Spanish-language broadcaster Televisa-Univision has struck a content distribution partnership with the Walt Disney Company that will see its shows, movies and live channels appear on Hulu in the coming weeks.
The partnership will see Hulu add Univision, UniMás, Galavisión and sports channel TUDN (Televisa-Univision Deportes Network) to Hulu with Live TV, the companies said on Tuesday.
The distribution of Televisa-Univision’s linear channels will make Spanish-language broadcasts of the FIFA Club World Cup and Concacaf Gold Cup available to streamers who have the live TV version of Hulu, which also includes broadcast, entertainment, news and sports channels from more than a half-dozen other programmers.
Additionally, Hulu will add a handful of ancillary content channels to its Español add-on package, including TLNovelas, Bandamax, De Película, De Película Clásico, Telehit and Telehit Música. The package costs $5 per month and includes other channels like CNN en Español, Fox Deportes and Discovery Español, among others.
The channels will be added to Hulu with Live TV on June 3, the companies said.
The deal also has implications for streamers in Mexico: Starting in early June, Disney will launch a new bundle that offers its Disney Plus service with Vix Premium. Pricing was not immediately available.
“This new partnership allows us to strategically build upon our current channel offering and Spanish-language content available on Hulu with Live TV, while providing subscribers in Mexico with a meaningful opportunity to access the very best of Disney’s blockbuster films, award-winning originals and iconic franchises alongside Televisa-Univision’s industry-leading Spanish-language content including news, novelas, sports and more in one subscription,” Lauren Tempest, the General Manager of Hulu and Executive Vice president of Direct-to-Consumer Content Partnership at Disney, said in a statement.
“We’re thrilled to enter into this new partnership with Disney that puts our community at the center,” said Rafael Urbina, president of streaming and digital at Televisa-Univision. “Televisa-Univision is the top producer of Spanish-language content in the world, and this deal underscores two critically important elements: Our portfolio is a main anchor for any pay TV distributor, and our direct-to-consumer business continues to break boundaries as Vix further strengthens its powerful connection to Hispanics around the world.”
Interestingly, the deal comes together a few months after sports-focused streaming service Fubo dropped Televisa-Univision channels from its platform, a move that executives later acknowledged was one of the reasons for lower advertising revenue during the first quarter (Q1) of the year.
Shortly after the channels were dropped, Fubo and Disney announced they were merging their live TV businesses and subsequently resolving an antitrust lawsuit over certain channel bundling arrangements.
It wasn’t clear if the deal with Disney would bring Fubo back to the negotiating table with Televisa-Univision.
