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Hispanic Television Network (HTVN) was a family-oriented television network that was once the third-largest Spanish-language network in the United States, after
Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the L ...
and
Telemundo Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast. It provides content ...
. It was the first network to specifically target
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
s of
Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...
origin, the first Spanish-language network to take advantage of digital technology, and the first Spanish-language network to broadcast over the
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
. HTVN operated from 2000 through 2003 and at one time could be viewed over-the-air on nearly 70 television stations, on approximately 300 cable systems, and on the Internet. HTVN was owned by Hispanic Television Network, Inc. of
Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...
.


History


Launch

HTVN was launched in early 2000 following the creation of Hispanic Television Network, Inc. from the merger of Hispano Television Ventures, Inc. and English-language network
American Independent Network The American Independent Network was one of the first major attempts at building a commercial television network consisting of low-powered television stations. Started by Don Shelton, Randy Moseley, and Lyn Snyder, it was similar to the older ...
, Inc. (AIN), both of Fort Worth. While the new company owned both HTVN and AIN, it focused the majority of its attention on HTVN. The network's facilities were all-digital and state-of-the-art.


Success

The new network expanded rapidly, and by March 2000, appeared on 25 television stations, including those in top-10 Hispanic markets
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
,
Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
, Phoenix,
San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...
and
Brownsville, Texas Brownsville ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Cameron County, Texas, Cameron County, located on the western Gulf Coast in South Texas, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border, border with Matamoros, Tamaulipas ...
. By June 2000, HTVN had announced deals with
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to broadcast network programming on the Internet, and with Mexinema and
Excalibur Media Group Excalibur is the mythical sword of King Arthur that may possess magical powers or be associated with the rightful sovereignty of Britain. Its first reliably datable appearance is found in Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Historia Regum Britanniae''. Ex ...
to give HTVN the rights to over 500 Mexican-made, Spanish-language movies. It was now on nearly 60 television stations, including full-service flagship station
KLDT KAZD (channel 55) is a television station licensed to Lake Dallas, Texas, United States, serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex with a simulcast of Spectrum News#Spectrum News 1 Dallas-Fort Worth, Spectrum News 1. Owned by Weigel Broadcasting ...
in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Including cable coverage, HTVN reached over 20 million homes. By the end of the year, HTVN had added full-service
KJLA KJLA (channel 57) is a Spanish-language religious independent television station licensed to Ventura, California, United States, serving the Los Angeles area. The station is owned by Costa de Oro Media, LLC, a company run by Entravision Commu ...
in the Los Angeles market and had partnered with Mexican broadcasting giant MVS Television, providing the network access to MVS' state-of-the-art production facilities and talent base, allowing HTVN to produce programming in the United States, which was scarce at that time.


Decline

The rapid growth proved to be costly, however, as HTVN's owners reported a 14,492% increase in expenses from first quarter 1999 to first quarter 2000, no doubt the bulk of it from launching the new network. Furthermore, the network did not produce nearly sufficient revenues to cover expenses and their owners announced a $38 million loss for 2000 against only $620,955 in revenue. By 2002, HTVN had all but abandoned its over-the-air strategy and was turning its attention to mostly cable distribution. Still, the network was not bringing in sufficient revenue to cover its expenses, and despite its owners' attempts to acquire revenue from other sources, they filed for
Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...
reorganization in July 2002. In early 2003, Hispanic Television Network, Inc. sold its cable agreements to Hispanic children's network, ¡Sorpresa! and on July 10, 2003, HTVN formally ceased operations.


Stations that carried the network

*
KTVP-LD KTVP-LD (channel 23) is a low-power television station in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. The station is owned by Innovate Corp. KTVP-LD's transmitter is located on South Mountain. History The original construction permit was granted Septembe ...
-
Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...
(1999-2002) ( O&O) *
KLDT KAZD (channel 55) is a television station licensed to Lake Dallas, Texas, United States, serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex with a simulcast of Spectrum News#Spectrum News 1 Dallas-Fort Worth, Spectrum News 1. Owned by Weigel Broadcasting ...
-
Lake Dallas, Texas Lake Dallas is a city in Denton County, Texas, United States. It is located in North Texas, northwest of the city of Dallas, on the shores of Lewisville Lake. The community's name derives from the original name of the lake. It is also one of t ...
(2000-2003) (O&O) *
KVAW KVAW (channel 24) is a television station in Eagle Pass, Texas, United States, which is currently Dark (broadcasting), silent. Founded June 29, 1989, the station is owned by the NRT Communications Group, the American arm of Núcleo Radio y Televis ...
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Eagle Pass, Texas Eagle Pass is a city in and the county seat of Maverick County, Texas, United States. Its population was 28,130 as of the 2020 census. Eagle Pass borders the city of Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, which is to the southwest and across the ...
(2000-2003) (O&O) * KLHO-LD -
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...
*
KTOU-LD KTOU-LD (channel 22) is a low-power television station in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States. The station is owned by Innovate Corp. The station began broadcasting in 1994 from a tower in Newcastle, Oklahoma. It aired family television pro ...
-
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...
(O&O) *
K17MJ-D K17MJ-D (channel 51) is a low-power television station in San Antonio, Texas, United States, affiliated with beIN Sports Xtra and owned by Innovate Corp. History This station began broadcasting in 1991 as independent outlet K52EA; it was based ...
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San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...


References


See also

*
American Independent Network The American Independent Network was one of the first major attempts at building a commercial television network consisting of low-powered television stations. Started by Don Shelton, Randy Moseley, and Lyn Snyder, it was similar to the older ...
* HITN {{American broadcast television (spanish) Defunct television networks in the United States Television channels and stations established in 2000 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2003 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2002 Spanish-language television networks in the United States