The battle of the telenovelas
TEXT OF STORY
Steve Chiotakis: Two Spanish-language media titans meet today in federal court.
Televisa and Univision are battling over who gets to distribute Televisa’s popular telenovelas online. From The Americas Desk at WLRN in Miami, here’s Marketplace’s Dan Grech.
Dan Grech: Go to the YouTube video-sharing site and type in the name of Televisa’s blockbuster telenovela, “Cuidado con el Angel.” You’ll find hundreds of video clips from the show, many with the theme song, “Solo Tu.”
But the clips are all pirated. Televisa produces the show, but Univision has exclusive rights to broadcast it on U.S. television. Televisa currently streams the show on its Web site in Mexico, but U.S. users trying to access the videos are blocked. Now, a judge will decide which company gets to distribute the telenovelas online and to cell phones.
Cynthia Corzo is with Hispanic Market Weekly:
Cynthia Corzo: For Televisa, if Univision has the right to the online content, they lose any ad revenue.
Corzo says tens of millions in digital ad revenue could be at stake in the dispute.
U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez will decide the issue. He’ll say whether a 1992 distribution deal meant for television should also apply to the Internet. He’s expected to rule later this summer.
I’m Dan Grech for Marketplace.
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