TelevisaUnivision said it will launch a new streaming platform, with a free ViX ad-supported service and Vix Plus subscription service available through a single app.
CEO Wade Davis said the company has made a capital commitment of billions of dollars, "multiple of what any other platform is spending in the language."
The new service is incremental to current Univision and Televisa platforms, Wade said during a virtual presentation on Wednesday. “It’s the first large scale streamer exclusively serving the Spanish speaking world,” he said.
Vix will offer more than 50,000 hours of Spanish-language programming. In addition to movies and series, ViX will feature live soccer and other sports and original news programming.
Univision last year launched PrendeTV and Univision president and chief transformation officer Pierluigi Gazzolo said that PrendeTV served as a pilot for ViX. Insights from Prende TV helped the company build the new service. One thing Spanish language viewers said was they preferred programming created in Spanish by Spanish-speaking creators.
“We’re putting Spanish language content and our culture at the center of everything we do,” Gazzolo said.
The company will be creating 1,000 hours of original content exclusively for streaming this year, he said. At launch the platform will have 50,000 hours of free and paid premium content.
The company’s existing streaming options, PrendeTV, Blim TV and the legacy VIX AVOD service acquired in 2021, will be incorporated into the new ViX platform in the coming months.
A beta version of the streaming app is available beginning today for select users in the U.S. and Mexico.
ViX, the AVOD service will launch March 31. It will feature entertainment, news and sports programming that will be available both on 100 linear channels and via video on demand.
It will feature an original sports channel, kids programming including Cocomelon and Blippy from Moonbug and beIN Sports Extra en Español.
ViX Plus is scheduled to launch in the second half of the year. Price is yet to be determined and may vary from country to country.
ViX users will be able to subscribe to Vix Plus with a single click on the Vix app.
ViX Plus plans to produce more than 50 Vix Plus Original series or movies in the first year. Salma Hayek will be producing a series of films for Vix Plus.
Vix Plus was also described as the home of Mexican soccer, with 3,000 live games including contests involving the Mexican national team, and coverage of the World Cup through the new Zona TUDN 24/7 Sports channel. ■
