Fiktiv USA - Estrella TV

Estrella TV is an American Spanish-language broadcast television network that is owned by the Estrella Media subsidiary of HPS Investment Partners, LLC. The network primarily features programs, the vast majority of which are produced by the network itself, aimed at Hispanic and Latino American audiences – featuring a mix of entertainment series, reality television series, drama series, news, sports, and imported Mexican-produced feature films.

Estrella TV's programming, production and advertising operations are headquartered in the Los Angeles suburb of Burbank, California. The network's operations are overseen by Estrella Media CEO Peter Markham, who has been in the post since the departure of co-founder Lenard Liberman amid a corporate reorganization in October 2019. The network is available in many media markets via low-power and some full-power over-the-air broadcast television stations (many of which carry Estrella TV on their digital subchannels), and on select cable television providers through either a local broadcast affiliate or the network's default national feed.

Estrella TV's beginnings trace back to 1998, when Liberman Broadcasting – owner of Spanish language radio stations in several media markets with large Spanish language populations, including four radio stations in the third largest U.S. market – made its entry into television broadcasting when its founders, Mexican-born media executive Jose Liberman and his son Lenard, purchased KRCA (channel 62) in Los Angeles, California, a television station affiliated with the Shop at Home Network at the time.

On August 31, 1998, Liberman converted KRCA into an independent station with a dual-ethnic programming format. The station ran a block of Spanish language programs during its daytime schedule – running from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. weekdays – originally consisting largely of dubbed versions of drama series from the Universal Television library (such as Airwolf and Emergency!) and Mexican-produced feature films; the remainder of KRCA's schedule consisted of Asian-imported programming from Japan and various South Asian countries. By 2002, KRCA dropped its Asian-imported programming and became a Spanish language outlet full-time. Liberman acquired two additional stations over the next six years; in 2001, the company bought English independent KZJL (channel 61) in Houston, Texas. Then in 2004, it purchased KMPX (channel 29) in Dallas–Fort Worth, which then served as the original flagship owned-and-operated station of religious broadcaster Daystar (which subsequently purchased PBS station KDTN to replace KMPX as its flagship); Liberman also purchased low-power station KSDX-LP (channel 29) in San Diego, California that same year.

In 1999, the Liberman family hired Miguel Banojian, an ex Vice President of Univision and ex member of Univision's board of directors, to formed what became LBI's television division which under such corporate structure, developed a television division under LBI, and subsequently structured the production division within its LBI Media unit to produce original programming content. Such move was the result of Mr. Banojian understanding of the lack of Mexican programming availability and the need to produce original content under the newly form LBI studios, Such corporate division was soly supervised and launch by Mr. Banojian, and subsequently later distributed to other stations purchased by LBI MEDIA CORP, LBI STUDIONS went to produce more than 4 thousand hours a year under Mr. Banojian's helm at the company, focusing on a mix of variety series, sketch comedy, scripted drama and music programs, talk shows and game shows. One of its earliest programs, the reality game show Gana la Verde ("Win the Green"), caused controversy after several immigrant advocacy groups (including the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the Central American Resource Center, the Latina Lawyers Bar Association and the Mexican American Bar Association) and California U.S. House Reps. Xavier Becerra, Hilda Solis and Linda Sánchez complained that the format – which debuted in July 2004, and featured Undocumented people competing in extreme Fear Factor-style competitions for the opportunity to win one year of legal assistance from an immigration attorney to help them obtain a green card – put its participants in danger of deportation by immigration authorities aware of the show. Programming production ramped up in 2004 with series that included:
- Estudio 2 ("Studio 2"), a variety series conducted from a multi-stage studio that mainly featured performances from Mexican Regional and some contemporary Latin music artists, recurring comedic sketches (primarily featuring established Mexican comic actors such as Luis de Alba and Liliana "La Chupitos" Ariaga) and the karaoke-style elimination game "Aficiandos";
- José Luis sin Censura ("José Luis Uncensored"), a conflict talk show hosted by Jose Luis Gonzalez;
- Fábrica de la Risa ("Laugh Factory"), featuring various self-contained comedic sketches performed primarily by a troupe of five actors;
- Secretos ("Secrets"), a Cheaters-style scripted drama focusing on a team of private investigators tasked with solving mysteries and crimes, and uncovering deceptions by family members and significant others;
- ¡A que no puedes! ("I Bet You Can't!"), a game show featuring teams of contestants (originally consisting of family members, before shifting towards featuring actors, musicians and models) conducting physical challenges and dares to bank monetary prizes;
- and El Show de Don Cheto ("The Don Cheto Show"), a music- and game-based variety series emceed by comedian/host Juan Razo as his character Don Cheto.

Recognizing that the independents could not compete in that arena with the two dominant national Spanish language networks, Univision and Telemundo, Liberman opted not to produce or acquire telenovelas for the stations, opting instead to produce lower-cost programming to counterprogram the longer-established networks. Although much smaller in size than the parents of Univision and Telemundo, Liberman was more than willing to open its wallets to sign talent from popular Latin American countries to star in its programs, in addition to using performers from the U.S.

By 2006, the company had adopted a consistent branding for its three television stations under the brand "Estrella TV" (or "Star TV"). Liberman expanded the Estrella TV format to other markets where it acquired television stations, featuring much of the same programs as those aired by the Los Angeles, Dallas and Houston outlets (some of which aired in different timeslots than they did on KRCA, KMPX and KZJL). On May 30, 2007, Liberman Broadcasting purchased KPNZ (channel 24) in Salt Lake City, Utah from Utah Communications, LLC for $10 million (although it would continue to operate as an English language independent station from after the purchase was finalized that November until February 2008); then on August 18, 2008, the company purchased low-power station KVPA-LP (channel 42) in Phoenix, Arizona from Latin America Broadcasting, Inc. for $1.25 million.

As Liberman expanded its programming to other O&Os, its mix of programming shifted to appeal towards various Hispanic and Latino audiences (whereas Liberman originally programmed KRCA to cater to Los Angeles' predominately Mexican audience, when it first became a part-time Spanish station) and helped the pseudo-network beat its major competitors. In the Los Angeles market, the programs helped KRCA become a strong ratings competitor, even beating Telemundo owned-and-operated station KVEA for second place (ranking behind long-dominant Univision O&O KMEX-TV) among the market's Spanish language stations during the November 2008 sweeps period, at which time KMPX and KZJL also beat the respective Telemundo outlets (KXTX-TV and KTMD) for second in all key adult demographics among the Spanish stations in the Houston and Dallas markets. In all five markets, the Estrella TV-branded stations ranked in second place among Hispanic adults in the 18–34, 18-49 and 25-54 demographic, beating Telemundo's ratings by as much as 100% and Telefutura's by as much as 64% during the weekday early fringe and prime time (3:00 to 11:00 p.m.) periods.

On January 27, 2009, at the National Association of Television Program Executives Convention in Las Vegas, Liberman Broadcasting announced that it would turn the Estrella TV concept into a full-fledged national network that would launch at a then-yet-determined date later that year, which would be targeted at adults between the ages of 18 and 49 years old. Liberman had explored the possibility of developing a national network in 2007, when it raised $200 million in capital to acquire additional television stations and expand programming production. LBI Media's decision to launch the network came despite experiencing revenue declines that affected other broadcasting companies during the Great Recession (with LBI's corporate revenues having declined by 16.4%, to $28.4 million, and its operating income down by 5.6%, at $19.2 million, during the second quarter of 2009 over the previous fiscal quarter).

To counterprogram networks that already established a foothold with the Hispanic and Latino demographic (such as Univision, Telemundo, Telefutura and Azteca América), Liberman chose to maintain the existing format used by the company's independent stations and have Estrella TV rely on the company's extensive library of original programming that originated on the six outlets (which Liberman had also syndicated to broadcasters in Puerto Rico and Latin American countries such as Panama, Honduras and El Salvador) as well as newer content for its inaugural schedule – including Estudio 2; Secretos; !A Que no Puedes¡; José Luis sin Censura; Los Chuperamigos, a sketch comedy series led by Lilliana Arriaga and a cast of popular Mexican comedic actors including Luis De Alba, Alejandro Suarez, Maribel "La Pelangocha" Fernandez and Carlos Bonavides; El Show de Lagrimita y Costel ("The Lagrimita and Costel Show"), a variety series hosted by father and son comedians Costel and Guillermo Cienfuegos in clown attire; and two daily news programs (the twice-daily weekday evening national newscast, Noticias Estrella TV ("Estrella TV News") and Alarma TV ("Alarm TV"), a half-hour prime time newsmagazine focusing on caught-on-tape footage). The initial original programming-focused slate made up the majority of its schedule, running for a total of 56 hours per week from early-afternoon through prime time on Monday through Saturdays (its Sunday schedule would rely mainly on imported feature films).

Liberman had set July 1 as the date for Estrella TV's projected national launch by March 2009, however the company ultimately delayed the rollout by 3½ months; the national Estrella TV network formally commenced programming on September 14, 2009. On March 8, 2010, Nielsen began to include Estrella TV in the ratings provider's People Meter sample reports, alongside the other major Spanish language broadcast networks; the network was initially not listed in the daily "Television Index" reports that incorporate the other networks.

Over time, Estrella TV made major inroads in approaching viewership parity with Univision, Telemundo and Telefutura. By November 2012, Estrella TV ranked in fourth place in total viewers among all Hispanic broadcast networks, with an average of around 200,000 viewers. It was the only Spanish language network to experience an increase in viewership year-over-year during October 2013, the network placed third during prime time in total viewership among Hispanic audiences and in the demographic of Hispanic adults between the ages of 25 and 54, with the newsmagazine Alarma TV and late-evening national newscast Noticiero Enrique Gratas ranking within the 20 highest-rated Spanish-language television programs. On January 7, 2014, former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was appointed by Liberman Broadcasting to serve as a senior advisor for the network, helping provide input in its programming, community and advertiser relations. In hiring Villaraigosa, Liberman CEO Lenard Liberman cited the company's need to "increase our sensitivity and understanding of the needs of the Hispanic community," with Villaraigosa citing in part that he was drawn to the "human capital" behind the network.

On May 15, 2015, Liberman Broadcasting announced that Estrella TV would launch a multichannel production firm, Fenómeno Studios, which would develop programming content targeted at millennials between the ages and 18 and 34. The studio, which launched that June, would produce specialized genre-based content (including music, comedy, gaming, lifestyle, do-it-yourself, beauty and sports content) from a 23,000-square-foot (0.53-acre) facility near Liberman's corporate headquarters and production studios in Burbank, featuring separate production soundstages, edit bays and offices, with the intent to use existing performers from Estrella TV shows with a broad presence on social media (such as singer Luis Coronel, who also served as a judge on the talent competition series Tengo Talento, Mucho Talento, and Juan "Don Cheto" Razo) and attract existing YouTube talent that would have their content distributed on the Fenómeno online network – with the possibility of some newer talent curated on the Fenómeno networks being considered for program development crossover to the linear Estrella TV network. On May 31, 2019, Liberman Broadcasting shut down Fenomeno Studios due to their bankruptcy from the network, its unknown whether or not Fenomeno Studios will return later this year. Estrella TV assumed a permanent channel slot on DirecTV on October 4, 2016.

In 2018, Estrella TV was the only American television network to experience total day ratings growth in cable viewership among viewers over age 12 between the same period in 2016. That year saw Estrella TV begin producing new drama and comedy series such as LOL (a Canadian-produced sketch comedy series that foregoes the use of verbal dialogue, performed by comedians across the world) and Tarde lo Conocí (a novela-style drama series focusing on the life of musical superstar Patricia Terehan as she rose from poverty to stardom, while faces tough challenges that take her to path from fame to misfortune). On October 10, 2018, Estrella TV re-ordered the Hispanic television landscape, when it bumped UniMás for third place among the national Spanish language networks in the weeknight prime time (8:00-11:00 p.m.) period, accomplishing a goal that Liberman had wanted for the network since its launch. However it is unknown whether or not the network is still ranked as third place after it was confirmed that Unimas finished the 2018/2019 season as third.

On November 21, 2018, Liberman Broadcasting filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The company—which claimed assets worth between $100 million and $500 million and liabilities worth between $500 million and $1 billion—sought to reduce its overall debt by more than $350 million and secured $38 million in debtor-in-possession financing. On April 17, 2019, Liberman obtained approval of its reorganization plan from the Delaware bankruptcy court, with the expectation that it would be able to clear its balance sheet within the following several months. On October 15, 2019, Liberman Broadcasting completed its reorganization plan, turning over ownership of the company—which was formally renamed LBI Media, Inc.—to its first lien lender, private equity firm HPS Investment Partners, LLC, which sponsored the reorganization plan; the reorganization eliminated more than $350 million of debt from its balance sheet. As part of the corporate reorganization, co-founder/CEO Lenard Liberman divested his equity in LBI, and was replaced as the company's CEO by former Granite Broadcasting and Communications Corporation of America Chairman Peter Markham. On February 3, 2020, LBI Media rebranded as Estrella Media, borrowing its name from the network, with the network and its corporate parent adopting a unified logo brand utilizing a four-pointed star (described as "a symbol of the brightest star, the four cardinal directions, and a steadfast navigation guide," and which replaced the multi-colored star "e" logo used since the network's launch). On the same day was the launch of a new late night talk show hosted by popular Mexican Youtuber and voice actor Alex Montiel titled “Nos Cayó la Noche”, which replaced Noches Con Platanito citing updated changes to the networks programming ever since the it was under new management. On October 22 Estrella TV premiered another late night talk hosted by Mexican Actor Omar Chaparro replacing Alex Montiel. Its predecessor “Nos Cayo la Noche” had confirmed a second season since March but it's likely plans for the second season have been discarded.

As of 2020, Estrella TV operates on a 113-hour network programming schedule. Its base programming feed provides various types of general entertainment programming Monday through Fridays from 6:30 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 12:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. Eastern and Pacific Time; the network also carries a half-hour of children's programming – which comply with core programming guidelines defined by the Federal Communications Commission's Children's Television Act – on Monday through Saturday mornings at 8:30 a.m. Eastern and Pacific Time, consisting of dubbed versions of wildlife and nature programs originally produced in English that comply with educational programming. All remaining time periods are filled with infomercials that were either originally produced or dubbed into Spanish, a block that had previously made up half the network's broadcast day at its debut, but now is limited to between midnight and 6:00 a.m. ET/PT. The network carries a separate block of additional entertainment programs on Los Angeles flagship station KRCA on Monday through Fridays from 1:00 to 2:30 a.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 1:00 to 2:00 a.m.

The majority of Estrella TV's programming schedule relies on the extensive library of originally-produced television programs that are produced the production division of and owned by network parent company LBI Media, incorporating both first-run and archived programs, which comprised a total of more than 5,000 hours of entertainment content at the network's launch. The network's series programming primarily covers formats common in Spanish language television broadcasters in the U.S. and other countries, consisting of reality, talk and variety programming as well as music, drama and sketch comedy programs, with some programs having originally aired in Los Angeles on KRCA and syndicated to Liberman's Spanish language independent stations prior to the formation of the network.

Much of Estrella TV's programming consists of variety series (such as Estudio 2, El Show de Don Cheto and Noches Con Platanito ("Tonight with Platanito"), a prime time talk-variety show hosted by Sergio Verduzco as his clown character Platanito that is modeled after late-night talk formats), comedy series (such as Los Chuperamigos and Fábrica de la Risa), reality programs (such as Rica Famosa Latina ("Rich, Famous, Latina"), a series created by Joyce Giraud, and modeled after the Real Housewives franchise that Giraud was briefly part of, following the lives of a group of famed Latina entertainers), along with a limited amount of scripted programs (such as Secretos and Historias Delirantes ("Disturbing Stories"), an anthology series featuring supernaturally themed storylines).

On September 14, 2009 the day the network Estrella TV launched, unveils “Estellas Hoy” an entertainment show that offers viewers an exclusive and unprecedented look into the world of top Latino celebrities. The show was previously hosted by Jorge Gomez Haro and Lilli Brillanti. Gino del Corte and Andrea Rincón, and Victoria Del Rosal have been taking the helm of the show until July 27 when the show was cancelled and replaced with a newsmagazine titled “I Testigo”. On June 11 the network returned an entertainment news offering with El Mameluco a show similar to Dish Nation focusing on celebrity entertainment news told by their perspective. The shows hosts are Ricardo “Rika” Rubio, Giselle Bravo, Said Garcia, and Stephanie Gerard. The show premiered in select US cities and started making its Television debut on August 6.

As of 2015, the network's longest-running first-run entertainment program is Tengo Talento, Mucho Talento ("I Have Talent, Lots of Talent"), a reality talent competition series similar in format to the Got Talent franchise which debuted on October 5, 2009. Among its early program offerings was Estrellitas Del Sabado, a two-hour family variety series featuring talent from children ages 12 and under and hosted by Itati Cantoral, which was designed to compete with Univision's then-Saturday night stalwart Sabado Gigante; the program was cancelled in 2012, after two seasons. The Saturday evening time period has been partly filled since then by Sabados en Concierto ("Saturdays in Concert"), a weekly series of concert performances from various traditional and contemporary Latin music artists that is an offshoot of a series of Friday night concert specials that began airing in October 2010. The network debuted its first original miniseries on November 15, 2013, Jenni – La Vida de Una Diva ("Jenni - The Life of a Diva"), a ten-episode series chronicling the life and career of singer Jenni Rivera (who died in a plane crash near Monterrey, Mexico, en route from a concert performance in December 2012), though it was an unofficial unendorsed miniseries due to Rivera's long-time association with mun2 and Telemundo.

At its launch, Liberman Broadcasting president/CEO Lenard Liberman cited that it would not carry telenovelas as part of its schedule (either produced by the company or acquired from other distributors), citing the genre's skewing towards an older and more female audience; however, the network would eventually reverse course in 2015, when it began to incorporate acquired telenovelas (such as the Venevision/Univision co-production El Talismán ("The Talisman")) as part of its schedule, however these programs currently only occupy an hour of the network's weekday daytime schedule As of October 2015. The network also regularly airs imported Spanish-language feature films originally produced in Mexico and South American countries on weekday afternoons seven days a week; the film roster does not concentrate on films from any specific era, meaning any film from the black-and-white era to contemporary times, and films made for either domestic theatrical or home video/DVD release can be featured. As of 2018, Estrella TV now carries telenovelas and other serialized dramatic series distributed by Caracol Internacional.

In 2017, Estrella TV launched its first sitcom, Las Vega's, focusing on the lives of four women who uncover secrets of how their husband and father died (though many electronic program guides misidentified it as the 2003 NBC series Las Vegas). On August 6, 2018, the network launched El Mameluco, an hour-long entertainment news program formatted similarly to the English language syndicated program Dish Nation; hosted by veteran radio producer Ricardo Rubio "El Pinche Rika", journalist and Radio producer Said Garcia, radio and TV personality Giselle Bravo, and actress/singer/comedienne Stephanie Gerard, El Mameluco originally premiered as a series on Facebook Live in select U.S. cities before making its national television debut. As of April 2020, the show is being broadcast remotely on Facebook Live as “El Mameluco Desde Casa” due to the coronavirus pandemic. On June 1, the network is set to debut a new entertainment news show titled “Chismes En Vivo”, hosted by Chisme no Like hosts “Elisa Beristain and Javier Ceriani”, replacing El Mameluco under updated programming changes that are being made ever since the network began being under new management since February 2020.

On February 3, 2020, Estrella TV revamped its prime time lineup, adding the talk show Nos Cayó la Noche, hosted by popular Mexican YouTuber Alex Montiel (which replaced and utilizes the late-night format used by its predecessor Noches con Platanito, which ceased production in June 2019 amid corporate cutbacks instituted upon LBI Media's bankruptcy), and added a half-hour version of the Fenomeno Studios web series Pepe's Office (which resulted in the displacement of Alarma TV, now serving as the lead-out—instead of lead-in as previous—of its late-evening newscast Cierre de Edición, to late night). On February 20, Alarma TV returned to its regular hour by popular demand, which involved Pepe's Office being replaced by a comedy web series titled Enchufe TV, citing programming changes that made more sense for its television ratings.

Estrella TV operates a news division under the umbrella brand Noticias Estrella TV ("Estrella News"); the division was formally known as “Noticiero Estrella TV” the same name for the evening newscast which launched with the network on September 14, 2009, with the two flagship half-hour, Monday-through-Friday news programs, Noticiero Estrella TV (Estrella TV News), and Cierre de Edición ("Final Edition"), which have respectively aired at 5:30 and 10:30 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time since their debuts. The division is also joined by a half-hour late-night daily newsmagazine series Alarma TV ("Alarm TV"), focusing mainly on caught-on-tape videos and news stories throughout Latin America and across the globe, the weekly political news show “En Contexto con David Pakman” (“In Context with David Pakman”), and straight news and features-based morning news program En La Mañana (“In The Morning"). Estrella TV's news division also broadcasts occasional special news coverage such as U.S. and Mexican elections, and the State of the Union Address.

Locally among the network's station body, Estrella TV has fewer stations that have an independent news operation than those of Univision and Telemundo; these in-house news departments are primarily limited to Estrella TV's owned-and-operated stations, including at Los Angeles flagship station KRCA, which had a news operation at the network's launch. On April 29, 2019, Estrella TV started to expand its news operations among its O&Os in three key markets with the premiere of daily evening local newscasts in Houston (KZJL), Dallas–Fort Worth (KMPX-TV), and Miami (WVFW-LD).

Estrella TV also operates a sports division Estrella TV Deportes which also originates from the networks Burbank headquarters. The division, which is responsible for creating sports content on Estrella TV, has produced association football matches from Liga MX involving Dorados de Sinaloa. As of 2020, the network is home to the Major League Soccer team (Los Angeles Football Club) for the Los Angeles Market and other future matches. The network also produces "Boxeo Estelar" a boxing series that airs every other Friday night by Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions. The division also does television specials including the Super Bowl.

Since the network's inception, Estrella TV has broadcast Los Premios de la Radio ("Radio Awards"), an annual awards ceremony held each November, honoring Mexican Regional music performers from classic and contemporary genres and involving Liebermann's radio stations. The network also holds the broadcast rights to Premios El Don, an award show held in January, awarding the contributions of Latinos in the American film industry.

On November 18, 2017, Estrella TV became the American Spanish language television broadcaster of Miss World (promoted as Miss Mundial), becoming the only U.S. television network to carry the beauty pageant. (E! had held the English-language telecast rights to the pageant in the U.S., but declined to air it for the 2017 edition.)

As of October 2015, Estrella TV has seven owned-and-operated stations, and current and pending affiliation agreements with 45 additional television stations encompassing 49 states and the District of Columbia (including stations in 40 of the 50 largest Nielsen markets); counting only its broadcast stations, the network has an estimated national reach of 39.37% of all households in the United States (or 123,009,970 Americans with at least one television set).

National advertising sales for the network are handled by the Spanish Media Rep Team (SMRT), an LBI Media-owned sales organization that also sells spot advertising and handles sales representation for national accounts for Estrella TV owned-and-operated and affiliated stations; SMRT and local affiliates share the responsibility of selling advertising inventory, with affiliate stations retaining 40% of the commercial inventory not sold by Liberman. Stations are allowed the option to carry local programming – including newscasts, local public affairs programs, local brokered programming and political specials – in place of regular programming or infomercials aired within the base Estrella TV schedule.

After it announced the expansion of the Estrella TV concept into a national network, Liberman Broadcasting initially planned to launch the national Estrella TV network on all six of its existing independent stations, with company executives also immediately seeking agreements with prospective stations owned by other broadcasting companies to serve as charter affiliates of Estrella TV. Although it focused on affiliating with full-power stations (particularly digital subchannels of those already affiliated with other networks), the network ultimately obtained primary channel affiliations in several markets where Liberman did not own a station, mainly via agreements with low-power stations. Liberman estimated that Estrella TV would have an initial market reach covering about 70% of all Hispanic-inhabited U.S. households at its launch.

On February 2, 2009, eight days after the network's national launch was first announced, Liberman entered into an affiliation agreement with Communications Corporation of America, which launched the network in five of the company's Texas stations; the deal originally encompassed subchannel affiliations for four stations – KTSM-TV in El Paso, KVEO in Brownsville, KWKT-TV in Waco (as well as its Bryan satellite KYLE-TV) and KETK-TV in Tyler – but later added KPEJ-TV in Odessa as another subchannel-only affiliate through a separate agreement on April 27, 2010.

By the network's launch date in September, Estrella TV had expanded its footprint of charter outlets, signing affiliation agreements with Tribune Broadcasting (for WPIX in New York City); Sinclair Broadcast Group (initially for KVMY in Las Vegas); Sunbeam Television (for WSVN in Miami); Titan Broadcast Management (for KTNC in San Francisco and KFRE-TV in Sanger-Fresno); Belo (for KENS in San Antonio); and Hearst Television (for KOAT in Albuquerque and WPBF in West Palm Beach), helping to give the network affiliates in 68% of all Hispanic television households and nine of the ten largest Hispanic media markets in the U.S. Estrella TV debuted with 17 affiliated stations, in addition to the seven Liberman-owned charter stations, reaching near its national coverage goal with a Hispanic market reach of 68% and affiliates in nine of the ten largest Hispanic U.S. markets (including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Brownsville).

In addition, Liberman also purchased additional stations to serve as O&Os of the network, purchasing WASA-LP in Port Jervis, New York from Venture Technologies Group, LLC for $6 million on April 6, 2009 (WPIX relayed its programming on its 11.2 subchannel); KWHD (now KETD) in Denver from LeSEA Broadcasting for $6.5 million on January 28, 2010 (it joined the network on June 1, 2010); and W40BY (now WESV-LD) in Chicago from the Trinity Broadcasting Network (which operated it as a translator of WWTO-TV in LaSalle) on February 22, 2010 (it joined the network on December 7).

Estrella TV is natively transmitted in the 16:9 aspect ratio, launching high definition operations in mid-2016 in the 720p format, though for the most part this is limited to a few over-the-air stations and cable and satellite providers; most stations carry Estrella TV on a digital subchannel solely in 480i standard definition and scale the signal down for that format. Although most series aired on the network produced before 2012 and "television" cuts of most films released before 2005 were originally formatted in 4:3, the network presents these programs in anamorphic widescreen by default; however, the network airs most commercials in their original picture format whenever possible. The national cable/satellite feed uses Liberman's Estrella station in Miami, WVFW-LD, as its signal source.

Although the network prefers traditional over-the-air distribution with supplementary carriage on cable and satellite providers, Estrella TV's programming is available in other areas of the United States through a national cable network feed that is distributed directly to select cable, direct-broadcast satellite and IPTV providers (such as Time Warner Cable, Cablevision, Charter and Verizon FiOS) – particularly on dedicated Spanish language programming tiers which incorporate other networks that operate direct-to-pay-television feeds (such as UniMás and Azteca) – as an alternative method of distribution in markets without either the availability or the demand for a local owned-and-operated or affiliate station of the network due to its smaller Hispanic population density.

Although most of Estrella TV's local affiliates carry the entire schedule, some pre-empt certain programs within the network's lineup in order to air newscasts or public affairs programs (such as with Los Angeles flagship station KRCA and KXAP-LD in Tulsa, Oklahoma); some also pre-empt paid programs within the network's overnight and early-morning infomercial block (such as with KOCY-LD in Oklahoma City) with other locally produced or brokered programming, or to move English-language network programming over due to breaking news situations on the affiliate's main signal (as WSVN in Miami did during Hurricane Irma in 2017 with Fox and Fox Sports programming; as mentioned above, Libermann maintains the owned WVFW-LD to air all network programming in Miami, but continues their affiliation agreement with WSVN-DT2 for full-market coverage).

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Estrella News is an American Spanish-language news-oriented free-to-air television network that is owned by the Estrella Media subsidiary of HPS Investment Partners, LLC. The network was launched on October 29, 2020 and is available on all major OTT platforms and online environments, as well as on the digital .2 subchannels of Estrella TV owned-and-operated stations and on select cable television providers.

Estrella News is the first Spanish-language multiplatform news network, with a dedicated group of news professionals providing live news to Spanish-language audiences on a 24/7 basis. This dynamic network’s main objective is to bring live and breaking news, special assignments, and special reports, all produced in a shorter more relatable news cycle that fits current consumer trends within the digital and streaming environments.

The network's schedule consists of local, national, entertainment and sports news segments, all produced in-house by some of the best journalists and media professionals in the industry. Estrella News is committed to bringing excellence in the newsroom with local news in Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston and Miami, featuring the best team of on-the-ground media professionals who are in tune with the local communities they serve. The local news segments offer the most relevant and current news and the highest level of journalism standards in news production.

On the national front, Estrella News features a team of dedicated journalists across the U.S. and Latin America, which includes the first network news program in Spanish-language prime time and the first to present the critical issues affecting the community with the latest newsworthy events from the United States, Mexico, Central and South America. In addition, this multiplatform network also offers a live two-hour morning news show, which delivers fast-paced, informative news presented in a light, upbeat manner with segments including breaking news, special series, entertainment stories, weather, sports and local coverage.

Estrella News also benefits from Estrella Media’s stellar entertainment production team, which has built its reputation on breaking some of the hottest Latin entertainment news stories in the United States, Mexico and the rest of the Americas. Estrella News is an undisputed leader in entertainment news coverage with a team comprised of some of Latin entertainment’s top media influencers.

And when it comes to sports, Estrella News features a stellar and experienced team in Spanish-Language sports coverage, comprised of veteran sports journalists who provide extensive sports coverage from the US and Mexico, including exclusive Spanish-language broadcast partnerships with Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Football Club and the National Football League’s Los Angeles Chargers.