Estrella Media Gets vMVPD Distribution With Rebooted fuboTV

LOS ANGELES — From its January 2015 launch as a soccer streaming service through its March 2020 merger with FaceBank Group, fuboTV put its focus on U.S. pro sports leagues and international fútbol. 

Now, with fuboTV’s rebirth as a broader virtual MVPD offering under new ownership, it is making a play for more Spanish-speaking U.S. Hispanic consumers. To help drive that growth, it has forged a distribution agreement with a Burbank-based media multimedia company that owns nearly all of the programming its nationally distributed TV network airs.

The agreement brings EstrellaTV, the free-to-air U.S. Hispanic-targeted TV network from Estrella Media, to fuboTV.

It’s a national deal. Outside of L.A., a live national EstrellaTV feed is found on fuboTV. This programming matches that seen in areas such New York’s Mid-Hudson Valley, where EstrellaTV is found on Channel 811 for Spectrum subscribers.

In the vast L.A. DMA, flagship property KRCA-62 is offered to fuboTV subscribers, in its Latino package.

This deal is one of several virtual MVPD agreements Estrella Media CEO Peter Markham has hinted at in interviews with RBR+TVBR since assuming control of the company formerly known as LBI Media and co-founded by Jose and Lenard Liberman.

“Partnering with fuboTV is a great opportunity to continue expanding EstrellaTV’s distribution channels outside of traditional cable and broadcasting,” Markham said. “FuboTV will increase our footprint in the live streaming universe, and we are truly excited about cord-cutting services like fuboTV. We look forward to reaching our fans on more devices and new platforms in the near future.”

— Reporting by Ethan Hunt in Eureka, Calif.; Editing by Adam Jacobson in Boca Raton, Fla.