Univision, one of the U.S.’s largest television broadcasters, has officially entered the streaming market with the launch of PrendeTV, its free, ad-supported service.
PrendeTV is going live with 40 streaming channels of Spanish-language programming along with 10,000 hours of VOD content. The service will draw from Univision and Televisa’s content libraries along with partnerships with Banijay, Blue Ant Media, Calinos, Caracol, Cisneros, Filmrise, Globo, Nelvana and RCN. It will add movies from Disney, Lionsgate and MGM in the coming weeks.
PrendeTV is arriving with device and platform support from Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, iOS, Android. The service is also available via the web on prende.tv and will launch on the Roku platform in the coming weeks.
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Advertising launch partners include Chase, Clorox, Coca-Cola, Dunkin’, McDonald’s, Toyota, Universal Pictures and Walmart. Univision said launch partners will form the PrendeTV Premier Club, which will allow them to collaborate with and have access to streaming video and consumer insights.
“The slate of premier launch partners underscores the value PrendeTV offers marketers interested in more effectively engaging with untapped and quickly growing U.S. Hispanic audiences in Spanish. Hispanics over-index in streaming usage and reflect 19% of the total U.S. population with 63 million people and a GDP (gross domestic product) of $2.1 trillion,” said Univision in a news release.
Bloomberg previously reported on Univision’s streaming plans and said it was a high priority for CEO Wade Davis, who led an investment group that acquired a majority stake in Univision last year. Univision in 2015 launched a streaming service called Univision Now which, for $5.99 a month or $59.99 a year, provides live streams of Univision and UniMás along with some on-demand content and DVR functionality. According to the report, Davis believes Univision didn’t do enough to push the service.