TuTV, the joint venture between Grupo Televisa and Univision Communications, has entered into an agreement with Dish Network to launch its programming on the carrier’s newly created DishMexico package, a programming tier featuring more than 50 channels targeted to Mexican audiences in the U.S. With this agreement, whose financials were not disclosed, TuTv will have a total of four networks in the tier: Bandamax, Telehit, De Película and De Película Clásico.
“We are extremely happy to work with a partner like EchoStar, which for years has been one of the leaders in offering Latinos the best programming out there,” TuTV president Chris Fager told Hispanic TV Update. Created five years ago, TuTv has a current penetration of about 2 million Hispanic households, and it is distributed by most of the largest MSOs with the exception of Comcast. TuTV programming hails from Mexico City-based Televisa and it features some of the most popular music video channels in the country in addition to a large movie library with thousands of titles from the golden era of Mexican Cinema.
To promote DishMexico, Dish Network this week is expected to kick off an advertising and marketing campaign featuring Mexican actress Andrea Legarreta as spokesperson, pitching an introductory offer of $9.99 per month for the first six months, after which the price of the package goes up to $19.99. Other channels in DishMexico include Spanish-language networks Azteca America, Galavision and Telefórmula. But it also offers, where available, Playboy en Español at no additional cost.
Dish Network’s new tier announcement comes in the heels of reporting a difficult third quarter, during which the satellite operator shed about 10,000 subscribers, compared with a gain of 110,000 subscribers in the same period of the previous year, missing Wall Street’s projections.
