TelevisaUnivision to acquire Hemisphere’s Spanish-language streamer Pantaya

Spanish-language media giant TelevisaUnivision is set to acquire streaming service Pantaya from Hemisphere Media Group.

Pierluigi Gazzolo

The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2022 and remains subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals in the US. Financial terms were not disclosed.

TelevisaUnivision said it will acquire the Spanish-language streamer for cash plus Puerto Rican radio assets including WKAQ AM and KQ105 FM, which the company owns.

Pantaya has gone through several changes to its ownership in recent times. In April 2021, former majority owner Lionsgate revealed it was selling its 75% stake in the company to Hemisphere Media Group for US$124m. Prior to the deal, Hemisphere Media owned 25% of the platform.

The deal comes as Miami-based TelevisaUnivision, which officially formed earlier this year after Televisa and Univision merged, moves further into the streaming space with the launch of its own streaming service, ViX.

“The acquisition of Pantaya, which includes renowned content such as Señorita 89 and A La Mala, is an exciting opportunity to build upon our strategic growth plan as we continue to redefine the global streaming landscape,” said TelevisaUnivision president and chief transformation officer Pierluigi Gazzolo.

“We look forward to welcoming the Pantaya team, the existing subscribers and having access to the thousands of hours of content assets which perfectly complement TelevisaUnivision’s prolific longform content engine, industry-leading library and extensive portfolio of IP and sports rights.

“In April, we launched our global AVoD service ViX, and we will launch our global SVoD service ViX+ in the second half of this year, which will be further accelerated by this strategic acquisition.”

Alan Sokol, CEO of Hemisphere, added: “Pantaya will flourish under TelevisaUnivision’s ownership. Given the highly competitive multi-language SVoD streaming environment, Pantaya’s service is best positioned under an organisation that can provide the resources and investment it needs to scale and grow.”