Azteca America: Priorities include returning preeminence to soccer and the incorporation of Una Vez Mas affiliates to the station group

One of the elements that influenced Manuel Abud’s decision to take the reigns of Azteca America is the network’s great potential. “Azteca America has a wonderful potential and has assets that can be more efficiently exploited. There are many things to work with,” Abud told PRODU. Earlier this month he was appointed president and CEO of Azteca America.Abud’s priorities include the network’s soccer programming, which he intends to bring back to a preeminent space, and the incorporation of the Una Vez Mas LLC affiliates to the Azteca America Station Group, led by Enrique Pérez.Abud said to be pleased to have a great team: in addition to Pérez at the station group, COO Martín Breidsprecher takes care of the day-to-day operations, Court Stroud heads Ad Sales, and Margarita Black manages Programming. He said his boss, Gustavo Guzmán, is one of the founders of Azteca and was appointed four months ago by Ricardo Salinas to oversee Azteca America.Abud argued that being Mexican and having over 15 years of broadcast TV experience in the U.S., has given him an important knowledge about the Hispanic market and about how to better use the content that comes from Mexico.For the time being, Abud will be based in Miami, but said he does not discount the possibility of moving to Texas or Los Angeles, two important markets for the network.Regarding the Upfront, to be held on May 12th, Abud said there would be a moving performance by the kids from the orchestra Esperanza Azteca.