Azteca America has signed up Anheuser-Busch’s Budweiser as presenting sponsor of its upcoming reality show Retador (Contender), featuring eight Mexican and eight American boxers competing for the Retador Azteca main title.
Retador is a joint production of Azteca America and independent film and video production company Mapitv. Hour-long episodes will air every Sunday at 8 p.m., starting January 27. The winner will fight his way through 18 installments towards the May 25 finale, and will take home a prize of $50,000. The runner-up will win $10,000.
Retador is expected to attract other sponsors, since the show goes beyond boxing. “Half of the show will be about the boxers, their families, their homes and how they got where they are,” said Bob Turner, president of network sales for Azteca America. “The other half is the actual boxing, so there will be plenty of other [product] integration opportunities.”
Auditions for Retador wrapped earlier this month in Atlanta, after an open casting in Los Angeles, Houston, Miami, New York, Chicago and Puerto Rico.
Retador is also Azteca America’s second U.S. production. Reality series Suegras, in which brides-to-be had to deal with their potential mothers-in-law before they could pick the perfect groom, launched in the summer. Suegras was so successful from a sales point of view that it brought in about 10% of the network’s entire revenue stream for 2007, according to Turner. The show, produced in the U.S., featured product integration with brands such as Hyundai, Tecate and Verizon Wireless.
“Everybody loved the concept,” said Turner, “but also the fact that it was 100% produced here, in the U.S.”as signed up Anheuser-Busch’s Budweiser as presenting sponsor of its upcoming reality show Retador (Contender), featuring eight Mexican and eight American boxers competing for the Retador Azteca main title.
Retador is a joint production of Azteca America and independent film and video production company Mapitv. Hour-long episodes will air every Sunday at 8 p.m., starting January 27. The winner will fight his way through 18 installments towards the May 25 finale, and will take home a prize of $50,000. The runner-up will win $10,000.
Retador is expected to attract other sponsors, since the show goes beyond boxing. “Half of the show will be about the boxers, their families, their homes and how they got where they are,” said Bob Turner, president of network sales for Azteca America. “The other half is the actual boxing, so there will be plenty of other [product] integration opportunities.”
Auditions for Retador wrapped earlier this month in Atlanta, after an open casting in Los Angeles, Houston, Miami, New York, Chicago and Puerto Rico.
Retador is also Azteca America’s second U.S. production. Reality series Suegras, in which brides-to-be had to deal with their potential mothers-in-law before they could pick the perfect groom, launched in the summer. Suegras was so successful from a sales point of view that it brought in about 10% of the network’s entire revenue stream for 2007, according to Turner. The show, produced in the U.S., featured product integration with brands such as Hyundai, Tecate and Verizon Wireless.
“Everybody loved the concept,” said Turner, “but also the fact that it was 100% produced here, in the U.S.”
