Estrella Media will launch Estrella TV on KEMO San Francisco, a full-power station occupying channel 50, on March 29. San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose is DMA No. 6. 

KEMO will feature EstrellaTV Spanish-language entertainment, news and sports programming, which includes reality and game shows, talent competitions and variety talk shows, and live sports. The station will have a local sales team to support its ad sales operations in the market.

KEMO currently airs Azteca America programming. 

“We are enthusiastic about having a full powered local station in the Bay Area market, offering our Spanish-language programming to the Latino community in San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose,” stated Peter Markham, CEO, Estrella Media, Inc. “Our EstrellaTV programming and news content is second to none, and I am certain that it will be well received by the Hispanic audience in the Bay Area.”

Estrella TV launched in 2009. Estrella Media has 15 owned or operated stations and over 30 broadcast affiliates. The network also has national carriage agreements with major cable and satellite operators.

EstrellaTV brings back talent competition series Tengo Talento, Mucho Talento Monday, March 29. It will be season 24, and an all-female lineup of contestants will take part. 

Recording artist Luis Coronel hosts. Returning to the judges’ panel are recording artists Chiquis and Ana Barbara, producer Pepe Garza and radio personality Don Cheto. Celebrity guest judges will pop up too. 

“Regional Mexican music has traditionally been dominated by male artists, so I feel blessed to be able to be a voice that represents women in the regional and band a genre and part of the group of female artists that have been able to cross those barriers,” said Chiquis. “My female colleagues in the industry are allies, not competitors. Together we are stronger and in that unity, we can best represent female voices. My wish is that many other women can break through and succeed, which is why I am so happy about this upcoming season of Tengo Talento, Mucho Talento featuring female artists.”

EstrellaTV, a Spanish-language network, said Tengo Talento is the longest-running talent competition in U.S. Spanish-language TV. 

“It’s a great honor for me to represent women in the regional Mexican genre,” said Barbara. “It has been a long journey in a music genre dominated by male artists, but consistency, the support and acceptance of my fans and the hard work that we’ve invested in this career have been the key factors that have maintained me here. And now, to be part of a season of Tengo Talento that is dedicated to women, well it makes me very happy and fills me with much satisfaction. During this Women’s History Month, we will prove that there’s not just talent, but also women who are empowered, who are fighters and who are successful.”

The series will be recorded at Estrella Media’s studios in Burbank.

Season two of primetime talk show Tu-Night con Omar Chaparro starts on EstrellaTV Jan. 25. Co-produced and hosted by Mexican superstar Omar Chaparro, the Spanish-language program delivered close to two million viewers during its 20-episode first season in the 9 p.m. slot, according to Estrella. The first season finale aired Nov. 30. 

"This series was an exciting addition to our primetime lineup and it delivered audiences that challenged not only Spanish-language television networks but English networks as well," said Ivan Stoilkovich, executive VP, television programming at Estrella Media. "EstrellaTV is committed to offering a fresh take on the late-night talk format for the U.S. Hispanic audience. We're excited to see the series audience grow since its launch, and we're enthusiastic about the format and our partnership with Omar." 

The show has become a destination for emerging Latin musical acts, and has played well on social platforms. "We were able to tap into a passionate fanbase on social as well with many of the videos receiving over one million views in just a few weeks," said René Santaella, executive VP, digital and streaming media, Estrella. "Wherever the consumer wants to watch, we are going to build an audience, and it certainly helps to have such an engaging show like Tu-Night con Omar Chaparro." 

Estrella Media owns the EstrellaTV national network and TV stations. 

Estrella Media said it signed a distribution agreement with streaming platform fuboTV.

Under the agreement--the first virtual MVPD deal for Estrella Media--the Estrella TV channel and its Los Angeles TV station KRCA-TV will be available to fuboTV subscribers as part of its Latino package in the U.S.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

“Partnering with fuboTV is a great opportunity to continue expanding EstrellaTV’s distribution channels outside of traditional cable and broadcasting. fuboTV will make our network and local KRCA-62 Los Angeles station available to their growing number of subscribers across the U.S. and increase our footprint in the live streaming universe,” stated Peter Markham, CEO, Estrella Media, Inc. “We are truly excited about cord-cutting services like fuboTV and look forward to reaching our fans on more devices and new platforms in the near future.”

Spanish language broadcaster Estrella TV said it has reached a multi-year carriage deal with Dish Network.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“We are proud to be the leader in delivering TV entertainment in Spanish and English, and as a result, we are always looking for new ways to enhance the experience for our customers,” said Dish Latino vice president Alfredo Rodriguez in a statement. “Because of this agreement, the majority of DishLatino customers can now enjoy Estrella TV’s line-up, including its popular game shows and comedies.”

Estrella TV parent LBI Media said the network will be available on the satellite TV service provider’s Dish’s America’s Top 200 packages and above, and DishLatino Clasico packages and above. With the Dish deal, Estrella TV expands its subscriber base to more than 40 million homes.

“Hispanic audiences in the US are demanding new entertainment programming. Estrella TV Network has been betting on a counterprogramming strategy since its inception in 2009 before it was a trending topic among Spanish language television networks. This agreement with DISH corroborates the importance of Estrella TV’s programming in the US Hispanic market,” stated LBI Media senior vice president, distribution and affiliate sales Cathy Lewis Edgerton in a statement.

Estrella TV is getting a nationwide berth on DirecTV starting tomorrow, according to parent company LBI Media. Estrella TV will launch on channel 442 across the country. Estrella TV has been on in local markets via broadcast affiliations with DirecTV, in Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Denver and Salt Lake City, but this launch in DirecTV's Hispanic packages is the first national placement, the broadcaster said. DirecTV has more than 20 million customers across the country.

“DirecTV is committed to providing the most programming options at the best value for its customers,” Emma Brackett, vice president of content and programming for AT&T (which owns DirecTV) said in a release from the network. “Estrella TV’s popular programming format offers more choices for our customers who enjoy watching Spanish-language channels.”

“This agreement illustrates Estrella TV’s importance as content provider of relevant and original Spanish language television programing in the U.S.,” Cathy Lewis Edgerton, senior vice president, distribution and affiliate sales, Estrella TV Network, said in the release.

The ongoing battle over retransmission fees and Liberman Broadcasting’s quest to gets its Estrella TV O&Os back on Comcast’s lineups in Denver, Houston, and Salt Lake City will continue minus any claims that the MSO is violating the Federal Communications Commission’s program-carriage rules.

The squabble will also come with squashed assertions by Liberman that Comcast was engaging in discriminatory practices by dumping the trio of stations.

The Federal Communications Commission in an Aug. 26 ruling shot down Liberman’s assertion that Comcast was in violation of FCC rules by “requiring Liberman to provide Comcast with a financial interest in Estrella TV’s digital rights as a condition of carriage.”

The FCC then nixed Liberman’s assertion that Estrella TV’s broadcast stations in Denver (KETD), Houston (KZJL) and Salt Lake City (KPNZ) were “video programming vendors.”

This amounts to a knockout punch for Liberman.

The FCC was rather terse in its decision, stating that Liberman had “failed to put forth sufficient evidence of its program carriage claims to establish a prima facie case.” Translation: Liberman lacks standing to bring such claims in front of the commission.

Now, it must pay the consequences for a change in status that has essentially back-fired for Estrella TV, which airs an array of programming largely produced by Liberman targeting first- and second-generation bilingual and Spanish-preferred Hispanic audiences.

Roughly two years ago, a consultant working for Liberman contacted Comcast to formally discuss a retransmission consent agreement for Estrella TV, according to the FCC's opinion and order.  The main motive behind the discussion was to obtain carriage and compensation that largely mirrored what NBCUniversal-owned Telemundo received from Comcast; Comcast is NBCU's corporate parent.

Liberman was aggressive in its request, seeking “carriage and compensation for all Estrella TV O&Os, carriage in markets where non-owned Estrella TV broadcast affiliates not otherwise carried by Comcast operate, and carriage and compensation in ‘white areas,’ ” otherwise known as DMAs where Estrella TV has no over-the-air presence. Liberman noted its “sustained ratings success” as impetus for the request.

Retransmission consent, as elected by Liberman, started Jan. 1, 2015 for a three-year cycle.

Following the discussions, on Feb. 19, 2015, Comcast remained steadfast in its refusal to add Estrella TV in more markets, or to compensate Liberman for carriage. Because Liberman had opted for retransmission consent rather than “must-carry” status for the Denver, Houston and Salt Lake City stations, Comcast dropped them.

Meanwhile, Comcast criticized Liberman for its actions, saying that an analysis discovered Estrella TV “was not a particularly popular network among Hispanic audiences.”

The FCC politely ignored that claim while siding with Comcast in its ruling against Liberman.

“We are pleased with the Media Bureau’s decision,” Comcast said in a prepared statement. “Liberman Broadcasting’s carriage complaint had no basis in law and was simply an attempt to extract carriage of Estrella TV and fees from Comcast that are in no way justified.”

Liberman’s fight isn’t over, as far as it is concerned.

In prepared remarks, the company said it was disappointed by the ruling, which

dismissed its complaint “on a narrow technicality relating to standing.”

Liberman is considering an appeal. “This technical decision in no way absolves Comcast of the underlying wrongdoing of discrimination against Estrella TV as an independent programmer,” the company said. “Every other major MVPD carries Estrella TV for the simple reason that it is popular with Hispanic viewers. Comcast differs from these other companies only in the fact that it owns competing networks. That type of blatant and obvious discrimination must not continue.”

Liberman has been vocal in its protests against Comcast. But, it hasn’t had much luck in gaining favor among federal decision-makers. Comcast in early June asked the FCC to dismiss the complaint; in late June, Liberman argued that Comcast failed to make a case for any dismissal of its carriage complaint.

Liberman filed the carriage complaint in early April. At the time, Comcast said, “Our decision not to pay the exorbitant price demanded by Liberman was a reasonable business judgment in the interest of our customers — and one that has been confirmed over the past year given the absence of any demand for Estrella TV in these markets.”

Now, the ball is in Liberman’s court, with its options yet to be revealed.

Liberman Broadcasting says Comcast has not made a case for why the FCC should dismiss its carriage complaint against the cable operator and that, instead, a compelling case remains for the FCC to take action.

"Comcast’s Answer distills to nothing more than an unavailing exercise in misdirection and evasion, premised on a misreading and misapplication of governing law," it told the FCC.

That came in its reply to Comcast's June 8 response to Liberman's April 8 program carriage complaint.

In a filing June 7, Comcast told the FCC that Liberman Broadcasting's (LBI) program carriage complaint related to the MVPD's dropping of three TV stations fails on three grounds: 1) As a broadcast network (Estrella TV), Liberman is not authorized to bring a carriage complaint, which is confined to cable networks (Comcast's negotiations were instead covered by must-carry, retrans regime); 2) Comcast's request for digital distribution rights as a condition of carriage is not a demand for a financial interest in Estrella; and 3) the complaint was filed beyond the statute of limitations.

LBI argues that it has presented "clear and compelling evidence" that Comcast discriminated against Estrella TV to favor its Spanish-language networks, Telemundo and NBC Universo, including by "unlawfully" demanding digital rights. It claims Comcast is in violation both of program carriage rules and NBCU deal conditions.

In its June 27 reply comments, Liberman said nothing Comcast said changes the fact that there is a "clear" case for a full FCC hearing.

IT said it clearly meets the definition of a video program vendor eligible to bring a complaint given that Estrella TV produces most of its own programming. It also said it remained clear that Comcast "unlawfully required LBI relinquish the digital rights to its own content as a condition of carriage."

And while Comcast said it had simply made a reasonable decision not to carry the network and that it was not related to favoring its own nets, Liberman said that didn't wash, either.

"Comcast’s treatment of Estrella TV does not reflect a rational commercial negotiation," it told the FCC, "as evidenced by distribution agreements Estrella TV has in place with every other major MVPD in the country. Only Comcast has refused to reach a fair deal to carry Estrella because only Comcast owns two competitor networks.

Liberman also said the complaint was filed in time and that Comcast is trying to rewrite the timetable.

The commission has 60 days to decide whether to designate the complaint for hearing, according to a Liberman spokesperson.

Liberman Broadcasting, parent of Spanish-language network Estrella TV, is filing a program-carriage complaint against Comcast at the Federal Communications Commission, saying the cable operator violated not only the commission's rules but NBCU merger conditions--Comcast can't discriminate in favor of its own content.

Liberman says Comcast is discriminating against Estrella TV to favor its own Telemundo and NBC Universo networks and "unlawfully" demanding that Estrella give up digital rights.

"We hope the FCC will move swiftly to put a stop to Comcast’s egregious behavior not only for the good of our network, but also to send a message to all independent programmers that they need not endure unlawful abuse at the hands of Comcast," Liberman president Lenard Liberman said.

 Estrella pointed to the failure to come to a retransmission deal with Comcast for three TV stations, in Denver, Houston and Salt Lake City, and the “collapse” of ratings following those stations going off Comcast systems. 

The contentious carriage impasse dates from last year, when KETD Denver, KZIZ Houston and KPNZ Salt Lake City were pulled, or dropped, depending no which side was talking (though, technically, only the broadcaster can keep a signal on after the contract has ended).

 Liberman was trying to upgrade from must-carry status to retransmission consent, electing to try to negotiate license fees for the stations. The other side of that election is that if a deal is not reached, Comcast does not have to carry them.

Comcast, which offers five dozen Hispanic networks, noted at the time that, even with the station exits, it was still Estrella's largest distributor and said it had been negotiating in good faith.

Comcast had a lot to say in response:

"Liberman Broadcasting has no case based on the law or the facts.  First, as a threshold matter, the program carriage rules simply do not cover broadcasters like Liberman. They do not apply to broadcast networks. Second, Comcast did not drop Estrella TV; Liberman pulled the broadcast stations in three markets, and Comcast continues to carry Estrella TV to about six million subscribers across the country,” the company said in a statement.

This purported carriage complaint is just the latest attempt by Liberman to extract carriage and fees from Comcast that are in no way justified based on the weak performance of Estrella TV...Comcast negotiated in good faith for months before Liberman pulled the Estrella TV signals in the three markets. In fact, we offered to continue to carry the stations under the existing arrangements, which are the same terms we have with other, comparable stations.  

“Our decision not to pay the exorbitant price demanded by Liberman was a reasonable business judgment in the interest of our customers – and one that has been confirmed over the past year given the absence of any demand for Estrella TV in these markets.

“We do not believe Comcast’s customers should have to pay any fees for Estrella TV, given its very limited appeal. Contrary to Liberman Broadcasting’s assertions, Estrella TV is not widely viewed among Latino audiences -- a fact consistently demonstrated by a wide range of ratings data in the three stations’ local markets, as well as in other Comcast markets that currently carry Estrella TV. Estrella TV’s weak performance in each market where Comcast distributes it today does not justify Liberman’s demand for even broader distribution.

“We are proud to be the nation’s largest cable provider of Spanish language network packages, with a distribution platform that delivers more than 60 Hispanic cable networks on the majority of Comcast Cable systems.” 

Public Knowledge, a big critic of big cable companies, said it thought Liberman had a case and that the FCC should "examine Lieberman's specific claims carefully."

"Liberman Broadcasting's program carriage complaint against Comcast is the latest to document the abuses of a large cable company," said John Bergmayer, senior Staff attorney. "Liberman has presented a strong case that Comcast has discriminated against its Estrella TV network in favor of Comcast's own Telemundo and NBC Universo and is violating the terms of the FCC’s conditions for accepting the Comcast/NBCU merger. The complaint raises legitimate concerns that Comcast favored its own affiliated programming over Estrella and demanded that Lieberman turn over digital rights, and used proprietary data about viewers gathered from its locked-down set-top boxes to make claims about Estrella's audience."

Liberman's complaint comes as the FCC has put a spotlight on diverse programming access to distribution platforms, including any contractual impediments, and Comcast is currently under attack from Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios, which is also complaining to the FCC about Comcast citing lack of carriage -- of Allen's diverse content -- and also claiming that violates the NBCU deal conditions.

(Updated at 1 p.m. (ET) on Feb. 20)

In a carriage disagreement, Comcast says Spanish-language network Estrella TV has pulled its signals in three markets.

The disconnect came at midnight (CT) for KETD 46 in Denver, KZIZ 44 in Houston and KPNZ in Salt Lake City.

Liberman Broadcasting-owned Estrella TV, which said Comcast forcibly removed it, is trying to upgrade its carriage from must-carry to retransmission-consent status, which would result in license fees and full distribution in the DMAs.

Comcast, which proffers more than 60 Hispanic networks as part of its Latino package, noted that it remains Estrella’s largest distributor, carrying the channel in 13 other DMAs, including top Latino markets  Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Chicago and Fresno, Calif.

The top MSO, which is awaiting federal approvals of its proposed merger with Time Warner Cable, said the disconnect marked the first time a programmer pulled its signal in the MSO's history. Comcast said that it has been negotiating in good faith with Estrella for months.

Estrella TV maintains that it is making ratings gains against Telemundo, the Spanish-language broadcaster owned by NBCUniversal, Comcast's programming arm, which warrant an upgrade in its positioning. Comcast says Estrella’s claims of Nielsen advances are vastly overstated.  

“We are very disappointed that Liberman Broadcasting has decided to take away its Estrella broadcast stations from Comcast’s customers in Houston, Denver, and Salt Lake City.  Fortunately,  Liberman’s actions do not affect 80 percent of Comcast’s customers who will continue to receive Estrella in markets like Miami, Chicago, New York, and Fresno.  After more than 50 years of being in business and negotiating thousands of programming agreements, this is the first time a programmer has pulled its signal from our customers," said a Comcast spokesman. 

"Liberman’s precipitous action is particularly puzzling given that we are Estrella’s largest distributor and have been negotiating in good faith to reach a fair arrangement with Liberman," he continued.  "The bottom line is that we want to continue to carry the Estrella stations for our customers in these three markets and offered to do so under our existing arrangements with Liberman, which are the same arrangements we have with other, comparable stations.  Unfortunately, Liberman is insisting that we go far beyond the market and that our customers pay millions of dollars for Estrella programming, which is not widely viewed among Latino audiences, and also is insisting on significant additional distribution throughout our footprint.  We are the nation’s largest cable provider of Spanish-language network packages, so our Hispanic customers will continue to have many viewing choices.  We hope Liberman decides to return these stations to our customers.”

Estrella TV CEO Lenard Liberman offered a different view of the proceedings.

“It is a sad day for television viewers in Houston, Denver, and Salt Lake City with Estrella TV being taken off the air in those markets as Comcast places its own self-serving interests ahead of the requests of its customers,” according to Liberman's statement. “If this disregard and disrespect for its customers is an example of what consumers can expect from Comcast should its proposed merger with Time Warner Cable receives approval, it will be bad news for viewers across the country as it gives Comcast carte blanche to decide who does and does not receive fair distribution. Comcast’s continued false statements about Estrella TV’s performance and so-called low ratings are transparent efforts to misinform and confuse viewers, consumer advocates, politicians, and reporters.”

Estrella TV said Comcast’s most recent offer was without compensation and called for the network to cede the digital rights to all of its programming.

The network said it would continue to negotiate with Comcast.

Liberman Broadcasting’s scrappy little television network has picked a fight with the Goliath of U.S. MSOs.

Spanish-language network Estrella TV and No. 1 MSO Comcast are at an impasse regarding must-carry rules set to expire in three key DMAs at midnight (CT) on Feb. 20.

With no resolution in sight, the tussle could result in carriage losses in Houston, Denver and Salt Lake City — a potentially devastating result of a chess match that heated up in early February.

At issue is the continued presence of KETD-Channel 46 in Denver, KZJZ-Channel 44 in Houston and KPNZ-Channel 24 in Salt Lake City on Comcast’s basic-cable lineups in each station’s respective market. The three Estrella TV O&Os are on Comcast thanks to Federal Communications Commission-enforced legislation that requires the cable provider to carry the stations. However, the rules pertaining to the three stations are not permanent, setting the stage for the battle between Liberman and Comcast.

Comcast has said Liberman waged the war. “It is Estrella that has decided to pull its signal from Comcast customers,” the company said in prepared comments. “In fact, we’ve offered to continue to carry their stations under the existing arrangements, which are the same terms we have with other, comparable networks.”

For Liberman, the phrase “comparable networks” is one of its primary points behind the disagreement with Comcast. As Multichannel News reported February 6 (Estrella TV, Comcast Face Carriage Deadline in 3 DMAs), Estrella TV is seeking license-free compensation. The network believes such compensation is warranted given strong ratings in Salt Lake City and Denver.

“It is troubling to see Comcast act irresponsibly by putting its own self-serving business interests ahead of a small minority-owned company, and ahead of Comcast’s Hispanic customers,” Estrella TV chairman José Liberman said.

In its defense, Comcast noted that it is Estrella’s largest distributor, with Comcast lineups in 13 other markets (including Los Angeles and Miami) including Estrella TV as a basic option. “We have been negotiating in good faith for months with Liberman Broadcasting to continue carrying its broadcast signals in these three markets, which represent only 20 percent of our total Estrella distribution,” Comcast said.

Without Comcast, Estrella TV must rely on its deals with AT&T U-verse, Mediacom, Charter and Frontier Communications, as well as station affiliation contracts that allow the network a space on a digital subchannel, as its lone distribution partners. Disgruntled advertisers could thus potentially shy away from deals with Estrella TV or cancel previously forged deals based on higher audience estimates.

To boost its fight, Estrella TV enlisted its core personalities and got Liberman’s top radio hosts to “educate its supporters about the loss of programming choice for Spanish-speaking viewers.” The network also hopes to share the “real” reasons behind the potential loss of Estrella TV from Comcast lineups in Denver, Houston and Salt Lake City via a special website, nopierdasestrellatv.com (don’t lose EstrellaTV).

Liberman hopes these activities will result in a flood of viewer support, including calls to Comcast asking that they keep Estrella TV in the three markets. In Comcast’s view, the volume of calls is likely to be more of a trickle.

“Our customers shouldn’t have to pay millions of dollars for Estrella’s broadcast programming that has very limited appeal,” Comcast argued. “Contrary to Estrella’s assertions, these stations are not widely viewed among Latino audiences. We have reached thousands of agreements with broadcasters and programmers without ever experiencing an interruption of service and are proud to be the nation’s largest cable provider of Spanish-language network packages. We hope to reach a fair agreement with Liberman and avoid service interruptions. So long as Liberman reciprocates our ongoing good faith negotiations, our customers should not lose this programming.”

As of the Presidents’ Day holiday, service interruptions looked imminent, even with the support of U.S. Representative Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.). Last week he distributed a “dear colleague” letter to other House members asking them to sign letters to the Federal Communications Commission and Department of Justice urging them to ensure that independent programmers — such as Estrella TV — are not harmed by the pending Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger.

Co-signatures for the FCC and DOJ letters were due by Feb. 12; it was not known if Cárdenas, who has been a vocal critic of the Comcast-TWC merger, had attracted any colleagues. In 2014, Cárdenas sought to make the FCC the mediator in a carriage fight between Time Warner Cable and various distributors over finding a non-TWC home for TWC SportsNet LA and the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball club.

With carriage expiration looming later this month, Spanish-language service Estrella TV says it is facing a disconnect with Comcast in three markets.

Liberman Broadcasting-owned Estrella TV said Comcast is forcing it off the air in Houston, Denver and Salt Lake City. Comcast said it is continuing to negotiate with Estrella.

The three stations are on Comcast  via must-carry agreements, which will expire at midnight on Feb. 20. Comcast, which is awating federal approval for its proposed acquisition of Time Warner Cable, carries Estrella in 13 other markets and says it is the station owner that is pushing toward the service disruption.

"Comcast already distributes Estrella TV programming broadly as Estrella’s largest distributor and we have been negotiating in good faith for months with Liberman Broadcasting to continue carrying its broadcast signals in these three markets, which represent only 20 percent of our total Estrella distribution,” said the nation’s largest MSO in a statement. “Most importantly, Comcast is not dropping Estrella – it is Estrella that has decided to pull its signal from Comcast customers. In fact, we’ve offered to continue to carry their stations under the existing arrangements, which are the same terms we have with other, comparable networks.”

Representatives for Estrella, which is available to some 33 million households via distribution deals with AT&T U-verse, Mediacom, Charter and Frontier Communications, as well as station affilation contracts, indicate the network is seeking license fee compensation. They say fees are warranted given its ratings performance in Salt Lake City, where they claim Estrella TV has been a top Nielsen performer among Hispanics 25 to 54 in primetime and has ranked second with that group in Denver.

“This has been a real-life David versus Goliath battle, with our minority-owned company fighting one of the largest companies in America, and armed with a simple message: let the people watch what they want to watch,” said Estrella TV founder and chairman José Liberman. “With Estrella TV now surpassing Telemundo in the Los Angeles market and elsewhere, it is troubling to see Comcast act irresponsibly by putting its own self-serving business interests ahead of a small minority-owned company, and ahead of Comcast’s Hispanic customers.”

To get its message out, Estrella TV, tapping sister radio stations in the three markets in question, has launched a campaign to educate its supporters about the loss of programming choice for Spanish-speaking viewers and the "real" reasons behind Comcast’s decision to force Estrella TV off its systems. The campaign is also utilizing social media to reach Hispanic audiences, encouraging them to contact Comcast to demand that Estrella TV remain on its cable lineup in Houston, Denver, and Salt Lake City.

Estrella TV said a number of Latino celebrities -- Don Cheto, Noel Torres, Tucanes de Tijuana, Arrolladora Banda El Limon, Luis Coronel, Enrique Gratas, Myrka Dellanos, Julion Alvarez, Banda los Recoditos, and Kevin Ortiz -- have joined the initiative, “No Pierdas Estrella TV,” to keep the network on the air.

Comcast countered by saying its customers shouldn’t have to “pay millions of dollars for Estrella’s broadcast programming that has very limited appeal.  Contrary to Estrella’s assertions, these stations are not widely viewed among Latino audiences. We have reached thousands of agreements with broadcasters and programmers without ever experiencing an interruption of service and are proud to be the nation’s largest cable provider of Spanish- language network packages, with a distribution platform that delivers more than 60 Hispanic cable networks on the majority of Comcast Cable systems. We hope to reach a fair agreement with Liberman and avoid service interruptions. So long as Liberman reciprocates our ongoing good faith negotiations, our customers should not lose this programming.”