MIAMI — The Spanish-language broadcast TV network known for its prime-time variety program hosted by a man in a clown suit, a host of originally produced reality competition shows, and weekday newscasts at 5:30pm and 10:30pm will soon return to Miami after a six-month absence.
RBR+TVBR has confirmed that LBI Media (a.k.a. Liberman Broadcasting), the owner of Estrella TV, has acquired a full-power TV station in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale DMA. This station will serve as the new, and bigger, home for Estrella TV.
This results in a perhaps cloudy South Florida future for another Spanish-language TV network — one that Philip A. Falcone‘s HC2 Holdings acquired just weeks ago.
According to a source close to the matter, a Form 314 filing is to be made Friday (1/5) reflecting the sale of WGEN-8, a 7kw facility licensed to Key West, Fla., to LBI Media from Mapale Group.
The value of the transaction was not immediately known but is expected to be included in the asset purchase agreement filed with the Commission and made public on Monday.
Mapale was formed in January 2014 and is led by Alejandro Santo Domingo, a U.S. citizen who at the time was the main shareholder of the parent company to Spanish News/Talk WSUA-AM “Caracol 1260” in Miami. WSUA is now controlled by Grupo Latino de Radio (GLR), a subsidiary of Spain’s Grupo PRISA.
Mapale serves as a U.S. subsidiary to Colombian multi-sector investment company Valórem S.A. More importantly, the original structure of Mapale reflects 25% foreign ownership interest in WGEN, held by Caracol TV; the remainder was given to Wepahe Entertainment.
With this ownership structure, Mapale acquired WGEN-8 in December 2005, from Sonia Broadcasting Co., for $36 million. A $2.5 million escrow payment was made; there was no broker assignment in that deal.
While WGEN-8 uses a broadcast tower off famed Duval Street in the southernmost city of the U.S., its main studios and offices are in the Miami-Dade County city of Medley. Furthermore, WGEN uses three repeaters in Miami and another three repeaters in Marathon, Fla., to provide DMA-wide coverage. More importantly, this helps WGEN with its must-carry status in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale market.
The acquisition of WGEN-8 by LBI Media puts into motion the return of Estrella TV to Hispanic DMA No. 3 after a half-year absence. On July 14, 2017, Sunbeam Television-owned WSVN-7 dropped Estrella TV from its DT2 multicast channel, replacing it with LIGHT TV — the family-friendly and faith-based network headed by MGM TV CEO Mark Burnett and wife Roma Downey, known for her lead role in the now-concluded CBS series Touched by an Angel.
This was a blow to Estrella TV, as WSVN-7.2 can be found across all Comcast Xfinity systems in the Miami DMA, on Channel 220.
Now, Estrella will benefit from prime placement on Xfinity, on Channel 8. Among its signature programs are Noches con Platanito, which non-Latinos may mistakenly believe is a Hispanic version of “Krusty The Clown” from FOX’s long-running animated program The Simpsons. Rather, it is a variety show reminiscent of those found on English-language TV in the U.S. through the late 1960s. Other programming includes the competition show Tengo Talento, Mucho Talento.
Meanwhile, Mapale is expected to pocket much more from the sale of WGEN-8 than it did for its relinquishing of the broadcast spectrum for the former WDLP-CD 21 in Pompano Beach, Fla. That facility, which was another key repeater for WGEN-8 in Broward County, Fla., is now silent, as it fetched $3,673,224 in the FCC’s Spectrum Auction. WDLP had no Channel-Sharing Agreement as it was likely deemed unnecessary thanks to WGEN’s other signals in the DMA.
WGEN-8 is also the former home of the now-defunct MundoMax network, featuring programming from Colombia’s RCN, and the former MundoFOX network. In its earliest incarnation, in the 1990s, WGEN-8 aired Portuguese-language programming in an attempt to serve the market’s growing population of Brazilians.
AZTECA’S FUTURE PLANS IN SOUTH FLORIDA
The pending arrival of Estrella TV programming on WGEN-8, presently airing a mix of local news, paid programming and syndicated Spanish-language shows, puts into question the future of the Azteca América TV network in South Florida.
With much fanfare, the Hispanic network announced on Nov. 28, 2016, that it had signed an affiliation and sales agreement with WGEN-8, beginning on Dec. 1.
“WGEN presents a perfect addition to our Azteca America station group, elevating the distribution of our network programming and the networks identity in the nation’s third largest Hispanic DMA,” said Azteca América President/CEO Manuel Abud. “We look forward to delivering first-rate service and premium content to Hispanic audiences throughout Miami and South Florida.”
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed at the time. However, it now appears that, at the very least, the term was for at least one year with stipulations for a cancellation or extension. An Azteca América spokesperson could not comment on the conclusion of its arrangement with WGEN-8.
As of November 1, Azteca América has used its original affiliation partner in South Florida — Class A WPMF-38 in Miami — as its broadcast home. A “get to know you” video was posted to YouTube the following day. WPMF initially became Azteca’s Miami home in November 2002.
While the return to WPMF retains Azteca América’s presence in Miami, viewers have already taken to its Facebook page to voice their complaints about their inability to receive the station. As of today Comcast Xfinity systems do not include WPMF-38 on its Miami DMA channel lineups. The Azteca spokesperson says it is “working on distribution” including Dish Network and DirecTV inclusion.
“We will continue to be an active participant in this market,” the Azteca spokesperson said of Miami-Fort Lauderdale. “We will do everything possible to grow in this market.”
That’s very likely, now that HC2 Partners is the owner of Azteca América. That transaction was one of the biggest of Q4, and consummated in November.
The Azteca transaction includes a multi-year programming and services agreement that provides HC2 with access to TV Azteca’s current programming and library in Mexico, including top entertainment shows, talk shows, reality programs, network and local news, as well as telenovelas and other scripted series.
Abud called HC2’s deal “an exciting and transformative milestone in Azteca America’s history.”
Now, the goal is to extend that excitement to the bulk of South Florida, via MVPDs and DBS providers.
Adam R Jacobson also serves as the publisher of Hispanic Market Overview. A version of this article will appear Jan. 6, 2018 for subscribers of the HispanicAd newsletter. HispanicAd is a Streamline Publishing media partner.
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