Contents

Vix (streaming service): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 07:03, 17 February 2024

Mexican-American streaming video service

ViX

Type of site	OTT video streaming platform
Available in	Spanish and Portuguese
Predecessor(s)	PrendeTV (2021–2022)
Headquarters	Miami, Florida, U.S.
Area served	United States and Latin America
Owner	TelevisaUnivision
URL	vix.com
Advertising	Yes
Registration	Optional; Required for viewing certain content and ViX Premium
Launched	March 30, 2021; 3 years ago (2021-03-30) (as PrendeTV) March 31, 2022; 2 years ago (2022-03-31) (as ViX)
Current status	Operating

Vix (stylized as ViX) is an over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision.^[1][2][3] The service primarily shows content either owned by TelevisaUnivision or acquired from third-party content providers, including television series, movies, and sports programming.

Originally launched in the United States as PrendeTV on March 30, 2021,^[4][5] the service was merged with TelevisaUnivision's other streaming services under its current branding on March 31, 2022.

History

The Vix brand has its origins from Batanga Media, an Hispanic digital media company founded in 1999 as Planet Networks.^[6] Vix was launched as a website in 2015, and two years later, Batanga Media would rebrand under the Vix name in 2017.^[7]

On January 13, 2021, Univision announced the impending launch of PrendeTV, an ad-supported streaming service, in the first quarter of 2021.^[8][9][10] On February 1, 2021, Univision acquired Vix, which at the time was considered to be the largest Spanish-language AVOD service.^[11] Vix was relaunched as PrendeTV in the United States on March 30, 2021, with the Vix brand being retained outside the country.^[12] On May 3, 2021, less than a month after merging with Televisa to form TelevisaUnivision, the company announced that it had acquired the television rights for Euro 2020 for PrendeTV and TUDN, as well as acquiring rights for Brazilian and Argentine leagues.^{[13][14][15][16]}

In June 2021, TelevisaUnivision announced the launch of a new combined streaming service that would bring together PrendeTV, Vix, Univision Now, and Blim TV under one name in 2022.^[17] In February 2022, it was announced that PrendeTV, Blim TV, and the original Vix AVOD service acquired in 2021 would be merged into the AVOD tier of a relaunched Vix in March. The company also announced the launch of an SVOD tier called Vix+, which would feature premium series & films and live sporting events (including FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022) for Mexican audiences.^[18] Vix+ would launch on July 21, 2022.^[19]

In April 2023, the name Vix+ was phased out and would be unified with the Vix brand. In a article from Deadline, TelevisaUnivision CEO Wade Davis said in a conference call with Wall Street analysts that eliminating the "+" from the name "will not change the strategy at all, they will only improve the service as Vix for free with advertising and its paid version." Vix+ was rebranded as Vix Premium.^[20]

Programming

ViX's programing includes classic TV, documentaries, television series, films, and sports programming and telenovelas from Televisa's telenovela library.^[21][22]

Original programming

Drama

Comedy

Unscripted

Docuseries

Reality

Co-productions

These programs have been commissioned by Vix in cooperation with a partner network.

Exclusive international distribution

These programs, even though ViX has announced them as ViX Originals, are programs that have been aired in different countries, and ViX has bought exclusive distribution rights to stream them in other various countries. They may be available on ViX in their home territory and other markets where ViX does not have the first run license, without the ViX Original label, some time after their first-run airing on their original broadcaster.

Original films

Exclusive international distribution films

These products, even though Vix lists them as ViX Originals, are films that have been released in different countries, and ViX has bought exclusive distribution rights to stream them in other various countries. They may be available on ViX in their home territory and other markets where ViX does not have the first run license, without the ViX Original label.

Sports programming

ViX also carries sports programming, in conjunction with TUDN.^{[citation needed]}

The service has picked up other domestic football events as well, including the Argentine Primera División, Brasileirão, Peru's Primera División and Colombia's Categoría Primera A for the United States.^[99]

Current broadcasting rights

Mexico

United States

Batanga Media

This section has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this articlebyadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Vix" streaming service – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (November 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This section contains content that is written like an advertisement. Please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links, and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view. (November 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Batanga Media was an independent digital media company serving the U.S. Hispanic and Latin American markets. Batanga Media's digital properties include Batanga.com, Batanga Radio, iMujer.com, and BolsadeMulher.com. Founded in 1999 by Troy McConnell, Luis Brandwayn and Jochen Fischer in North Carolina, Batanga Media is now headquartered in Miami, Florida with operations in 14 countries including Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela.^{[citation needed]}

Batanga Radio was an online music streaming service owned and operated by Batanga Media.^[100] Batanga Radio users stream millions of songs per year and create over hundreds of thousands of custom stations every month.^{[citation needed]} Batanga Radio was built to be an online radio application.^{[citation needed]} Batanga Radio users can “tell” the application to add or remove certain artists, songs, genres and even decades of music.^{[citation needed]} Batanga Radio's playlist technology reacts to user interactions and a user’s location. Song lyrics are available on every song page and as every song plays. With every song that plays on Batanga Radio, users receive a list of five similar tracks to explore, listen to and/or add to their playlists.^{[citation needed]} Using the songs and artists already chosen by users, the application identifies new songs that are similar. Batanga Radio is accessible across mobile and tablet devices.^{[citation needed]} In 2016, Batanga Media and Discovery Networks became partners.^[101]

In early 2017, Batanga Media announced the change of its name to Vix.com, and described their new editorial line and approach as follows: "We create content that sparks curiosity and adds value to millions of people every day. Our content lives in English, Spanish and Portuguese on Vix.com, and across a variety of social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. With over 50 million social followers, our content reaches over 325 million people and our videos receive more than 1 billion views every month. We are proud to be the largest independent digital media content company for the U.S Hispanic market, Latin America and Brazil."^[102]

Using bRadio

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this sectionbyadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

A station is set by specifying an artist, song, or mood. Listeners can tune into hundreds of pre-made genre stations, tens of thousands of artist radio stations, or browse the entire music library directly in order to indicate musical preferences (songs can not be played directly). bRadio is available in both English and Spanish.

Listeners can indicate their preferences by directly responding to each track played, either favorably (by selecting the happy face button), or unfavorably (by selecting the sad face button), which determines if the track should be played, as well as how often similarly classified songs should be played on the station. Responding unfavorably to a track (selecting the sad face button) immediately stops playback of the track.

An artist, song, or mood can be excluded from playing entirely. Within the section located directly under the music player, titled "We Recommend You,” listeners can indicate which songs, artists, or moods to add or remove from their station by selecting the gray icon directly to the right of the words "We Recommend You.” This brings up a search bar where listeners can type in the name of a song, artist, or mood that can then either be added in order to provide variety to the listener’s station, or excluded from their station entirely.

Also, a blue plus sign appears on the lower right-hand corner of the album art for the track that is currently playing, and once this button is clicked, it brings up the choice: “Comprar,” (Spanish for “Buy”) which allows listeners to buy the song directly from iTunes. Upon clicking on the blue plus sign, registered users also have the option of voting on whether or not they like a song by selecting “me gusta” (smiley face), or “no me gusta.” ^{[citation needed]}

Mobile Devices

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this sectionbyadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The Batanga Radio app is available across most mobile platforms and is available in both English and Spanish.

• Batanga was available on the Google Android OS (for tablets and mobile phones, requires Android 2.1 and up).
• Batanga was available across all iOS platforms, including iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.
• Batanga was available on Blackberry (Operating System: 4.5.0 or higher).

The Batanga Radio app allows listeners to:

• Build customized stations
• Listen to an editorial station
• View lyrics
• Like songs /dislike songs
• Comment
• Add artist/song preferences
• Remove specific artists or songs from stations
• Read artist news
• View artist pages
• Explore similar tracks

Notes

References

External links

• Official website