Televisa Eyes New U.S. Broadcast Net

In a deal that would radically reshape the Spanish-language media market in the U.S., Mexican broadcaster, Televisa, is considering starting another U.S. Spanish-language broadcasting channel.

The Televisa plan would spring into action--its so-called "plan B"--if it doesn't acquire Univision Communications, the dominant U.S. Spanish-language broadcaster that put itself up for sale in the spring. A possible asking price for Univision has been rumored to be around $12 billion.

According to a report in the Financial Times, Televisa's plan would include a deal with NBC's Telemundo, Paxson Communications, and possibly McGraw Hill. Unlike the slow-growing, mature English-language U.S. broadcasters, the still double-digit growth rate in the Hispanic-American media market lends itself to possibly another channel targeted to Spanish-speaking U.S. viewers.

Televisa already owns an 11.4 percent stake in Univision, and could use the proceeds from a sale of that stock to finance a move into the United States. Televisa produces a significant portion of Univision's TV shows.

Because of restrictions on foreign ownership of U.S. media assets, Televisa could only own up to 25 percent of a group's TV and radio stations. Its controlling senior executives would have to establish U.S. citzenship--a la Rupert Murdoch with News Corp.--or it could start up and own just a network, and produce programming for that outlet.

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