MundoMax (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈmundomaks]; originally known as MundoFox from August 13, 2012, to July 28, 2015) was an American Spanish-language terrestrial television network that was owned by RCN Televisión.
MundoMax traces its origins to the announcement by Fox International Channels and RCN Televisión that the two companies would jointly launch a new Spanish language television network in the United States under the MundoFox brand on January 23, 2012.
[3] Hernán López, president and CEO of Fox International Channels, said that the network would cater to "an increasing demand for quality Spanish-language content in the U.S. from both viewers and advertisers.
On July 16, 2015, 21st Century Fox announced that it had sold its stake in MundoFox to RCN Televisión, giving the Colombian private broadcaster full ownership of the network.
Fox International Channels president Herman Lopez stated that the company was "proud of having started MundoFox with RCN and are confident that they will realize all of the potential of the network.
On July 31, network president Ibra Morales stated regarding the move that "although we have cancelled Noticias MundoFox, RCN Television Group continues its dedication to bringing quality news coverage to the vibrant and dynamic U.S. Hispanic community".
[10][11] On October 6, 2016, it was announced by RCN Television that MundoMax would end operations and all affiliation contracts on November 30, 2016, and lay off dozens of employees in several departments, including administration, programming, promotions, research and sales in Los Angeles, New York and Miami.
A signature program format on MundoMax was the "teleseries", which produced fewer episodes compared to telenovelas traditionally seen on Spanish-language television (roughly 80 versus an average of 120), but emphasized action-oriented storylines, diverse locations and increased production values.
[22] However, RCN's takeover of the network led to Noticias MundoFox being cancelled on July 28, 2015, with its time slots being replaced by dubbed reruns of the TruTV caught-on-tape video programs Most Shocking and Most Daring.
In September 2012, shortly after it launched as MundoFox, the network debuted a weekend morning children's program block – which originally aired on both Saturdays and Sundays, before being relegated exclusively to Sunday mornings in 2013 – that was produced in conjunction with National Geographic Kids and Bento Box Entertainment, "National Geographic Niños",[23] which featured live-action and animated series selected to comply with educational programming guidelines set by the Federal Communications Commission; in January 2015, the block was extended to a stripped format, with a half-hour of educational programs airing on weekdays and an additional hour on Sunday mornings.
In September 2013, the network launched a secondary two-hour-long children's program block on Sunday mornings, "XtremaFox", consisting of action-oriented animated series.
[29] However, MundoMax's affiliation with WJAN-CD ended on December 28, 2012, with the network's programming moving to full-power station WGEN-TV,[30] then owned by Caracol Television (RCN's main rival in Colombia) through subsidiary Mapale LLC.
MundoMax maintained a website, streaming episodes of the network's existing primetime series after ceasing on-air operations, though there is little notice about it leaving the air.
The MundoMax Facebook also remained active in an unmonitored state (besides automated posts from RCN's "Es Trending"), with questions about the network's demise going unanswered by the page's moderators.
One day prior to MundoMax closing down, KM Communications (the owner of then-affiliated station WOCK-CD in Chicago) filed a lawsuit against the network, alleging fraud, breach of contract, unfair business practices and false promises with no intention to keep them (mainly involving the network acting as WOCK-CD's agent for advertising sales), seeking a jury trial and $525,000 in damages.