El Rey Network, which brought Lucha Underground to wrestling fans, is closing at the end of the year. CableFax reports that Robert Rodriguez’s network will end operations on December 31.
El Rey showed a series of new and acquired content during its seven years on the air, such as From dusk to dawn: the series, Killer, Texas justice, El Rey Nation, and more, but for wrestling fans, it was better known as the home of Lucha Underground, which ran for three seasons. Since the promotion ended, the network has remained on the market with wrestling content in a smaller capacity through the talk show. Vampire: Unleashed.
The newsroom was on the wall for El Rey after Univision announced in November that it was scrapping its stake in the network as it explored sales opportunities. El Rey saw its placement on the networks decrease in the last tear, being abandoned by AT&T in January and Charter in September. It is about 13 million homes so far.
Rodriguez said last month, when Univision left, that he was “confident that, with this solid foundation, we will continue to successfully serve one of the most important and influential audiences.” It is speculated that the network may move its operations to the streaming capacity, where Rodriguez has succeeded with content such as directing episodes of The Mandalorian to launch Disney + and Netflix Sharkboy and Lavagirl adventures sequence We can be heroes on Christmas day.
El Rey was originally launched as a condition for Comcast’s merger with NBCUniversal as a channel that supported minority audiences.