Latin America. Univision introduced its new comprehensive international streaming service that will include a free option with advertising and a premium option with subscription, and that will be launched in the United States and Latin America in 2022.
The two-tier streaming service offers a product that stands out from the rest, a huge variety of content, an extensive video library and more original productions in Spanish than all other streaming services. The service will be boosted by full access to Televisa's extensive video content library and legendary intellectual property, as well as the ambitious programming of new original productions by prominent creators from the Spanish-speaking world.
The best of the existing PrendeTV, VIX and Univision NOW services will be unified and will become an international service and brand. The brand, price and specific launch date of the service will be announced following the merger of Televisa and Univision this year.
The ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) level will be based on PrendeTV, Univision's current free Spanish-language streaming service. This new free tier will include content better than the quality of free-to-air television, including select original productions, major studio movies, prominent Spanish-language names, more live sports, and a unique 24/7 news service. In total, the free tier will have more than 100 traditional channels and 40,000 hours of fully owned and acquired content, which will also be offered as video on demand.
The new premium level of subscription video on demand (SVOD) will offer in its first year more than 6,000 hours of content in Spanish and more than 30 original and exclusive productions at the service. Original productions for the service will be made by some of the most notable established and new creators of Spanish-language content today. Today we announce projects with María Dueñas, Santiago Limón and Mario Vargas Llosa, and many more will be announced in the coming weeks. The vision for the premium SVOD service is to offer audiences more original Spanish-language productions than all other streaming services in the world.
To realize that vision, Rodrigo Mazón has joined the company as executive vice president and general manager of SVOD, and will work directly with Pierluigi Gazzolo, president and chief transformation officer at Univision.
Mazón has more than 10 years of streaming experience and comes to Univision from Netflix, where he most recently served as Vice President of Content. Mazón will be in charge of all elements of the SVOD service, including content and programming strategy, original content production, talent relations, acquisition of third-party content, and subscriber growth and retention.
Mazón's appointment follows the recent addition of Michael Cerdá as Univision's new executive vice president of Streaming Products and Engineering. Cerdá previously worked for Disney+, where he was in charge of the product internationally. He now oversees the product strategy and engineering of Univision's streaming portfolio. Rafael Urbina, executive vice president and general manager of Univision's AVOD, will remain in charge of PrendeTV and will lead the future free tier with advertising in the United States and internationally.
The service will feature the most renowned and applauded creators of Spanish-language media. As the first premium service designed specifically for Spanish-speaking audiences globally, Univision will provide the resources and creative freedom to produce the authentic, premium Spanish-language content our community deserves.
