HTVN Moving Ahead With Expansion Initiatives.

Hispanic Television Network, Inc. announced that the company’s expansion plans for cable distribution continue to exceed early expectations. The company has experienced demand for its programming that is largely uncommon in the industry due to the excessive demand for more choice in programming alternatives by the nation’s surging Hispanic community. By year’s end, HTVN will be accessible to 3,000,000 of 4,000,000 Hispanic cable households in the United States.

“It is largely unheard of for a television network as young as HTVN to be distributed this widely,” stated Bryan O’Hara, HTVN Vice President of Cable Relations. “We have just exceeded 200 cities and communities across the United States through both cable and broadcast stations. It is a clear sign of need for our product and we expect to maintain this distribution growth that only improves as the Hispanic population grows, especially over the next 10 years.” In a sign of HTVN’s acceptance outside of its base of the southwest, the network was launched most recently in the northwest via AT&T cable in Oregon and Washington.

In a September report released by Woodcrest Capital, a major investor in HTVN, it is stated that demand for Spanish language programming in the United States is grossly under satiated. The report states that, “The results of the most recent census are the culprit behind the focus directed toward this segment of the broadcasting industry. Hispanics are the fastest growing demographic in America, increasing by 2.5 persons every minute and five times faster than the general population. Spanish language television is just beginning to benefit from this growth in the U.S. Hispanic population.” Today, only three U.S. based Spanish-language television networks exist with both cable and broadcast stations. These networks are HTVN, Univision, and Telemundo.

An important factor related to HTVN’s cable growth is that the company has as yet not experienced the financial benefits of its cable relationships. “Many of our major cable contracts are 10-year contracts and per subscriber revenue does not commence until after the first 12 months of airing,” stated HTVN CFO Steven Mortonson. “The revenues from what is currently our largest source of distribution (cable) will not be realized until years 2-10 of the contracts. We look forward to that time period.”

HTVN chief operating officer Michael Fletcher stated, “This continued growth is the direct result of demand generated by the U.S. Hispanic community and is only the beginning of HTVN’s expansion across the country. The success of HTVN now allows a choice for US based viewers, advertisers, and investors who have had limited options in Hispanic oriented media up to this point.”

“Given our foundation of programming, distribution, and brand recognition, we feel we are poised to benefit from the reallocation of advertising dollars that industry experts feel will be directed away from the general market and towards the U.S. Hispanic population to better reflect the current makeup of consumers in America,” said HTVN COO Michael Fletcher. “There is justification in the recent excitement of this industry space.”