There’s been no official announcement yet, but the Los Angeles Times reports that Mexico’s Grupo Televisa is teaming up with Lions Gate Entertainment to make movies and TV shows and distribute Televisa’s growing film library in the US. Such a deal is certain to further strain relations between Televisa and Univision, which has a contract for exclusive US rights to Televisa’s Spanish TV programs through 2017. At least one analyst, though, thinks there might be a US market for Televisa that doesn’t run afoul of its contract with Univision. “We believe that Televisa is trying to expand its reach to Hispanic Americans whose first language is English, and assuming it doesn’t violate current agreements with Univision, this is an efficient way for Televisa to separately add to its existing distribution deal with Univision,” said Anthony DiClemente at Lehman Brothers.
