The AzA Gazette AZTECA AMERICA The Azteca America Monthly Newsletter for Clients, Friends and Associates August 2003 • Number 9 • Year 1 TV Azteca has changed the way tele- • La Academia Alumni Give Signing Tour in San José p. 4 Events & vision is done in Mexico. It’s clear that Features • First Homenaje Pays Tribute to Celia Cruz p. 6 the industry today is more dynamic, competitive, entertaining and impar- tial. Now the challenge shifts to TV Azteca changing the way television is done Celebrates its in the US Hispanic market. Two-thirds of the Hispanic population 10th Anniversary are of Mexican origin. And many of them recognize the TV Azteca logo This August TV Azteca celebrates for the innovation it represents. ten years. The story begins in 1993, when a group of investors, led by This is a good starting point for our Ricardo B. Salinas, purchased a te- team at Azteca America, and it’s a levision station from the Mexican great honor to entertain and inform government for US$643 million. the Hispanic community by bringing Ten Years in a a fresh point of view. The acquisition was a risky move for control of several broadcasting Nutshell In this month’s Gazette, we are fea- licenses and obsolete broadcasting This August our parent company, TV turing several network promotional equipment. And, at the time, tele- Azteca, celebrates its first ten years of activities, such as the transmission of vision in Mexico was an industry changing the way Spanish-language Ventaneando from Caesar’s Palace in completely monopolized by television is done. Las Vegas and an autograph signing Televisa. of La Academia stars in San José. We A decade ago Ricardo B. Salinas took look forward to more of such activities a big gamble. Without any previous as we continue to grow. broadcasting experience, he led a group of investors to win the govern- Today we greet you, and wish to share ment auction of a group of broad- with you the next ten years of our casting licenses and some crippled journey. It will be a decade of shared television equipment. Working success in the Hispanic market. against an absolute television monopoly, we faced a daunting chal- Thank you for accompanying us, lenge that would have paralyzed Luis J. Echarte almost anyone… except for the folks President and CEO continued p. 3 at TV Azteca. Azteca America Network Station Spotlight: Azteca 54• Los Angeles 2 Mexican Soccer Returns 4 Ventaneando Broadcasts from Vegas 5 Yahir Wins the Desafio de Estrellas 5 Names & Faces • Elisa Salinas 6 AzA Coverage / Contacts Content 8 www.aztecaamerica.com 1 AzA Gazette The Azteca America Newsletter concept, offering combined soccer dominance in program- Station experience of 15 years in local ming. sales. His Megaplaza concept Spotlight: created a central regional sales In September, the station should area that to date accounts for have its local news show, with Azteca Channel 54 about half of all of Azteca’s local two daily versions. And follow- sales in Mexico. ing the launch of the newscast (KAZA-TV) Hechos 54, Eduardo plans to launch a local entertainment Los Angeles talk show. He describes the for- mula as a cross between Eduardo Urbiola Ventaneando and Con sello de CEO Mujer. With just over a month since TV “The idea is to have program- Azteca assumed managerial ming that is 100% angelina, and control of Pappas Telecasting’s that really brings artists close to KAZA-TV station in Los Angeles, the audience here,” said station CEO Eduardo Urbiola Eduardo. already has a detailed roadmap of where he wants to take the He says the two things that were station. immediately apparent upon his arrival in Los Angeles were the “In the very short term we are enormous opportunity for a solidifying our position as one of market open to new alternatives the top three Hispanic television and the exceptional support that stations in Los Angeles,” said local viewers have for Azteca. Eduardo. “From there, there’s nowhere to go but up.” Although Azteca 54 is already a “The expectations are great, and high-power station with full we aim to deliver results,” he His strategy is based on the pil- cable coverage, Eduardo says he added. lars of sales, transmission quali- is nonetheless refining some of ty, promotion, and program- the transmission equipment to To date, early ratings informa- ming. guarantee an even sharper tion has already been encourag- image quality for his viewers. ing. In just over a month of To expand the advertising base operations, he said that average at Azteca 54, one of the first Promotion will be mostly cen- audience viewership has more steps will be to grow the sales tered on print advertising and than doubled. team. Of an initial team of on-screen promotions. However, seven, Eduardo plans to beef up Eduardo also plans to tap into Great luck to you Eduardo and the team to 15, including sales Azteca’s talent pool of singers, the entire team at Azteca 54!!! managers Alberto Ezquerro and actors and soccer pros to push Guillermo Reynal, who have the station beyond its peers. been tapped from TV Azteca’s home office. Recognizing the importance of sports, Azteca 54 already has a Building out local sales teams is Sunday sports show in the pilot nothing new for Eduardo. With stage and should be on the air initial experience in radio sales, within two weeks. Aside from a he has been with Azteca for heavy dose of Mexican soccer, seven years and was responsible the show will also focus on the for the creation and develop- Central American leagues, ment of Azteca’s Megaplaza strengthening Azteca America www.aztecaamerica.com 2 AzA Gazette The Azteca America Newsletter continued from p. 1 We found that with logic, determi- less communications industry and nation, and guts we could gain a e-business acquiring 50% of the Ricardo B. Salinas had no previous solid position in the market. We ownership stake of Unefon and experience in broadcasting. improved the choices available for Todito.com, respectively. However, he was true to a vision, the public and grew across the entire standing by his belief that the gamut of programming in every day- Despite several failed attempts, we country needed change, as clients part and every genre. In the end, had yet to service the country with were ready for an alternative and competition made everybody a win- the fourth largest Hispanic popula- viewers were anxious for a fresh ner, especially Mexican viewers. They tion in the world: the United point of view. So, we took a big now have more information, better States. Here we took a risk and gamble…and won! quality entertainment and, more decided to enter not only as a con- importantly, the option to choose. tent provider, but as a fully-fledged More than one onlooker thought network. Again, we are taking we should have all been interned. Of our many advertising innova- on another Goliath with However, we went ahead and tions, we were the first to Televisa’s cousin Univision. began local operations in 1994, guarantee rat- launching Hechos, an impartial and ing points for We launched Azteca America in July credible newscast. To continue with media cam- 2001 in Los Angeles. Today, our consolidation process, we began paigns, offering Azteca America covers producing our own television con- unmatched advertiser 63% of the total Hispanic tent, and in 1996 we launched flexibility, and institut- television households, and Azteca Digital, a state-of-the-art dig- ed a marketing is the fastest growing net- ital production center, and produced approach to the con- work in the United States. our first novela: Nada Personal. tent production process; moves that We have a lot to be proud The success of our in-house pro- caused our competi- of! We currently have a 40% ductions surpassed expectations tor to rethink its business audience share in Mexico, and and we went on to produce Al practices. a track record of a network Norte del Corazón, Demasiado that accomplishes chal- Corazón, La Chacala and Mirada de And we never forgot our lenging goals. Aside from Mujer. The latter made television commitment to Mexican share, we are one of the history by breaking sterotypes and society. In 1997, we most efficient TV companies in bringing to the screen controversial created Fundación the world, with an 48% EBIT- themes never before portrayed in Azteca, a non-profit DA or Earning Before Interest, Mexican television. At the same organization dedicated to Taxes, Depreciation and time, we launched our own acting improve social and environ- Amortization margin over school, Centro de Formación mental consciousness, with total revenue. Every year Actoral (CEFAC), where such top an emphasis on health, we invest around US$250 stars such as Barbara Mori and nutrition and education. million in production resulting in Silvia Navarro were launched. The organization operates more than 8,000 hours of origi- under the premise of pro- nal programming, exporting our At this point, TV Azteca’s in-house viding society with tools content to more than 90 coun- production expanded to include nov- for self-improvement tries. elas, newscasts and entertainment rather than charity, shows that had proven to be success- and has touched the TV Azteca has evolved from a ful among viewers, and in three years lives of millions of network with negligible market our advertising client portfolio grew Mexicans, as well as having share and paltry in-house pro- from 52 to 290 accounts. In 1997, TV piloted several projects for US duction, into the second- Azteca carried out an Initial Public Hispanics.