Last month, Spanish-language broadcasters Televisa and Univision completed a $4.8 billion deal to form a partnership creating the world’s largest Spanish-language media and content company now called TelevisaUnivision. On Wednesday, the newly formed conglomerate announced that their combined streaming service would be built upon ViX, an AVOD streamer which Univision acquired in February 2021.
The streamer will launch on March 31 with a free, ad-supported tier before a premium level – appropriately titled ViX+ – launches later in 2022. The free service will provide viewers the opportunity to stream over 100 channels of live programming and over 40,000 hours of on-demand content, including everything from telenovelas to movies to channels curated by Spanish-speaking superstars.
Upon launch next month, ViX will be available in 19 territories, including the United States, Mexico, and Latin America and it will be available on all major streaming platforms, including Roku and Apple TV, as well as on the web at vix.com.
TelevisaUnivision’s existing streamers PrendeTV, Blim TV, and the AVOD version of ViX will be folded into the new platform in the coming months.
When ViX+ rolls out, it will have an additional 10,000 hours and will stream 60 original productions during its first year, but no pricing has yet been announced for the premium option.
As recent survey data reveals, the ability to watch live sports is one of the largest contributing factors to consumers transitioning from cable to streaming. Therefore, both the free and paid ViX services will invest heavily in sports, primarily soccer, as they will offer “some of the top leagues and tournaments in the world and more matches for Spanish-language audiences than any other streaming destination in front of the pay wall,” according to the company’s release.
ViX will also feature a new 24/7 sports channel called Zona TUDN which will focus on analysis, commentary, and interviews.
“We are uniquely prepared to launch a global Spanish-language streaming service of this scale,” President and Chief Transformation Officer of TelevisaUnivision Pierluigi Gazzolo said. “With the merger of Televisa and Univision, our combined history gives us an incredible experience in reaching Spanish speaking audiences, and we will use these learnings to deliver a top-quality streaming service to hundreds of millions of Spanish-speakers around the world who want to see their diverse culture, language, interests and experiences represented and reflected onscreen authentically.”
The assets and properties included under the new company’s umbrella include Televisa’s four broadcast channels, 27 pay-TV channels, Videocine movie studio, and Blim TV subscription video-on-demand service, along with Univision’s assets in the United States, including the Univision and UniMás broadcast networks, nine Spanish-language cable networks, 59 television stations and 57 radio stations in major U.S. Hispanic markets, and the PrendeTV AVOD platform.