[3] Headquartered in New York City,[4] the network's programming was aimed at the Hispanic and Latin American communities in the United States.

[12][13][14] TV Azteca, which was formed in 1993, launched the network to capitalize on its success with its two television stations in Mexico City – XHDF-TV (channel 13) and XHIMT-TV (channel 7), respectively branded as "Azteca Trece" and "Azteca Siete" – which maintained a lineup of programs, including telenovelas and other serialized dramas with socially relevant themes, that helped it quickly grow to maintain a 36% ratings share during prime time against competition from the longer established and dominant Televisa networks.

[15] The plans for the network were eventually scaled down, as a slowdown of the world economy hurt Azteca América's plans to secure financing to purchase stations in Dallas (where Pappas-Azteca attempted to acquire independent station KXTX, which was bought by Telemundo instead for $65 million) and El Paso, Texas.

[4] Also in April 2007, Pappas Telecasting Companies announced that it would discontinue its relationship with Azteca América, and disaffiliate the network from stations it owned in several markets (such as Houston and San Francisco).

[14] In May 2008, Azteca América announced that it would layoff about 30 employees in a cost-cutting measure amid a weak advertising market due to the deepening recession at the time.

Azteca lost several affiliates as part of the launch of Fox Networks Group/RCN Televisión's joint effort network MundoFox in fall 2013; however it gained several back and never lost much ratings ground by the time MundoMax ended operations in December 2016, a year after Fox backed out of the joint venture.

Azteca still retained some rights on part of its programming inventory, marketing, advertising sales, assets finance and operations.

Prior to the announcement, INNOVATE had been selling most of the full-power stations operated by Azteca América, and began notifying affiliates and advertising partners of the network's planned closure.

It provided various types of general entertainment programming to owned-and-operated and affiliated stations Monday through Fridays from 3:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from 5:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. Eastern and Pacific Time.

[32] Azteca also aired a five-hour block of Spanish-dubbed American programs aimed at children in a split-schedule format each Saturday and Sunday morning (with the first two hours airing Saturdays and the final three on Sundays), designed to meet the Federal Communications Commission's educational and informational programming requirements.

Both newscasts, produced from Mexico, aired exclusively in the United States and focus on the national and international news and events that affect U.S.

[38] In May 2008, the network relocated production of its national newscasts as well as the local newscasts aired by its Los Angeles flagship station KAZA-TV from the network's Glendale headquarters to Mexico City due to the budget cuts enacted that month, resulting in the layoffs of 19 employees within its news division; the network retained reporters, producers and assignment editors that were based in Los Angeles and correspondents based in New York City, Chicago, Houston, Dallas and Washington, D.C.[24] On February 6, 2009, Azteca announced that it would cancel its newscasts[39] and announced plans to launch a bi-national newscast produced out of TV Azteca's Mexico City station XHIMT-TV.

The division produced association football matches from Liga MX, which typically aired under the brand "Fut Azteca."

[46] At the end of the 2018–19 season, Azteca started airing two select La Liga Segunda División matches per weekend as part of an agreement with beIN Sports who sub-licensed the rights.

[48] In many areas of the U.S. where the network was not available through broadcast television, Azteca provided a national cable network feed that is distributed directly to cable, satellite and IPTV providers as an alternative method of distribution in markets without either the availability or the demand for a locally based owned-and-operated or affiliate station.