Sandra Smester in #PRODUprimetime: Our offering for 2022 includes Lotería del Crimen and Madres e Hijos

Sandra Smester, VP and general director of Content and Distribution of TV Azteca, offered a preview of the productions that will be on this year in Azteca Uno and Azteca 7, during #PRODUPrimetime with Ríchard Izarra. She mentioned the series Lotería del Crimen and Madres e Hijos, and announced the upcoming release of a great novel for Azteca Uno primetime. The offering also includes entertainment formats; Music Battles, a show with the purpose of creating a band, and the ITV format I Am Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! among others.

For 2022, Smester said they will be aiming to strengthen the line of live and entertainment production, which has given them results, as well as adding fiction.

She highlighted that between the end of 2017 -when she joined the network- and 2021, Azteca grew from a 30% share to 38%, almost 39%. “And that makes me feel very proud,” said Smester, after commenting that they have made a difference and dare.

News and Surprises
For Azteca 7, she announced Lotería del Crimen, a fiction series with very Mexican police stories; for Azteca Uno, the series Madres e Hijos; the entertainment program La Academia 20 años, Todos a Bailar (which has already premiered). The realities: La Voz Kids; La Voz; MasterChef Junior, hosted by Tatiana. Also Survivor; Exatlón All Star; the reality show Music Battles, in which the idea is to create an M-pop musical band; the ITV format I Am Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! that premieres in April.

The telenovela for Azteca Uno will be “a superstar product, a TV Azteca production, which could be a co-production.”

Live Programming and Digital
It has worked and will continue to be strong, without forgetting the digital area. “In Mexico we are digitally powerful. Actually, TV Azteca leads the conversation night after night, from Monday to Sunday, we are trending every day, even with 3 or 4 trending during the day, that moves us a lot. Our program Venga la Alegría grew 31% year after year, which is incredible at a time when people would say that television is not growing because on TV Azteca television is growing, the content is growing and we are stronger than ever,” Smester said.

Pay-TV Channels
Reagarding Azteca Mundo, Azteca Corazón, Azteca Clic and Azteca Cinema, Smester said that they have presence in more than 21 countries in Latin America and Europe alone. “This means that I have to take great care of what the screen is, marketing, which is my specialty. We are already restructuring all the programming of Azteca Mundo, which fulfills me, because it is what I like to do. Also knowing that so many people see us in Canada, in Latin America and in Europe, and even more. So it is about protecting the TV Azteca brand,” she said.

About Ricardo and Benjamin Salinas
“It is impressive how they really know the market, have respect for their audience, Ricardo’s passion for this business and for TV Azteca is incredible. It’s nice to have meetings with them and talk about what’s most important, which is our audiences,” she said.

A Structured Team in Distribution and Signals
Smester explained that after the departure of Patricia Jasin, head of the Distribution and Signals division, there were no major changes since the team that remained is very strong and well structured. “She left behind a very well-structured, very strong team that can work on their own under my leadership and guidance. Dulce will be in content distribution. And the distribution of signals will be managed, as always, by Jorge Gutiérrez, while Andrés Rico Payá, who works very well, reports directly to me, and he manages all the marketing for Azteca Internacional and pay-TV Azteca”, she explained.

View interview here