Televisa merges its media, content and production assets with Univision and plans to launch new streaming platform

Mexican Group Televisa and the US company Univision announced this Tuesday, April 13th, an agreement whereby Televisa combines its content assets with Univisión, thus creating ‘the largest Spanish-speaking media group in the world’. The new company is called ‘Televisa-Univision’, and, according to the information reported, one of its first projects will be the launch of a new OTT platform in Spanish.

As reported by Televisa, the content library featured by both companies covers more than 300 thousand hours of programming, thus making Televisa-Univision ‘the largest depository of content and intellectual property in Spanish on the planet’. The operation has already been authorized by Grupo Televisa and Univision Communications Inc’s Broad of Directors, although official authorizations are expected to be obtained in Mexico and the US in the coming months. In addition, as part of the agreement, the Televisa Group will receive USD 4.8 billion and will become the majority shareholder of the new Televisa-Univision, acquiring 45% of the shares.

For the launch of the new OTT platform, Televisa-Univision will have strategic partners such as the Japanese technology fund SoftBank, as well as Google and the investment bank The Raine Group, which will join the group of current Univision shareholders: investment funds SearchLight and ForgeLight -which acquired the company last January-, and Grupo Televisa. In addition, Univision acquired the AVOD OTT Vix, and launched PrendeTV, its new AVOD OTT, with channels and VOD content in Spanish for Hispanic audiences in the US.

In addition, the Azcurraga family, owner of Televisa, will create a new strategic area, which will be exclusively focused on creating informative, cultural and news content, which will be broadcast through Televisa’s platforms. ‘Combining the content assets of Televisa and Univision had been a dream that had not been consolidated. Up to now. I am very satisfied with the new partnership with Univision and the opportunity for Mexican talent to be seen and recognized in the US, and soon in the rest of the world. We will be a global company’, expressed Emilio Azcarraga, President at Televisa.