azteca transaction extends to the acquisition of professional staff across the U.S. involved in programming, marketing, advertising sales, finance and operations.
Azteca América President/CEO Manuel Abud called HC2’s deal “an exciting and transformative milestone in Azteca America’s history. We believe HC2 Network’s long-term investment and resources better position us, on a greater scale, to be an industry leader delivering best-in-class programming, production value and marketing solutions to our audiences and partners alike. 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 América as an industry leader in premium Spanish-language content.”
Falcone noted, “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. At the same time, the combination of our network assets will generate opportunities for cost synergies through the rationalization of duplicative operations.”
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