Azteca Pumps Up Primetime Diversity: Upfront News and Views

Venue amp160Times Center on W 41st St near Times Square Graduating from the Gramercy Park Hotel39s penthouse last spring Azteca used the two large spaces of this stately orangewalled edifice for its effort The Stage auditorium on the main level for its presentation and The Hall one flight down for the afterreception amp160Projected logos in the front lobby and a miniblack carpet space on one side welcomed attendees and network talent amp160Inside The Stage Azteca39s multicolor logo occupied both sides of the stage separated by a large video screen and podiums in the center The Hall downstairs was the lessformal funky area filled with a variety of small sofas chairs and tables a photo stand bar in the back and DJ to the right Unfortunately the presentation started 25 minutes late and at one point when attendees roamed the front lobby prepresentation a false fire alarm was triggeredamp160 The latter incident was resolved within two minutes leaving Azteca executives with new material for their presentation patter However given the crowd noise any announcement made of a false alarm came off garbled Times Center management get this situation handledamp160 Grade 3 Jacks for the space 15 Jacks for latenessamp160Also a desultory 0 Jacks to the Times Center for its inferior emergency sounds systemPresentation amp160In rapidfire fashion Azteca President and CEO Manuel Abud pictured at top and his colleagues promised to maintain and expand his network39s strategy of a diverse weeknight primetime schedule amp160The expansion includes creation on an ongoing basis of USproduced series both scripted and unscripted and more opportunities for community outreach around the US with advertiser participation quotThis will be a special seasonquot Abud said referring to 201718 quotThe goal is to build successful longlasting relationships We39re redoubling our effort to earn your dollarsquotExecutive Vice President of Network Sales and Digital Craig Geller contrasted Azteca to Mississippi State whose women39s basketball team defeated multiyear NCAA champion Connecticut in tournament semifinal action the weekend before quotIt39s not always the team with the greater talent that winsamp8221 he said amp8220It39s the team that is most hungry giving more intensity and we39re that teamquot amp160Sizzle reels in between remarks emphasized both the range of content and the way viewers watch all that programming One clip ended with a woman choosing what to see off a smart TV setamp160 Grade 35 Jacks amp160Pictured below left to rightamp160Enrique Perez Executive Vice President Azteca America Station Group boxer Zabdiel amp8220Zabamp8221 Judah 2009 Miss Guatemala Lourdes Figueroa 2016 Miss Universe Iris Mittenaere Manuel Abud boxeramp160Hector Camacho Jr Al Extremo host Veramp243nica del Castillo Margarita Black Vice President of Programming Azteca Americaamp160and Craig GellerNews amp160The new US series push kicks off with two projects El MuroThe Wall and Knock Out El Muro will be a 50episode weeknight drama depicting rippedfromtheheadlines immigrant experiences along the ArizonaMexico border amp160Every five episodes will offer a different quotborder storyquot while the lead plot undocumented immigrant woman falls in love with US immigration officer charged with deporting her back to Mexico unfolds week by week El Muro will debut next winter and be produced by an outside organization undisclosed at the presentation In another Azteca first many scenes will be bilingual as in actors speaking Spanish and English Knock Out takes an unscripted allaccess profile of boxers inside and outside their rise to championship contentionamp160 The basic primetime format a far cry from a reliance on mostly telenovelas Azteca that adopted last year will continue La Hora GanadoraThe Game Show Hour begins the block at 7 pm followed by a mix of reality series drama series and specials at 8 Newsmagazine hour Al ExtremoExtreme keeps its 9 pm position and drama series wrap each weeknight at 10 New scriptedunscripted series ahead include ManicomioMental Hospital reporter turns up misdeeds in a psychiatric facility Relatos MisteriososMystical Tales part documentary part recreated incidents of the supernatural and productions originating from Kanal D in Turkeyamp160 Ten hours each week will be devoted to sports coverage with new emphasis on boxing and mixed martial arts events The popular Friday Night Soccer series involving several top league teams in Mexico came to an end last year when Azteca sold TV rights of those games to another network Grade 4 JacksHostsamp160 Abud Geller and programming Vice President Margarita Black handled their portions with ease and polish amp160Grade 35 JacksStar Time amp160No celebrity performances here Iris Mittenaere the current Miss Universe pictured at top made brief remarks while Azteca onair talent in the audience received shoutouts from the stage Grade 2 JacksCuisine amp160Mix of funky and tasty food to match the atmosphere in The Hall served at food stations at opposite corners of the room and by waiters Best eats striped bass kale salad with lemon vinegarette dressing and creamy pasta with peas and other veggiesamp160 Worst eats Nothing comes to mind amp160All very deliciousamp160 Grade 4 Jacks Note Cuisine ratings do not count in the overall Jacks scoreData Insight One out of every five Azteca viewers plan to purchase a vehicle over the next 12 months quotLast time I had insights like this it was through Walter Mercado the popular Spanishlanguage TV astrologer during the 1980s and 1990s or the Long island Medium reference to the TLC celebrityquot Geller quipped amp160Grade 35 JacksInnovative Opportunity amp160Creating a 247 video application through a deal with software platform Zype for smart TV and smart TVmaking device distribution Zype anticipates launching this app with Roku Apple TV Chromecast Amazon Fire TV and various smart TV models over the next few months Grade 45 JacksOverall Grade amp16035 Jacksamp160 Few onstage frills wellrounded and paced message delivered in under 30 minutes and plenty of content news to work through Had the presentation started on time or close and there had been a bit more star involvement the result would likely have been 4 JacksOur Jacks rating systemamp160 5 Jacks amp8211 Excellent 4 Jacks Very Good 3 Jacks amp8211 Good 2 Jacks amp8211 Fair 1 Jack amp8211 Poor 0 Jacks Don39t go thereClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this article are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggersamp160amp160

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Azteca Pumps Up Primetime Diversity: Upfront News and Views

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