Univision will launch a Spanish-language streaming service next year that sounds like a bit of a hybrid of Peacock and Netflix, with both a free tier as well as a paid plan that will focus on premium originals.
The new service will comprise a “vast content scope, expansive library and more Spanish-language originals than any other streaming service,” Univision said in a press release on Monday. The tiered streaming service will effectively pluck the “best” parts of its existing services, PrendeTV, VIX, and Univision NOW and combine them with the company’s latest content haul gobbled up by way of its acquisition of Televisa, an IP and production grab for which Univision agreed to pay $5 billion.
The company previously acquired VIX, another free and ad-supported streaming platform for Spanish-language programming, back in February. Univision NOW is a paid subscription service for live and on-demand Univision and UniMás content that costs $11 per month.
The new service’s free tier sounds like PrendeTV — Univision’s existing ad-supported streaming service for Spanish-language content — but “upgraded” with more stuff. This tier will feature more than 40,000 hours of programming, 100 channels, news coverage, and live sports, as well as originals.
The premium tier will include more than 6,000 hours of programming and produce more than 30 originals within the first year of launch. The goal of the paid tier “is to bring audiences more originally produced Spanish-language content than any other streaming service globally,” the company said.
“Univision is uniquely positioned to satisfy the global demand for premium Spanish-language content, the last truly meaningful open lane in global video streaming,” Pierluigi Gazzolo, president and chief transformation officer at Univision, said in a statement.
The service’s premium tier will be overseen by Rodrigo Mazon, a veteran of Netflix and Hulu. Univision’s new head of streaming and product Michael Cerdá, meanwhile, was previously at Disney Plus. The company said that the service’s specific launch date and pricing would be announced later this year, but it will officially roll out sometime in 2022.