By: Daniel Frankel
Comcast has agreed to a new program licensing agreement with Univision that includes 17 broadcast TV stations and the Galavision cable channel.
Financial terms weren’t disclosed.
“Univision’s renewal agreement with Comcast, one of the largest content distributors in the country, means that our young and influential viewers will continue to have access to our indispensable news, sports and entertainment content, on one of the most sophisticated and robust TV platforms in the market,” Tonia O’Connor, Univision’s chief commercial officer and president of content distribution, said in a statement.
Univision is planning an initial public offering for later this year, and carving out a broad licensing deal with the No. 2 pay-TV operator was crucial to that goal.
Univision has leverage—its Spanish-language channels in New York and Los Angeles ranked first for late news among all broadcasters in November sweeps.
And it has used the power to push back against top pay-TV operators in negotiations. For example, Univision engaged No. 1 pay-TV operator AT&T in a tense negotiation last year, publicly accusing the operator of “redlining” its channels.
Also last year, Univision sued Charter for allegedly trying to pay the licensing rates of the cable operator it had just acquired, Time Warner Cable.
Source: Fierce Cable