TelevisaUnivision has announced Vix as its flagship streaming brand, with both subscription and free, ad-supported versions of it due to launch in the coming months.
The privately held company unveiled the name this morning at the start of a virtual presentation, a 40-minute overview that was light on financials but heavy on sizzle reels and superlatives.
Vix has been in the Univision fold since the company acquired it last February. At the time of that deal, the plan was to have it power domestic streaming outlet PrendeTV, but Vix will now supplant PrendeTV as the main streaming banner. Three currently existing streaming services across Televisa and Univision’s prior footprints will be rolled up into Vix. Univision closed its merger Grupo Televisa’s media arm last month.
The AVOD tier of Vix will launch March 31, with the subscription Vix+ making its debut in the second half of 2022.
Vix will feature 40,000 hours of on-demand programming and 100 linear channels, including a new 24-7 sports offering, Zona TUDN.
Vix+ will have more than 50 original titles in the first year and a number of significant talent deals, including one with Salma Hayek.
Subscription pricing for Vix+ has not yet been confirmed. During a press conference following the investor presentation, TelevisaUnivision president Pierluigi Gazzolo said the company is still conducting a “thorough analysis of the socioeconomic conditions” in various territories in order to finalize pricing. In addition to the U.S. and Mexico, Vix+ will launch throughout Latin America.
He promised “a lower price that the lowest price of all the global streamers that you see out there. We want to be competitive and, frankly, we want to be reflective of the socioeconomic inputs of our regions in Latin America specifically.”
The main sizzle reel teased some of the exclusive content that viewers will find only on its streaming platform, including Rebelde, the musical telenovela that helped launch the careers of Alfonso Herrera, Maite Perroni and Anahi. Netflix released a sequel reboot series in January, which was recently renewed for a second season.
As Deadline revealed exclusively in October, Eugenio Derbez and his 3Pas Studios signed a first-look deal with Univision to create original scripted and unscripted Spanish-language projects for Univision’s global streaming SVOD content slate.
The multi-year agreement also includes the curation of the new “Derbez Channel” featuring family and comedy content available via the network’s free AVOD tier, and the release of titles starring Derbez that put him on the map. A sampling of titles includes Al Derecho y al Derbez, La Familia P. Luche, and the hit film Instructions Not Included.
Other offerings on Vix and Vix+ will include news and sports, which are mainstays on the company’s linear platforms. Univision news anchor Jorge Ramos will have a show on Vix+.
The premise behind the investment in streaming is that Spanish-language viewers are under-served. Rival Telemundo has recently rolled out TPlus, a new programming brand for premium fare on parent NBCUniversal’s Peacock. Netflix has also gotten traction with Spanish-language shows like Casa de Papel, leveraging its global footprint of 222 million subscribers.
Wade Davis, the former CFO of Viacom who led the buyout of Univision and is now CEO of TelevisaUnivision, kicked off the investor event with some opening remarks about the merger. “We’ve created a platform unlike anything on the planet,” he said, noting the reach to 100 million Spanish speakers daily across TV, radio, digital and streaming. “One of the most exciting things that will be created by this merger” is the streaming service, he said. “We’re on the cusp of launching something extraordinary.”
Davis promised a “massive capital commitment of billions of dollars on new Spanish-language content.” That level of spending is “multiples of what any other service spends in the language.
Rosy Cordero contributed to this report.
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