Mexican broadcaster TV Azteca is set to invest US$55 million in new production studios that will see it increase local productions by 40%.

The move will help Azteca, the country's second leading broadcaster, compete with Televisa, which is the world's largest producer of Spanish language programming.

TV Azteca, which is owned by conglomerate Grupo Salinas, is building seven new state of the art studios that are expected to be finished in 2011. As a result, Azteca hopes to expand its daily schedule of telenovelas from five hours per day to six hours per day.

The studios, which will covered 5,700 square meters, will also allow the network to produce more musical reality formats including La Academia.