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 The new firm, TelevisaUnivision,
will combine content from both broadcasters to
target the global Spanish-speaking audience of
nearly 600 million people.
An advertising-based version of the streaming
platform will roll out in the first half and a
subscription-based product will launch in the
second half, Televisa Co-Chief Executive Alfonso
de Angoitia said in an interview.
The yet-to-be named streaming platform enters a
crowded field of heavyweight competitors
including Amazon.com Inc's Prime, Walt Disney
Co's Plus and Netflix Inc, which last year
announced it would spend $300 million on
original Mexican productions.
De Angoitia, who will be executive chairman of
the TelevisaUnivision board, insisted the
platform could break away from the pack,
pointing to Televisa's massive content library
and broadcast rights for sports.
"We will be a fierce competitor," he said,
adding that at least one "high quality" new
movie or series will drop every week on the
subscription service in the first year.
Customers in Mexico and the United States will
simultaneously have first access to the platform
before it rolls out in other Latin American
countries and Spain.
A sort of turf war got underway after news of
the TelevisaUnivision plan went public in April.
Televisa snatched away executives from Netflix,
Disney Plus and others. Competitors rushed to
poach top stars, leading Televisa to make its
contracts with talent more competitive and
exclusive, De Angoitia said.
U.S. singer and actor Selena Gomez, Peruvian
writer Mario Vargas Llosa, Spanish author Maria
Duenas and Mexican comedian Eugenio Derbez are
among those working on productions for the
platform.
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 The new firm will generate
enough free cash flow to invest hundreds of
millions of dollars in more content, De Angoitia
said. The finalization of the
TelevisaUnivision deal comes on the heels of a
tumultuous week in Mexico's telecoms sector. A
highly anticipated vote by the country's Federal
Telecommunications Institute left America Movil,
the country's largest telecoms company, without
a coveted license to enter the country's pay TV
sector, a prospect that had rattled competitors
including Televisa, the current industry leader.
"In the telecommunications sector, we have not
seen effective competition yet.... it's not the
right time to grant that change to America Movil,"
De Angoitia said, adding that the IFT "could do
more" to regulate competition.
A pay TV entrance by America Movil, already
dominant in mobile and internet services, would
make it "increasingly difficult to compete," De
Angoitia said.
The TelevisaUnivision deal is partially financed
by a $1 billion Series C preferred investment
led by the SoftBank Latin American Fund, with
participation from ForgeLight, The Raine Group,
and Google, which also assisted with technology
and engineers.
Softbank last week announced the departure of
its chief operating officer, Marcelo Claure,
following a fallout over pay. Claure will retain
his seat on Univision's board, De Angoitia said.
($1 = 20.8655 Mexican pesos)
(Reporting by Cassandra Garrison in Mexico City;
Editing by Christian Plumb and Alistair Bell)
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