How Estrella Media's Partnership With TV Azteca Increases Its Value to Advertisers

While Univision and Telemundo garner more attention from U.S. advertisers when it comes to Spanish-language companies, Estrella Media made the case to marketers during its upfront presentation today that its brand is on the rise and has a lot of value right now, bolstered by its newly announced co-production partnership with Mexico’s TV Azteca. Estrella discussed this content partnership Monday during its 2022 virtual upfront event, which came on the heels of its NewFronts presentation last week. "This multi-year agreement is an indication of our commitment to the U.S. Hispanic audience, and our desire to expand our content offering with the best of quality entertainment," said Estrella evp of TV content Ivan Stoilkvoich. The exec noted that the partnership with TV Azteca means the addition of 600 hours of premium content to its lineup over the next two years, including the 20th anniversary of La Academia, one of the longest-running musical talent television series in Mexico. It will air live over a 10-week period on EstrellaTV in the U.S. and TV Azteca in Mexico beginning in June. Estrella will also co-produce true crime programming in partnership with TV Azteca, namely a one-hour scripted series Loteria del Crimen, which will premiere in the fall on EstrellaTV and TV Azteca. The Los Angeles-based Estrella Media is one of the largest Spanish-language video and audio content companies in the world, boasting linear, digital, and streaming platforms. Its content can be seen on EstrellaTV, a national broadcast network accessible to roughly 60 million U.S. households on 16 owned or operated stations and 32 affiliates, as well as through cable and satellite providers and digital streaming platforms. The company also operates a Spanish-language streaming news network, a Spanish-language game show channel, operates 14 radio stations, produces large-scale music festivals, concerts and special events throughout the U.S. It will also debut a streaming movie channel by the end of the summer. New content announcements Among its upfront announcements, the network's signature unscripted music/physical competition series Tengo Talento, Mucho Talento will return later this year, and also will receive a spinoff, Tengo Talento, Mucho Talento, El Rancho. Top contestants from previous seasons of the flagship are invited to a remote location where they will compete in physical challenges to earn rewards as they create and perform at The Ranch for the grand prize, which includes an Estrella Media Music contract. Then, there's a new anthology series for EstrellaTV Madres a Hijos, which chronicles the relationships between mothers and their children. "Stories that will bring out the beautiful and inspiring, as well as the heartbreaking and the sad," Stoilkvoich said of the series. Additionally, EstrellaTV’s Premios de la Radio will return in November, live from Mexico City in front of an in-person audience. EstrellaTV will co-produce the awards show, which honors the best in regional Mexican music, with TV Azteca and it will air simultaneously in the U.S. and Mexico. How else has the brand changed since last year’s upfront? “I think the continued transformation of our business is being driven by consumer demand,” said Estrella Media CEO Peter Markham. “Our consumer is the most important consumer segment in the United States, full stop. A huge marketplace with incredibly fast growth and one that’s building wealth. The Hispanic audience is becoming more and more important to brands and marketers every day, and as result, I think you'll see us continue to launch new products that our consumers and advertising partners are demanding.” 'Exclusive audiences' Estrella’s message to marketers in 2022 is that this is a brand that continues to grow in value and can back up that claim with hard data. “Almost one-third of our primetime audience doesn't watch Univision, Unimás or Telemundo, and in a world where every marketer and you deal with is looking to increase reach and control frequency, finding those pockets of exclusive audiences is important to advertisers today,” says Estrella chief revenue officer, and local media officer Steve Mandala. “Second, we've increased our engagement across our total portfolio by 4% year over year, and there's not many media companies that can talk about that today.” Mandala is new to Estrella, having joined last December. However, he is no stranger to Spanish language television, after working as Univision's ad sales chief and previously spending time at NBCUniversal and Telemundo Enterprises in high-level sales roles. He said he is impressed by what he has seen so far with Estrella. “Let’s go back two full years. Estrella was doing de minimis digital revenue and had almost no digital content it was providing to consumers,” said Mandala. “Today, we have three FAST channels, we've just announced a fourth that will be launching soon [Cine Estrella], we've got an active AVOD business and active MCN business with YouTube.” Mandala credited Markham, who joined the company just 18 months ago, for his leadership, calling the transformation “remarkable,” and adding, “A lot of media companies would struggle for years to create that kind of innovation, and I love being a part of a company that has the ethos of driving growth and being bigger and better tomorrow than we were the day before. We've done it and we've got the ability to continue doing it.”