In the race for Hispanic TV viewers, Azteca America runs a distant third.

But this summer the network hopes to narrow the gap by moving its headquarters to Los Angeles and taking on market leader Univision Communications Inc. on its own turf.

“The move to Los Angeles is part of an evolution,” said Azteca America Chairman Luis J. Echarte, who currently resides in Mexico City. “Now that we’re producing money, it was time to move the corporate headquarters to where the market is.”

Advertising professionals have taken note of the network’s step into U.S.-based production.

“They have content; if they can get their distribution set and get some low-to-high power stations in the (U.S.) market, they are poised to make an impact,” said Teddy Hayes, vice-president of media services at Los Angeles-based La Agencia de Orci y Asociados.

Azteca America feels natural in its position as the come-from-behind network. The company is the U.S. subsidiary of Mexican network TV Azteca, which has always operated in the shadow of media giant Televisa.

For more than half a century Televisa maintained a virtual monopoly as the only commercial TV network in Mexico. Token competition came from a pair of government-owned stations in Mexico City called Imevision. But in 1993 the government sold Imevision to retail entrepreneur Ricardo Salinas Pliego, who immediately changed the name to TV Azteca.

At the time of the sale, Imevision controlled about 2 percent of the Mexican audience. Today, Azteca controls about 40 percent vs. Televisa’s 60 percent, according to Echarte.

In the beginning, TV Azteca competed by importing programs into Mexico – “Los Simpson,” for example – but the upstart gradually increased its production to the point it could export to other territories, particularly the U.S.

The company launched Azteca America in 2001. Financially, the parent corporation now garners about 35 percent of the advertising money in the Mexican market. In February it reported annual revenues of $797 million and an impressive EBITDA margin (earning before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of 45 percent.

Local heroes?
To attract more U.S. viewers, Azteca America unveiled its upcoming programming slate on May 25 at the Skirball Center in its upfront presentation, in which advertisers screened shows and could reserve commercial time. Holding the event in Los Angeles coincided with the announcement that the company would move its U.S. production and corporate offices here.

The presentation included introductory remarks from City Council President Eric Garcetti. “He was delighted to welcome them to Los Angeles,” said a spokesman for Garcetti. “It wouldn’t be right to say he facilitated the transition, but in terms of their corporate affairs, we always want to roll out the welcome mat.”

In terms of local production, Azteca America plans to duplicate popular program formats from Mexico. The move to Los Angeles underpins two such shows: “Ventaneando” and “La Academia.”