TelevisaUnivision Snags Rights To Latin American Music Awards From Telemundo

TelevisaUnivision has scored the rights to the Latin American Music Awards (Latin AMAs) from Dick Clark Productions. Rival Telemundo previously held the broadcast rights since 2015, the year of the inaugural show held in Los Angeles.

TelevisaUnivision says the acquisition bolsters its position as “The Home of Latin Music,” across linear TV, digital and audio. But the Latin AMAs won’t get top billing on the Univision network. Instead, its parent company will air the 8th edition of the popular award show on its sister network UNIMÁS in 2023.

“Live entertainment and music are passion points for our audience, and we are thrilled to produce and broadcast the most important nights in music with all our tentpoles, which now includes the Latin AMAs,” said Ignacio Meyer, promoted to President, TelevisaUnivision U.S. Networks this past week.

“Latin music has become mainstream worldwide and, as our slate shows, we are at the heart of it with Premios Juventud, Premio Lo Nuestro, and Latin GRAMMY®, delivering strong viewership for their respective televised nights and trending on social media.”

According to the company, including the Latin AMAs is part of a strategy to strengthen the programming and reinforce its “commitment to provide entertainment for families” for what has long been a secondary network.

Telemundo heavily invested in the Latin AMAs while it held the rights, building the annual event’s popularity with top performers and cross-over artists, like Tony award-winning actress and singer Idina Menzel, Pitbull, Niki Jam and incorporating virtual reality performances. The pandemic forced the show to be canceled in 2020, but it returned in 2021 in a new venue in Miami. This year, the event took place in Las Vegas.

Telemundo may have lost the Latin AMAs, but it gained another music awards event. Earlier this year, it picked up the rights to the first-ever People’s Choice Latin Music Awards set to air on the network in the spring of 2023.