Spectrum TV Customers to Get Free Access to ViX Premium With Ads
ViX access was added for Spectrum TV customers as part Charter Communications’ new carriage deal with TelevisaUnivision.
Charter Communications has a vision for the future of its cable customers, and it appears committed to that vision. This week, the company has agreed to terms on a new multi-year carriage deal with TelevisaUnivision, and as part of the agreement subscribers to Charter’s Spectrum TV cable service will get no-cost access to ViX’s new ad-supported premium tier.
- Spectrum TV Select and Mi Plan Latino customers will get ViX Premium with Ads as part of their TV plan at no extra charge.
- TelevisaUnivision first announced it would introduce an ad-supported plan of its paid ViX service last week.
- The deal proves that Charter is serious about improving its value for subscribers by providing expanded streaming access.
When is ViX Premium with Ads Coming for Spectrum TV Users?
It took several months for Spectrum TV customers to be allowed to sign up for their free Disney+ accounts after Disney and Charter agreed to their carriage deal. That means that Spectrum subscribers likely shouldn’t expect to get ViX Premium with ads right away.
Once they do get access to the service, however, they’ll be able to enjoy thousands of hours worth of Spanish-language content including telenovelas, original series and movies, Spanish broadcasts of top soccer leagues like the UEFA Champions League, and more.
Free access to ViX Premium with ads will be made available to both Spectrum TV Select and Spectrum Mi Plan Latino subscribers. TelevisaUnivision only announced that it was creating an ad-supported option for its paid ViX Premium service last week, which is another reason Spectrum subscribers can’t expect to be able to sign up for an account right away.
Who’s Next for Spectrum?
Charter Communications is obviously committed to improving its value in the eyes of its customers, both current and potential. Its philosophy is that subscribers shouldn’t have to pay to access content through a streaming service, and then be charged again to get that same content through cable channels owned by the same company as the streamer in question.
That’s what caused a carriage dispute between Charter and Disney late last summer. Disney wanted increased carriage fees for its cable channels and initially resisted Charter’s demands that its Spectrum TV customers get free access to Disney+ as part of the deal. But after realizing that such an arrangement was mutually beneficial, Disney dropped its objection and accepted that provision to reach a new agreement. Services like Max, Peacock and Paramount+ could soon be available free with a Spectrum TV subscription as well as more channel owners’ carriage deals with Charter expire; Paramount CEO Bob Bakish said after the Disney deal was announced that his company would be on the lookout for opportunities to make similar arrangements with pay-TV providers.
Charter made it very clear to other providers in the wake of its new deal with Disney that if they did not agree to a similar pact when their turn came, it would drop their cable channels from Spectrum TV. TelevisaUnivision was unwilling to accept that risk, and now Spectrum TV customers will be able to look forward to watching ViX Premium content at no cost in the next few months.
“We appreciate TelevisaUnivision’s willingness to fully support our new distribution framework, which is good for customers and a significant step forward for the video ecosystem,” said Tom Montemagno, EVP of programming acquisition for Charter, in a statement. “With this agreement, our customers will continue to enjoy access to TelevisaUnivision’s extensive Spanish-language programming, including entertainment and live sports, across multiple platforms. This furthers our goal of providing value to customers by including streaming apps with Spectrum services.”
“We’re pleased to enter into an innovative deal with Charter that underscores a shared commitment to the growing Hispanic market and prioritizes their needs and interests, ensuring TelevisaUnivision’s leading content remains available to viewers for years to come,” adds Mike Angus, EVP of streaming partnerships at TelevisaUnivision. “This deal demonstrates the value we can deliver to our partners and consumers by continuing to invest in both the linear and streaming platforms to create a complementary Spanish-language content ecosystem.”
ViX
ViX is a video streaming service focusing on Spanish-language content. Users will see 100+ TV channels, thousands of movies, TV series and soap operas, soccer leagues, and 24/7 news. For more exclusive content without ads, users can subscribe to ViX Premium, which has 40,000 hours of content, featuring originals and library content from Univision and Televisa’s pool of programming. ViX Premium includes 7,000 hours of live sports, including Liga MX and UEFA Champions League soccer.