Americano Media, a right-wing Hispanic media outlet that ran from 2022 to 2023, is making a comeback with the backing of a new group of investors, according to owner Iván García Hidalgo.
Garcia Hidalgo, the former telecommunications executive who invented the Americano, previewed the scope of the new investment in an exclusive interview with The Hill.
“I think a lot of people will be very surprised to see the circle of investors that have stepped up to revive Americano and launch it into the future, and I think it will be a real eye-opener for a lot of people who missed out on that opportunity,” he said.
“And they’re probably going to regret not jumping in and, frankly, they’re going to come in wanting to jump in and invest. But I don’t know if it’s too late. But that’s the way it is, right?”
Though its first iteration was short-lived, the network quickly gained momentum.As the preferred Spanish-language media in Trump worldThis led to interviews with former President Trump and other Republican leaders.
“For decades, since Fox News began, everyone has been talking about the need for a network like Fox News Spanish, but no one has ever done it, so we decided to do it. Maybe we were crazy enough to do it,” Garcia Hidalgo said.
Americano’s ups and downs in 2022 and 2023 will be fueled by aggressive expansion plans, restless investors andFailed takeover attemptTexas-based conservative media company Voz MediaFailed to acquire Mega TVFrom the Puerto Rico-based Spanish Broadcasting System.
“I think there were two things that went wrong: They tried to grow too fast, right? They stepped on the gas too hard, right? If you’re not an experienced race car driver, if you’re not an experienced entrepreneur, if you accelerate your car too much, you’re going to crash,” said Jose Aristimuño, a former Democratic National Committee spokesman and left-of-center political analyst who has appeared on Americano and is in talks to return to the network.
“The second thing is that they were operating in good faith, saying investors were bound to come, but some investors dropped out along the way. The people they got delivered on what was promised, but the investors didn’t,” Aristimunyo added.
Garcia Hidalgo’s need for funding arose from the network’s urgent need to transition its 18 hours of original live programming each day from radio to video.
“When we started, we only had $1 million in capital, and we couldn’t afford to launch a TV station like Fox News or CNN or MSNBC,” Garcia Hidalgo said.
“But we got through it and we were able to get into radio. We were able to get on SiriusXM.”
About $14 million of Americano’s final $19.7 million funding came from Doug Hayden, a packaging company heir who invested after meeting Mr. Garcia Hidalgo through a mutual friend he met at a political conference. Mr. Garcia Hidalgo said Mr. Hayden and his family are “100 percent behind” the new version of Americano.
But the funding wasn’t enough to complete the transition to video, which Garcia Hidalgo said was necessary because “radio is dead. You know, radio is dead. There’s no money in radio.”
With funding drying up, Garcia Hidalgo shut down operations and laid off staff “to avoid further debt and to focus 100% on our next funding round, which is the most important round for us and for most startups: the round that leads to distribution and monetization, right?”
From the beginning, Americano has aimed to fill an ideological gap in Latino media, providing a conservative outlet with an influential reach comparable to Telemundo and Univision.
The call for such outlets underscores the interest people across the political spectrum have in reaching Latino voters, who were once viewed as disengaged or even Democratic.
But Garcia Hidalgo said it also reflects broader trends in conservative media.
“Conservative investors have traditionally always invested in real estate and energy — oil and gas — but not so much in media and technology, so they wonder why they’re losing the culture wars,” he said.
“You know, outside of Elon Musk and Donald Trump, there aren’t many conservatives in the media world, right? Maybe Fox, but that’s it. And I think that’s going to change. I think it’s going to change dramatically.”
The change will come thanks to Americano’s management and investment team, Garcia Hidalgo said, but he declined to name them at this time.
“We’re going to be back. We’re going to blow it up. We’re not going to stop. You know, the management team is great. The investor round is great,” he said.
“We have the right mix, we have enough funding, we have the right people who believe in the cause and the mission. We believe Hispanics have a right to hear both sides of the news and the story, not just one side. And to be told what to think. That’s what Americano is all about.”
It’s also what has brought Americano intense criticism from leftists and anti-Trump Republicans, who see Trump-supporting Hispanics as self-destructive at best.
But some on the left see conservative Latino networks as a potential outlet to reach new audiences.
Aristimuño, who appears regularly on Fox News, said the conservative network is an opportunity for Democrats to reach new viewers.
“I believe Americano leans right and has a conservative mission, and there’s no question about that. Certainly, there’s no denying that, but I’d rather have Democrats involved in this sort of thing than not be involved, because there are those who say, ‘I’m not going to Fox News. I don’t agree with Fox. I’m not going.’ It would be a disservice to the American people and a disservice to the country to not be a part of this sort of thing, right?” he said.
Aristimuño, who previously co-hosted a right- and left-leaning news analysis show with Garcia Hidalgo, said his former co-host was the right person to build that network.
“Ivan’s like a bull. He’s going to keep going until he breaks down a wall. So I think he can do it. He’s got the drive, right? He’s got the drive. And I think he has the connections. I think he knows the right people to get this done,” Aristimunyo said.
