Vix (streaming service)

Vix (stylized as ViX) is an over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by TelevisaUnivision. The service primarily shows content either owned by TelevisaUnivision or acquired from third-party content providers, including television series, movies, and sports programming.

Originally launched in the United States as PrendeTV on March 30, 2021, the service was merged with TelevisaUnivision's other streaming services under its current branding on March 31, 2022.

History
The Vix brand has its origins from Batanga Media, an Hispanic digital media company founded in 1999 as Planet Networks. Vix was launched as a website in 2015, and two years later, Batanga Media would rebrand under the Vix name in 2017.

On January 13, 2021, Univision announced the impending launch of PrendeTV, an ad-supported streaming service, in the first quarter of 2021. On February 1, 2021, Univision acquired Vix, which at the time was considered to be the largest Spanish-language AVOD service. PrendeTV was launched in the United States on March 30, 2021, with the Vix brand being retained outside the country. On May 3, 2021, less than a month after merging with Televisa to form TelevisaUnivision, the company announced that it had acquired the television rights for Euro 2020 for PrendeTV and TUDN, as well as acquiring rights for Brazilian and Argentine leagues.

In June 2021, TelevisaUnivision announced the launch of a new combined streaming service that would bring together PrendeTV, Vix, Univision Now, and Blim TV under one name in 2022. In February 2022, it was announced that PrendeTV, Blim TV, and the original Vix AVOD service acquired in 2021 would be merged into the AVOD tier of a relaunched Vix in March. The company also announced the launch of an SVOD tier called Vix+, which would feature premium series & films and live sporting events (including FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022) for Mexican audiences. Vix+ would launch on July 21, 2022.

In April 2023, the name Vix+ was phased out and would be unified with the Vix brand. In a article from Deadline, TelevisaUnivision CEO Wade Davis said in a conference call with Wall Street analysts that eliminating the "+" from the name "will not change the strategy at all, they will only improve the service as Vix for free with advertising and its paid version." Vix+ was rebranded as Vix Premium.

Programming
ViX's programing includes classic TV, documentaries, television series, films, and sports programming and telenovelas from Televisa's telenovela library.

Co-productions
These programs have been commissioned by Vix in cooperation with a partner network.

Exclusive international distribution
These programs, even though ViX has announced them as ViX Originals, are programs that have been aired in different countries, and ViX has bought exclusive distribution rights to stream them in other various countries. They may be available on ViX in their home territory and other markets where ViX does not have the first run license, without the ViX Original label, some time after their first-run airing on their original broadcaster.

Exclusive international distribution films
These products, even though Vix lists them as ViX Originals, are films that have been released in different countries, and ViX has bought exclusive distribution rights to stream them in other various countries. They may be available on ViX in their home territory and other markets where ViX does not have the first run license, without the ViX Original label.

Sports programming
ViX also carries sports programming, in conjunction with TUDN.

The service has picked up other domestic football events as well, including the Argentine Primera División, Brasileirão, Peru's Primera División and Colombia's Categoría Primera A for the United States.

Batanga Media
Batanga Media was an independent digital media company serving the U.S. Hispanic and Latin American markets. Batanga Media's digital properties include Batanga.com, Batanga Radio, iMujer.com, and BolsadeMulher.com. Founded in 1999 by Troy McConnell, Luis Brandwayn and Jochen Fischer in North Carolina, Batanga Media is now headquartered in Miami, Florida with operations in 14 countries including Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela.

Batanga Radio was an online music streaming service owned and operated by Batanga Media. Batanga Radio users stream millions of songs per year and create over hundreds of thousands of custom stations every month. Batanga Radio was built to be an online radio application. Batanga Radio users can “tell” the application to add or remove certain artists, songs, genres and even decades of music. Batanga Radio's playlist technology reacts to user interactions and a user’s location. Song lyrics are available on every song page and as every song plays. With every song that plays on Batanga Radio, users receive a list of five similar tracks to explore, listen to and/or add to their playlists. Using the songs and artists already chosen by users, the application identifies new songs that are similar. Batanga Radio is accessible across mobile and tablet devices. In 2016, Batanga Media and Discovery Networks became partners.

In early 2017, Batanga Media announced the change of its name to Vix.com, and described their new editorial line and approach as follows: "We create content that sparks curiosity and adds value to millions of people every day. Our content lives in English, Spanish and Portuguese on Vix.com, and across a variety of social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. With over 50 million social followers, our content reaches over 325 million people and our videos receive more than 1 billion views every month. We are proud to be the largest independent digital media content company for the U.S Hispanic market, Latin America and Brazil."

Using bRadio
A station is set by specifying an artist, song, or mood. Listeners can tune into hundreds of pre-made genre stations, tens of thousands of artist radio stations, or browse the entire music library directly in order to indicate musical preferences (songs can not be played directly). bRadio is available in both English and Spanish.

Listeners can indicate their preferences by directly responding to each track played, either favorably (by selecting the happy face button), or unfavorably (by selecting the sad face button), which determines if the track should be played, as well as how often similarly classified songs should be played on the station. Responding unfavorably to a track (selecting the sad face button) immediately stops playback of the track.

An artist, song, or mood can be excluded from playing entirely. Within the section located directly under the music player, titled "We Recommend You,” listeners can indicate which songs, artists, or moods to add or remove from their station by selecting the gray icon directly to the right of the words "We Recommend You.” This brings up a search bar where listeners can type in the name of a song, artist, or mood that can then either be added in order to provide variety to the listener’s station, or excluded from their station entirely.

Also, a blue plus sign appears on the lower right-hand corner of the album art for the track that is currently playing, and once this button is clicked, it brings up the choice: “Comprar,” (Spanish for “Buy”) which allows listeners to buy the song directly from iTunes. Upon clicking on the blue plus sign, registered users also have the option of voting on whether or not they like a song by selecting “me gusta” (smiley face), or “no me gusta.”

Mobile Devices
The Batanga Radio app is available across most mobile platforms and is available in both English and Spanish.


 * Batanga was available on the Google Android OS (for tablets and mobile phones, requires Android 2.1 and up).
 * Batanga was available across all iOS platforms, including iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.
 * Batanga was available on Blackberry (Operating System: 4.5.0 or higher).

The Batanga Radio app allows listeners to:
 * Build customized stations
 * Listen to an editorial station
 * View lyrics
 * Like songs /dislike songs
 * Comment
 * Add artist/song preferences
 * Remove specific artists or songs from stations
 * Read artist news
 * View artist pages
 * Explore similar tracks