The Federal Communications Commission said that more than 1 million subscribers in the path of Hurricane Fiona — in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands — are without cable or wireline phone, TV or internet service.

About 7% of cell sites were out of service in the affected areas, but the FCC pointed out those disruptions do not necessarily equate to outages, as wireless networks are designed often with numerous overlapping sites to help provide continuity of service. Plus, wireless companies often use temporary sites, including mobile ones, or initiate roaming agreements.

By contrast, no TV or radio stations reported being out of service.

That is as of Sunday, the most recent update via the FCC’s voluntary Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS).

The National Hurricane Center says that catastrophic flooding continues across much of Puerto Rico. ▪️

Liberty Latin America said it has completed its purchase of wireless and wireline assets in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands from AT&T on Oct. 31 in a deal valued at $1.95 billion.

Liberty Latin America first announced the deal in October 2019. Last month it said it had received approval from the U.S. Department of Justice for the transaction on the condition it divest of certain B2B assets in Puerto Rico.  

"By creating the leading integrated provider, we will deliver added value to customers through expanded product offerings, more resilient infrastructure, and world-class customer service levels,”  said Balan Nair, president and CEO of Liberty Latin America,  in a press release. “By completing this transaction, we continue to demonstrate our ability to execute on our disciplined inorganic growth strategy. We are excited about the opportunities ahead of us and are already working hard on our integration plan to drive value for our customers, our shareholders and our employees.”

Liberty Latin America said it has received U.S. Department of Justice approval of its purchase of AT&T wireless and wireline assets in the Caribbean, agreeing to divest of certain business-to-business operations in Puerto Rico.

Liberty Latin America agreed last October to purchase AT&T’s wireless and wireline assets in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands for $1.95 billion. Obtaining DOJ approval was contingent on the deal closing.

To meet the conditions in the DOJ approval, Liberty Latin America said in a press release that it has entered into an agreement to divest part of its B2B operations in Puerto Rico. This divestiture is expected to close promptly. Liberty Latin America said it expects to close the AT&T transaction on Oct. 31.

Under terms of the agreement, AT&T said it will retain its FirstNet first responders network responsibilities and relationships as well as its DirecTV satellite television and certain global business customer relationships. After the deal closes, Liberty Latin America said it will support AT&T’s FirstNet build in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Univision Communications said it agreed to sell some of its television stations in Puerto Rico to Liberman Media Group.

Liberman will be acquiring WLII-DT, Caguas-San Juan and its repeater stations, plus WOLE-TV-DT Aguadilla and WSUR-DT Ponce.

Univison will continue to operate WSTE-DT and its radio properties.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but the transaction is expected to close at the same time as a group led by former Viacom CFO Wade Davis is set to complete its acquisition of a 64% stake in Univision.

"I am delighted that Univision is taking this necessary step towards the completion of ForgeLight and Searchlight obtaining majority control of Univision,” said Davis. “The transaction remains on track to close by year-end and I look forward to being part of the Company’s next phase of growth.”

Lenard Liberman, former president of Liberman Broadcsting and the Estrella TV network, said he was equally thrilled.

He said his company was “excited that we will be entering the market with a seasoned and talented staff from Univision Puerto Rico. We are fully committed to continuing the locally-produced programming that has characterized these stations and is beloved by the audience they serve. With three decades of experience in Spanish-language media, I’ve seen firsthand the importance of stations like these to local communities, and I’m proud that we will continue serving Puerto Ricans with content on which they rely.”

The FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau has granted another special temporary authority (STA) for spectrum sharing in the age of coronavirus. 

FCC chairman Ajit Pai tweeted about the special authorization.

The STA allows AT&T to borrow spectrum from Dish to serve Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands during the pandemic. AT&T has 60 days to use the AWS-4 spectrum to meet expanded traffic demands for teleworkers, home schoolers and more. "I thank DISH for consenting to this use of its spectrum and to the U.S. Department of Justice for its cooperation," said Pai. "I’m grateful to AT&T for requesting this STA and I’m pleased we can grant it.”

[embed]https://twitter.com/AjitPaiFCC/status/1243260947071995910[/embed]

The FCC has already issued STA's to AT&T, as well as Verizon, U.S. Cellular and T-Mobile. Dish, Comcast, and Northstar Wireless are among the spectrum lenders.

Locast said it will be adding its first market outside the contiguous 48.

The free TV station signal streaming service says it will be streaming a dozen of local TV channels in Puerto Rico later this year.

That comes a day before FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks is holding a field hearing on network resiliency at the University of Puerto Rico in San Juan, a point Locast made in announcing those plans. It also follows a congressional delegation visit to the U.S. territory to survey the damage from recent earthquakes, a point Locast also made.

Also Read: Locast: Everything You Need to Know

“Given that Puerto Rico has recently faced life-shattering earthquakes and hurricanes, we wholeheartedly support serious discussions about how to ensure communication networks are always available, especially for public safety,” said Locast founder and chairman David Goodfriend, which pitches his streaming operation as a public service.

Locast streams TV station signals without negotiating for payment or asking permission, due to a copyright carveout for nonprofit retransmission by translator services.

Broadcasters have sued Locast, arguing it does not merit the exemption.

Liberty Latin America has agreed to purchase AT&T’s wireless and wireline assets in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands for $1.95 billion in cash, the company said Wednesday.

Liberty Latin America, which was spun off from John Malone’s LibertyGlobal as an independent publicly traded company in 2018, already has an extensive presence in Puerto Rico. This deal, according to Liberty Latin America CEO Balan Nair, will allow the company to expand its product portfolio to include a popular post-paid mobile offering and increase its distribution channels on the island.

News of the deal boosted Liberty Latin America stock was up nearly 3% in early trading Wednesday to $17.06 per share.

“The combination of AT&T’s leading mobile businesses with Liberty Puerto Rico’s leading high-speed broadband and TV business will create a strong and competitive integrated communications player, with a combined annual revenue of over $1.2 billion in Puerto Rico and $4.6 billion across LLA,” Nair said in a press release. “By continuing to invest in digital infrastructure, innovation, 5G networks and a friendly customer service experience, we are confident that this new combination will support our long-term growth profile and that this deal will be free cash flow accretive on a per share basis.”

The sale should also serve to calm some investors who had been advocating for AT&T to sell off non-core assets to help pay down its $80 billion in debt. In September, investor Elliott Management called for the company to sell off its DirecTV and WarnerMedia units to focus on its core wireless business. While this deal is not early as extreme, it shows that the company is at least paying attention.

The assets involved in the deal include AT&T’s consumer mobile and B2B services in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, but exclude its DirecTV customers in those areas. In Puerto Rico, which Liberty said accounts for about 90% of the total assets being acquired, AT&T is the top provider of mobile services, and has agreed to support Liberty Latin America for up to 36 months following the closing of the deal to enable an efficient transition.

Liberty Latin America will finance the transaction through a combination of $2.2 billion in borrowings on the combined assets and Liberty Puerto Rico (including refinancing $922.5 million in existing term loans at Liberty Puerto Rico) and the remaining $750 million from Liberty Latin America’s committed liquidity of $2.0 billion on June 30.

Liontree LLC and Credit Suisse are acting as financial advisers to Liberty Latin America on the transaction. 

FCC chair Ajit Pai has circulated a draft order directing $950 million in funding from government-administered broadband subsidies to improve, expand and harden broadband networks in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands as those continue to suffer from the impact of Hurricanes Irma and Maria two years ago. 

Following a trip to the hurricane-ravaged areas in 2017, Pai told Multichannel Newsin an exclusive interview that he anticipated trying to use USF money to help rebuild communications networks.

All providers getting support, fixed and mobile, will have to have a disaster preparation and response plan, and will be required to report to the FCC on the status of those networks in emergencies.  

Related: FCC's Pai Says More Funds Needed for Puerto Rico 

The money will be disbursed via a competitive process, including network resiliency as a key factor for consideration. Any carrier providing fixed service as of June 2018 will be eligible to participate.  

The money is coming from the Universal Service Fund's high-cost program. 

It would be the second tranche of funding as part of the FCC's Uniendo, a Puerto Rico Fund and Connect USVI Funds and is on top of the $130 million extra funding the FCC has provided for hurricane-damaged networks since 2017. The money is coming out of the "frozen support" PR and VI already get from the high-cost fund, plus some more to make sure the program is successful, said an FCC official on background. That extra will also come from the high-cost fund. 

There will be buildout requirements for the networks, which will need to provide service of at least 25 mbps/3 mbps. 

The order is teed up for consideration at the FCC's Sept. 26 monthly meeting. 

"Significant work has been done to restore connectivity," the chairman said. "Now, this new funding would support deployment of the networks of tomorrow, including gigabit fiber and 5G, in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands." 

Some of the funds could be spent on mobile 5G. 

The chairman said that the funding "would also help ensure that Americans living there will be able to fully participate in the digital economy and remain connected when they need it most. 

Fixed broadband bidding will be single round, scored by objective criteria, like resiliency. The money is expected to be handed out beginning sometime 2020. 

Mobile carriers will get money on a percentage basis. A carrier with 45% of subs in Puerto Rico, for example, would get 45% of the mobile money for Puerto Rico.

The FCC has proposed fining three Puerto Rican fixed wireless internet service providers (WISPs) and issued a formal warning to the resort of the industry after the FCC concluded three WISPs had "apparently caused interference to the Federal Aviation Administration’s terminal doppler weather radar station in San Juan."

The fines are $25,000 apiece and are levied against Boom Solutions, Integra Wireless, and WinPR. The companies have a chance to appeal, so the fines are not final. The bureau also said they were the largest that could be imposed for the alleged offense.

The FCC's Enforcement Bureau, which issued the Notices of Apparent Liability, said that the companies had misconfigured devices by turning off a feature that would have prevented the interference to systems meant to detect wind shear and other dangerous weather, meaning such interference could be life-threatening.

The fines highlights the tough issue of spectrum sharing, including with existing weather sensing systems, sharing that the FCC is promoting but that some stakeholders say creates potential interference problems like the one it identified in Puerto Rico.

But the bureau suggested that if the devices were used properly properly and certified by the FCC, which it warned the industry to make sure it was doing, they would not be interfering.

Sling TV, Dish Network’s OTT service, said it has expanded service to Puerto Rico, where it will apply some competitive video pressure on the incumbent cable operator there, Liberty Global.

Sling TV said it is offering all of its services and packages, including its two core offerings --  Sling Orange ($20 per month) and Sling Blue ($25 per month) – as well as its mix of Sling International offerings.

Like it does in the U.S., Sling TV is offering consumers in Puerto Rico a seven-day free trial. Sling TV is also enabling access on all its supported devices, which include iOS and Android smartphones and tabletss, web browsers, certain smart TV devices, the Xbox One, as well as Apple TV boxes, Roku players, Fire TV, and Android TV devices.

The launch will give Sling TV a new conduit for subscriber growth, and complement the satellite TV service it already offers in the region.

Sling TV ended Q3 2017 with about 1.68 million subs, according a recent estimate from Leichtman Research Group.

“Dish has served customers in Puerto Rico for 20 years, and we have been proud to lead the way in delivering the best experience in both service and technology,” Reynaldo Pagani, GM of Dish Puerto Rico, said in a statement. “The launch of Sling TV on the island is a continuation of our commitment to offer the best options in entertainment, and the streaming service is a great fit for on-the-go customers seeking a mobile, affordable, Internet-delivered solution.”

Sling TV also announced that the service will over more than 600 hours of live coverage from the Winter Games from PyeongChang.

Sling Blue subs will get access to coverage from NBC (in the NBC owned and operated markets) and NBCSN, USA Network, and can add CNBC’s coverage by adding News Extra (for $5 more per month).

The devastation in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean wrought by Hurricane Maria drove heavy subscriber losses at Dish Network in the third quarter, as the company suspended service for all its customers in that territory and the U.S. Virgin Islands affected by the storm.

Related: Pai Says More USF Money Needed to Help Puerto Rican Communications

Hurricane Maria swept through the Caribbean in September, causing extraordinary damage throughout the region. In Puerto Rico, 51 people were killed as a result of the storm and to date thousands are still without power and clean water.

In order to ensure its customers were not charged for service they couldn't receive, Dish said it paused the accounts of all 145,000 customers in the region in September. Coupled with a gain of 16,000 subscribers in the 50 states, Dish said it lost about 129,000 customers in the period.

Related: Dish 'Pauses' Service to Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands

"In light of the situation in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, Dish expects to incur certain expenses in connection with the re-activation of returning customers in these areas," the company said in a statement. "Accordingly, any returning customers will be recorded as gross new pay TV subscriber activations for the period in which they return."

Revenue at the satellite TV service provider dipped to $3.6 billion in the period, from $3.8 billion in the prior year. Net income declined to $297 million (57 cents per share) from $318 million (67 cents per share) in the prior year.

FCC chair Ajit Pai, fresh off a two-day fact-finding trip to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, talks with Multichannel News Washington Bureau Chief John Eggerton about what he saw, including devastation unlike any of the preceding hurricanes, the need for more Universal Service Fund money, the value of creative thinking about communications solutions, and the lack of an FCC field office that could have helped before and after the storm, he suggests.

An edited transcript follows.

MCN:What was your main takeaway from the trip?

Ajit Pai: There is serious devastation to the island that will take a great deal of effort and time to address, and even by comparison to the devastation I saw in Houston post-Harvey and in Miami post-Irma, this is an order of magnitude greater, it seemed to me.

It reinforces my view that the FCC needs to think creatively about different ways to restore communications networks. Some of the actions we have already taken include the accelerated $77 million in Universal Service Funding.

MCN: You said additional funding is going to be needed. Any ballpark on that and where is it coming from, USF or somewhere else?

Pai: I have in mind USF. There is no particular number, but we need to think very carefully about what resources would be necessary to get these communications networks back up and running. And, of course, part of that includes power. That was an overriding theme in most of the meetings I had. Without power it is very difficult to restore and maintain networks.

But with respect to the infrastructure itself that was destroyed, I think we do need to think creatively about how to use our resources and regulatory approach in a way that will allow these networks to get back up.

MCN: The Administration has obviously taken some hits for its response to the hurricane. How would you rate the FCC's response?

Pai: It's difficult to give the agency its own grade, but I will say that I am extremely impressed by what I saw and heard from the folks on the ground there.

The fact that we extended universal service funding in a very creative and quick way was greatly appreciated by wireline providers. The fact that we quickly allowed a fixed wireless company to use 5-GHz spectrum was greatly appreciated because it allowed that provider, Aeronet, to provide connectivity where the fixed infrastructure was essentially destroyed. The fact that we had taken action on E-rates to enable schools and libraries, many of which have been completely devastated, to get connectivity needed to educate kids.

It's also the personnel we have on the ground.  So, there are things we have done that I was gratified to hear were appreciated by the folks who are trying to keep the lights on, quite literally.

MCN: You said you met with an array of providers, radio and TV, wired and wireless. What were those conversations about, pep talks from you, requests from them?

Pai: I would characterize the meetings broadly as having two general thrusts. One was to describe their efforts to bring their stations or networks back, if they were back, and secondly to thank the FCC for taking steps to address some of the issues that were important to them.

Aeronet, which I mentioned earlier,  was one example. Open Mobile, one of the wireless companies there, was another example. The CEO talked about some of the things the FCC had done to help them provide service and said that was fundamental to the very survival of the company. Other companies were extremely grateful for the USF funding, saying it was critical to them given the capital crunch they were facing.

In terms of asks, there were not a huge number of them because I think they recognized we are doing everything we can. But they did want to keep the lines of communications [with the FCC] open and I committed to that.

MCN:You said in your statement about the trip that folks down there were lamenting the closing of the FCC field office last year. Who was lamenting it and was it a mistake to close it?"

Pai: The universal message I heard from broadcasters to wireless companies was that having staff on the ground had been tremendously helpful. I met the individual who was in that office. I was able hear from him and from the FCC staff there temporarily about how important that office was. So, I certainly think it would have been helpful at the time of the storm and the lead-up to the storm to have had personnel there on a full-time basis.

MCN: And why was it closed, budget issues?

Pai: As I understand it, this was part of the prior administration's field reorganization plan and this was one of the field offices they decided to close.

MCN:Any lessons learned that could help make communications more robust in the future?

Pai: I am still in the process of synthesizing that, having just gotten back. But I think one of the things is that power is absolutely essential. That may be obvious, but especially in a situation like this where huge swaths of the island are without power and it is exceptionally difficult to be able to bring networks back into being. The second thing is that coordination is exceptionally important.

One of the things I saw when I visited the JFO (Joint Field Office) was that it was extremely helpful to have FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers and the National Weather Service, and even the Post Office, and the Puerto Rican Telecommunications Regulatory Board, and FCC personnel, all in one place. That enables much more collaboration than otherwise might be the case if folks were sprinkled throughout San Juan or throughout the island.

I think that kind of collaboration and coordination is a useful model going forward. That is one of the things I heard from the FEMA personnel , that it was useful to have a one-stop shop where they could address a lot of these issues.

MCN: The most recent FCC report from Puerto Rico showed that the status of 31 TV stations was still unconfirmed. This seems a long time after the storm for that uncertainty? Are you reaching out to try and determine their status?

Pai: That was one of the issues that broadcasters raised, that some of the stations were completely wiped out so that, literally, the only way they had been able to contact some of their counterparts was by driving to a town and seeing if the personnel are OK. It is a really difficult situation for many broadcasters. I heard heroic stories about folks trying help each other out. Certainly the FCC stands by those efforts, and if there is something we can do to help some of those stations get back on the air, we are certainly open to doing that.

MCN: How long before communications have been fully restored?

Pai: In terms of the TV stations, it is difficult to predict when some of the hardest hit stations are going to get power. Some of the personnel who work at those stations might have been scattered because their homes were destroyed.

So, that is on the broadcast side. One of the fixed wireless companies, for example, said that a number of their employees' homes were destroyed so they and their families had been sleeping in the network operations center because that is one of the few places that was safe and secure and clean and cool. So there are situations that providers are dealing with down there that are beyond the scope of a typical post-disaster situation.

MCN: What else should we have asked you about our trip?

Pai: One of the things that truly impressed me, and I mentioned it in my statement, is a spirit of ‘Puerto Rico Se Levanta,’ which is "Puerto Rico is rising up." And I really did get a sense from the staff that was on the ground to the Puerto Rican regulators I met with to every single provider, that they were in this for the long haul. It was gratifying to see that whatever the challenges might be on the island, they were being met by people who were highly dedicated to the task at hand.

I also wanted to mention that when I flew back, I connected through Atlanta and the flight was full of emergency management personnel, FEMA workers and the like. You could tell from the look on their faces that they had been down there a while and working really hard. When we got off the plane, it was extremely gratified to see other officials on the ground holding up a sign that said "Thank you for your work," and clapping. Obviously not for me, but for those other folks who deserved those plaudits.  I think it was a nice way to recognize the work that they had put in.

These are the folks who really deserve their country's gratitude because they have given up a lot to be in a very difficult situation, and they have given it their all.

The FCC said more than a third (38.9%) of cell sites in Puerto Rico are out of service, according to its Disaster Information Reporting System (DIRS) for Hurricane Irma in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The agency also said more than 50% of cell sites are out in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The agency had no direct comparisons to the day-before figures because the FCC extended the reporting area to the entirety of both.

The FCC triggered the status reports for Irma -- as it had for Hurricane Harvey -- on Sept. 6 and will certainly extend it to Florida soon.

DIRS is a voluntary web-based reporting system that communications outlets — broadcast, cable, wireless, wireline — use to keep the FCC apprised of the status of their communications infrastructure.

The FCC has limited information on cable and broadcast, but said that given widespread power outages, it has reports that large percentages of cable and wireline subs are without service. According to what it said was limited information, no broadcasters are off the air in the affected areas.

Liberty Global and Searchlight Capital have paired up to acquire Choice Cable TV, the second largest cable operator in Puerto Rico, in a deal valued at about $272.5 million.

After the deal closes, Choice will be combined with LGI's Liberty Cablevision, the largest cable operator on the island. Liberty Global will own 60% of the combined operation while Searchlight, headed by Charter Communications chairman Eric Zinterhofer, will own 40% of the company.

According to Liberty Global, Choice Cable passes about 345,000 homes and has about 154,000 revenue generating units. The combined companies will reach about 80% of the cable market in Puerto Rico, have revenue of more than $380 million and serve about 700,000 RGUs. It also will be the first new asset in Liberty Global's planned tracking stock, Liberty Latin American and Caribbean Group (LiLAC). That tracker is expected to debut early next year.

The Choice Cable transaction will build upon our 2012 acquisition of OneLink and will complete cable consolidation on the island of Puerto Rico. Going forward, our market-leading bundles and commitment to network investment and innovation will meaningfully enhance the products and services available to Choice customers," said Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries in a statement.

Zinterhofer , a former senior partner at Apollo Management, was named Charter chairman in 2009, shortly after the company emerged from bankruptcy protection. He helped form Searchlight with several former executives from Apollo, KKR and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan in 20xx. Searchlight has been an active investor in the cable industry – on Dec. 4 it invested about $75 million in Alaskan cable and telecom service provider GCI.

Liberty Global began beefing up its presence in Puerto Rico in 2012 with the purchase of One Link Communications from private equity firms MidOcean and Crestview Partners. Liberty Global combined OneLink with its existing operation there – Liberty Cablevision and Searchlight was in on that deal, ending up with 40% of the combined company.

"We are excited about the opportunity to bring next-generation video capability and enhanced broadband services to Choice’s customers," Zinterhofer said in a statement. "Furthermore, through the creation of an island-wide cable operator, there are significant opportunities to drive scale benefits and develop incremental residential and commercial business opportunities in Puerto Rico.”

This transaction values Choice Cable at an enterprise value before transaction costs of about $272.5 million, or about 6.1 times Choice’s 2015 estimated operating cash flow.

The purchase price is expected to be funded mainly through incremental debt borrowings at the combined Puerto Rican business. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in the first half of 2015. LionTree Advisors acted as financial advisor in the transaction.

WAPA America has only been nationally rated by Nielsen since late August, but the Hemisphere Media Group-owned cable network, operated by Puerto Rican broadcaster WAPA-TV, likes the early returns from early fringe.

The network, which counts some 5 million subscribers nationwide via deals with cable, satellite and satellite providers, has been scoring quite well with Spanish-language viewers and key demos from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

During that time period -- when WAPA America imports news hour Noticentro A Las Cinco and hybrid entertainment show Lo Se Todo (pictured) from the flagship station in Puerto Rico – the service has led Spanish-language cable networks in total audience, averaging 77,000 watchers from the start of the 2014-15 TV season through Nov. 30, according to Nielsen data.

That tops a group of services with much larger subscriber bases, including Univision Communications’ Galavision, which averaged 71,000 watchers, and sports proponents ESPN Deportes and Fox Deportes with 50,000 and 47,000 respectively. WAPA America also set the pace with 60,000 households.

Among persons 18 to 49, WAPA America averaged 27,000 of those watchers, which tied it with Fox Deportes, behind Galavision’s 40,000 and ESPN Deportes’ 32,000. The network placed second behind Galavision among the 25-to-54 set, with 31,000 of those viewers, compared to 34,000.

Doug Darfield, managing director of research and programming, said WAPA America was anticipating strong results because it had been monitoring Nielsen data for several months ahead of its actual Stateside launch with the measurement company. He also noted that the “Nielsen methodology deployed in Puerto Rico is the same that is used here in the United States.”

There was also good precedent from Puerto Rico, where Noticentro a las Cinco and Lo Se Todo, average 18 and 20 household ratings, respectively.

According to WAPA America, a similar pattern is in play in the U.S. with Lo Se Todo, outperforming Noticientro a las Cinco.

Hemisphere Media Group president Alan Sokol calls Lo Se Todo “a combination of late night television meets Entertainment Tonight meets TMZ. There’s a mix of entertainment, politics -- because Puerto Ricans love politics -- and man on the street sketches like Jimmy Kimmel or Fallon. The show is less than two-years-old. It hasn’t hit its peak yet.”

The executives said Lo Se Todo has appeal beyond Puerto Ricans, the second-largest Hispanic group in the U.S., drawing in other Spanish-language viewers.

WAPA America also has high hopes in the 8 p.m. hour, after launching Noticiero America, a 60-minute, weeknight newscast on Oct. 27. Produced by WAPA-TV in San Juan, the show has ties to news organization in the U.S. and other nations, placing a special emphasis on news from Puerto Rico, while also featuring stories of interest to various Hispanic groups across the U.S.

“It’s the only newscast at 8 p.m. Our audience loves news,” said Sokol.

Darfield said the shows are performing well throughout the top 10 Latino markets and, citing Rentrak data, noted “we’re getting some viewership in 50 TV markets.”

According to Rentrak, WAPA America’s top 10 markets are Philadelphia, New York, Tampa-Saint Petersburg-Sarasota, Orlando-Daytona Beach, Boston-Manchester, Hartford-New Haven, Springfield-Holyoke, Providence-New Bedford, Harrisburg-Lancaster and Miami-Fort Lauderdale.

With ratings just coming in, Sokol believes the data will open doors to advertisers next year during the upfront selling season. He said the network offers “a targeted, efficient alternate” to more traditional Spanish-language outlets, noting that Univision and Telemundo audiences skew toward Mexican-Americans.

In addition to WAPA America, Hemisphere Media Group also owns Spanish-language networks Cinelatino, Pasiones, Centroamerica TV and Television Dominica.