Azteca America Upfront 2006-2007.

TV Azteca, S.A. de C.V. announced that its fully-owned subsidiary for the US Hispanic market, Azteca America, launched its fourth national upfront campaign in New York City.

The event gathered more than 500 people, primarily advertisers related to the dynamic US Hispanic market, who received thorough information on the network’s coverage gains, the solid performance of its audience levels, its exciting programming for 2006 and 2007, and advertising opportunities with Azteca America.

“Five years ago we started developing our dream of creating a US Hispanic broadcast network, and launched our first station in Los Angeles. Today we reach all major Hispanic populations and have a national network status by Nielsen Media Research,” said Azteca America Chairman, Luis J. Echarte. “Our popular content, together with a firm determination to succeed, has made our network to be officially one of ten national US networks, and poised to become a strong participant.”

In addition to Azteca America’s solid coverage, the popularity of the network’s programming has an unprecedented momentum. Full day audiences composed of adults between 18 and 49 years old grew 150% to a 5% share among US Hispanic audiences, according to Nielsen Hispanic Television Index, from February 2005 to February 2006. During the weekends, from 12:00 noon to 7:00 pm, share has grown to 12% for the same target audiences.

“We are not just gaining larger audiences; our programming attracts superior quality viewers compared with our competitors,” said Adrian Steckel, President and CEO of Azteca America. “Our audiences are younger, more affluent and with more kids than those who watch other Spanish language broadcasters, in other words they are more likely to spend money on the products and services advertisers want to sell.”

In terms of options for advertising, Azteca America produces substantially all of its shows-either through TV Azteca or its production facilities in Los Angeles-which allows offering product integration opportunities like no other Spanish language network in the US. Azteca America presents flexible and creative alternatives that go beyond traditional advertising, and provide with ample product recall among audiences, which is essential for a well-rounded media plan.

Azteca America executives presented upcoming thrilling programming that further boost the network’s exciting programming grid, such as Los Protagonistas a Nivel Mundial with soccer updates from Germany; top quality boxing from Boxeo Latino; two new novelas with ample success in Mexico, Amor sin Condiciones and Amores Cruzados; new versions of our smash musical reality shows, La Academia V and La Academia USA; newscasts and entertainment shows produced in Azteca America’s digital studio in LA, and much more.

Carlos de la Garza, Head of Sales of Azteca America, presented a comprehensive study that illustrated how advertising with Azteca America creates additional value for clients, “A segment of the audience simply does not watch Univision, Telemundo or Telefutura, which means that shifting a portion of the ad budgets to our network brings an unparalleled opportunity to extend reach at no incremental cost for advertisers.”

“Media planners base their advertising decisions on elements that are effectively found in Azteca America, making a buy with us the smartest decision for clients to successfully tap the viewers they are most interested in reaching,” said Mr. de la Garza. He added that Azteca America will be listed in Nielsen’s National Television Index (NTI) alongside the major English-language networks starting fourth quarter of 2006.