The way television gets made has to change
Desde la Ciudad de México, TV Azteca Internacional da un paso que refleja una transformación más amplia en la industria televisiva global: convertir lo que la pandemia obligó a improvisar en un modelo de negocio exportable. Con Julián Antuñano al frente, la nueva división Production Services ofrece al mundo lo que seis años de producción remota han perfeccionado internamente, apostando a que la eficiencia centralizada y el talento latinoamericano son, hoy, una ventaja competitiva real.
- La industria televisiva global busca reducir costos sin sacrificar calidad, y TV Azteca responde con un modelo que ya opera a diario con más de quince noticieros en vivo simultáneos.
- El lanzamiento de Production Services convierte infraestructura de emergencia pandémica en una oferta comercial dirigida a broadcasters internacionales y plataformas OTT.
- La tensión está en la escala de la ambición: no solo el mercado hispano de EE.UU., sino también Francia, Inglaterra y España son objetivos declarados desde el primer día.
- Los incentivos fiscales mexicanos para la producción audiovisual abren una ventana económica que Antuñano quiere aprovechar antes de que el contexto cambie.
- El Mundial 2026, con sede en tres países del continente, se perfila como la primera gran prueba de fuego para demostrar que el sistema puede operar con agilidad y precisión a escala global.
Julián Antuñano regresa a TV Azteca Internacional con una convicción clara: el futuro de la producción televisiva pasa por la Ciudad de México. La nueva división que encabeza, Production Services, ofrece a broadcasters y plataformas de streaming de todo el mundo un servicio integral de producción remota, desde la concepción del contenido hasta su entrega final. No se trata de un experimento, sino de un sistema probado durante seis años de operación interna.
El origen de ese sistema está en la pandemia. Cuando la industria se vio forzada a reinventarse, TV Azteca construyó su Centro Nacional de Producción, desde donde hoy se transmiten simultáneamente más de quince noticieros en vivo. Lo que nació como respuesta de emergencia se convirtió en infraestructura de alto rendimiento, y ahora se empaqueta como servicio exportable.
El mercado hispano de Estados Unidos es el punto de entrada natural, pero Antuñano no oculta una ambición mayor: llegar a emisoras de Francia, Inglaterra, España y cualquier territorio con audiencia latina. La Ciudad de México no es solo sede operativa por las instalaciones existentes, sino por la concentración de talento técnico y creativo que, según Antuñano, es el verdadero diferenciador frente a la competencia.
El modelo también tiene lógica económica. Los incentivos fiscales mexicanos para la producción audiovisual, sumados a la demanda de eficiencia presupuestaria de plataformas y cadenas tradicionales, crean condiciones favorables. El control centralizado permite mayor calidad y tiempos de respuesta más cortos. Para Antuñano, quien ha pasado su carrera en el lado creativo de grandes producciones internacionales, este proyecto representa su mayor desafío ejecutivo. El Mundial 2026, a celebrarse en Estados Unidos, México y Canadá, ya figura en el horizonte como la primera gran demostración de lo que el sistema puede hacer.
Julián Antuñano is betting that the future of television production looks like Mexico City. The veteran director and producer has returned to TV Azteca Internacional to lead Production Services, a newly launched division designed to handle the full arc of content creation—from the smallest cable to final delivery—for broadcasters and streaming platforms anywhere in the world. It is, in essence, a factory for remote television work, built on six years of internal experience and now being offered as a service to international clients.
The timing reflects a shift in how the industry operates. The pandemic forced television to go remote; TV Azteca adapted by building out its National Production Center, where more than fifteen live newscasts now run simultaneously from a centralized location. That infrastructure, once an emergency measure, has become a competitive advantage. Antuñano describes the new division as a proven system, not an experiment. It takes what already works internally and packages it for export.
The strategy begins with the US Hispanic market, a natural fit given geographic proximity and cultural alignment. But Antuñano is explicit about the ambition: Production Services is designed for broadcasters in France, England, Spain, or anywhere else with a Latino audience. The operational nerve center remains Mexico City, chosen not just for TV Azteca's existing facilities but for the concentration of high-level talent and technical infrastructure that flows between countries. That human capital, he argues, is what makes the service genuinely attractive to international partners.
The economics matter too. Mexico's current fiscal incentives for audiovisual production create an opening. Streaming platforms and traditional broadcasters alike are looking to optimize budgets, and Production Services offers a way to do that—centralized control, real-time direction, reduced overhead. The model works because everything funnels through one location, which means superior quality control and faster turnaround. Antuñano points to the newscast operation as proof: immediacy and precision at scale, every single day.
For Antuñano personally, this represents a shift from the creative side to the executive side. He spent his career as a director and producer on large international projects. Now he is building the commercial muscle of the company, trying to attract partners who need to rethink how they produce. He frames it as the most important project of his career because, in his view, the way television gets made has to change. The 2026 World Cup, coming to the United States, Mexico, and Canada, is already on the horizon as a test case—a moment when the system will need to be agile, distributed, and reliable all at once.
Notable Quotes
This new division creates an efficient end-to-end system and product—from the smallest cable to delivery and mastering. TV Azteca has the expertise to develop it globally and open partnerships to produce international content in Mexico.— Julián Antuñano, Director of Production Services
We're not experimenting. It's a proven system that delivers direct benefits to any client abroad.— Julián Antuñano
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does Mexico City matter so much here? There are production hubs everywhere.
Because the talent is already there. The infrastructure is already there. But more than that—it's where people move through. It's a crossroads. You can staff a production with people who understand both Mexican and American television, who speak the languages, who know the markets.
So this isn't really about technology. It's about people.
It's about both. The technology—the remote systems, the centralized control—that's the skeleton. But the skeleton only works if you have the right people to operate it. And Mexico City has them.
You mentioned the newscasts. Fifteen of them running at once from one place. How does that not collapse?
Because you've already done it for six years. You've built the workflows, trained the teams, solved the problems nobody else has solved yet. When you launch something new, you're not starting from zero. You're scaling something that already works.
What's the real competition here? Who else can do this?
Anyone with infrastructure and talent. But the combination—infrastructure plus talent plus six years of operational proof—that's harder to replicate. And the fiscal incentives in Mexico right now make it cheaper to produce there than in a lot of other places.
Is this about keeping production in Mexico, or about selling Mexico's production capacity?
Both. If you're a French broadcaster making content for Latino audiences, you want to produce it somewhere that understands those audiences and can do it efficiently. Mexico City becomes the obvious answer. That keeps money and jobs in Mexico while opening up international revenue.
What happens if the incentives go away?
Then the model has to stand on its own economics. But Antuñano seems confident that the efficiency gains are real enough that they survive even without subsidies. The centralized control, the talent, the infrastructure—those don't disappear.