Telemundo Media has licensed the rights to broadcast numerous films from Lionsgate, including box-office hit The Hunger Games, which the NBCUniversal-owned broadcaster plans to debut for U.S. Spanish-language TV audiences beginning in 2015.
Other films debuting as part of the licensing agreement include The Last Stand, The Three Musketeers and 16 other titles, Telemundo said in a release. The pact runs through 2017.
“Hispanic audiences are truly passionate about movies and are more likely to go to the theater than any other ethnic group,” Maria Iregui, VP of program planning and scheduling, Telemundo Media, said in the release. “Our agreement with Lionsgate Films will bring blockbuster releases featuring their favorite stars, including Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, directly into their living rooms.”
Telemundo previously has aired such Lionsgate films as the Twilight saga and The Expendables.
Telemundo is also partnering with Fandango to launch "Fandango Cine" later this year, integrating it into www.telemundo.com, mun2.tv, and www.fandango.com with movie-related content in Spanish. The broadcaster said a 2012 market report by Nielsen National Research Group found movie theater attendance among Hispanic audiences increased 12% in 2012, from 8.5 million in 2011 to 9.5 million last year, representing the largest year-over-year increase of any demographic group. Hispanics were responsible for 25% of U.S. box office admissions in 2012.
