Azteca America Reveals U.S.-Produced Original The Wall

Azteca America has unveiled its 2017-18 lineup, which features the new original scripted series The Wall (El Muro).

The Wall is produced exclusively for Azteca America in the U.S. Set on the border between Arizona and Mexico, the drama tells the love story between Adriana, an undocumented immigrant, and Calixto, the immigration officer in charge of her deportation.

Another new original scripted series on the prime-time grid is Mental Hospital (El Manicomio), a thriller about Mariana, a passionate reporter, whose grandmother mysteriously dies in a psychiatric hospital. Mariana suspects her grandmother’s death was not due to natural causes. She checks herself into the hospital as clinically insane to conduct a deeper investigation.

Further new dramas on the slate are the prison thriller Vis a Vis and Mystical Tales, which brings to life the mysteries through documentary-style dramatizations and reenactments.

This season, Azteca will return for the third consecutive year as the exclusive U.S. Spanish-language broadcaster of the Miss Universe Competition.

In the way of sports programming, Knockout is a U.S.-produced reality series that personalizes the journeys of boxers as students of the sport, while exploring boxing as a 24/7 culture for these dedicated warriors. Combate Americas, the premier Hispanic Mixed Martial Arts sports franchise, brings live, world-champion MMA events to the U.S. exclusively on Azteca America this year.

Azteca America has secured an exclusive content partnership with Turkey’s Kanal D for more than 1,000 hours of drama series. Titles include For My Son, Crossroads and Matter of Respect.

“After three years of experiencing substantial ratings growth, we are excited to present the most robust lineup to ever air on our screen,” said Manuel Abud, Azteca America’s president and CEO. “These programming investments further reinforce Azteca America’s commitment to our audience by delivering relevant, world-class programming of the highest production quality and expanding our distribution to reach more U.S. Hispanic households.”

“This year, we continue to collaborate with advertisers to create customized and effective multi-screen marketing solutions through our proven total-market, consultative approach,” added Craig Geller, the executive VP of network sales and digital. “Unlike the rest of the marketplace, our viewers spent 58 percent more time watching Azteca than the previous season; a remarkable 28 percent year-over-year increase.”

“Our 2017-2018 grid builds on the success of our proven counter-programming strategy,” said Margarita Black, the VP of programming. “Azteca will continue to push the envelope and deliver the most compelling, culturally relevant entertainment to viewers and advertisers alike.”