[Medianext.MX]

A follow up to the Azteca America closure: the reason for the closure is a partnership signed by TV Azteca (which provided most content to Azteca America) with Estrella TV, leading to most TV Azteca shows gradually moving from AA to Estrella TV. They are even partnering to produce binational entertainment programming which will air simultaneously in the USA through Estrella TV and in Mexico through TV Azteca.

The first such instances were the Regional Mexican music award Premios de la Radio, a Latino version of MasterChef featuring contestants from both the USA and Mexico, and the reboot of La Academia (a reality singing show similar to Fame Academy/Star Academy), which involved contestants from both countries and other Central American nations (TV Azteca also owns channels in Guatemala and Honduras).

Additionally, TV Azteca had already sold Azteca America to an equity firm, HC2 Holdings (now known as INNOVATE Corp), which had also dealt with Azteca to retain its programming on the network. However, as time passed, Azteca began losing many full powered affiliates, mostly resorting to low powered stations owned by them, as well as subchannels in many border cities. The few affiliates which stood with Azteca mostly switched to Estrella TV or closed down; in other instances, HC2 sold some affiliates, for example, those in California went to local ethnic broadcasting company MMC Media Holdings, based in Los Angeles; the stations sold to the group switched to relay Sonora’s state broadcaster Telemax, which has already a large number of LPTV relays in the US. Other stations, like KRGV, switched to independent status, adding some hours of programming from Latino niche networks like Venevision’s Novelisima.