Univision, Verizon announce multi-year carriage agreement

MUMBAI: US media company Univision, which serves the Hispanic community, has secured a multiyear carriage agreement with Verizon?s Fios TV. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The deal includes continued carriage of, and on-demand programming for, Univision?s and TeleFutura?s owned and operated broadcast stations; distribution of the cable network Galavisi?n; the network feeds for Univision and TeleFutura; and the launch of Univision?s new networks - sports network Univision Deportes, telenovelas network Univision tlnovelas and Forotv, a Spanish-language news network.

The agreement also includes plans for multiplatform authentication rights for UVideos, Univision?s new video platform where viewers can interact with the best in Hispanic programming, including current shows from Univision?s portfolio, as well as all of the existing networks and the new networks joining the FiOS TV lineup.

Univision Communications senior VP, distribution sales and marketing Deanna Andaverde said, "We are excited to expand our relationship with Verizon as they recognise the growth potential with the exploding Hispanic demographic in this country. This deal speaks to Univision and Verizon?s commitment to continue to deliver compelling and relevant content offerings to US Hispanics."

Verizon director of Content Strategy and Acquisition Ben Grad said, "As the country?s leading provider of Spanish-language programming, we are committed to giving our customers the most robust package of such programming available today. We look forward to working with Univision Communications to ensure FiOS TV features the Spanish-language channels that are important to our customers."

Verizon Fios TV positions itself as being is the only all-digital TV service delivered by a major provider over an advanced fiber network straight to customers? homes and businesses. FiOS TV offers a broad collection of programming, with more than 550 all-digital channels, including more than 140 HD channels, and 35,000 monthly video-on-demand titles. Verizon features a robust Spanish-language offering with FiOS TV?s La Conexion and Spanish Language packages, which feature more than 41 of the most popular Spanish-language channels.