Fox International Channels Acquires Production, Ad Companies

LOS ANGELES, June 26: Fox International Channels is ramping up its Spanish-language activities with the acquisitions of a 51-percent stake in Bogotá-based production outfit Telecolombia and 100 percent of the online ad network ClickDiario.

Telecolombia will be renamed Fox Telecolombia and Samuel Duque Rozo, founder of the company, will assume the role of president and CEO. The venture will focus on Spanish-language scripted content, complementing Fox Toma 1, Fox International Channels’ production house for Spanish-language unscripted programming.

Fox Telecolombia will continue to produce for RCN in Colombia and Telefutura in the U.S. The company will also work jointly with other News Corporation divisions to produce content for other clients in Latin America and the U.S.

“In the past few years, the growth of Fox International Channels has allowed us to increase our original production,” stated Hernan Lopez, the president of Fox Latin American Channels. “The alliance with Telecolombia puts us in the map of Spanish-language production, a market with great potential for growth.”

Emiliano Saccone, the senior VP of marketing and entertainment at Fox Latin American Channels, added: “Our goal is to produce programs that can coexist with series such as 24 in the schedule of our Latin American channels. We are glad to have found in Telecolombia the skills required for this challenge.”

Fox International Channels also today announced the acquisition of ClickDiario, one of the largest online advertising networks targeting Spanish-speaking audiences, from Livedoor in Japan. With offices in Mexico and Guatemala, ClickDiario will now take advantage of Fox International Channels’ network of sales offices in Miami, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Bogotá, Caracas and Sao Paulo, among others. ClickDiario’s network will reach an estimated 25 million unique users per month, including Fox International Channels’ online publishing unit in Latin America, which operates a collection of 35 websites such as mundofox.com, natgeo.tv, utilisima.com, canalfx.tv and others.