In an attempt to cater to a growing demographic of Hispanic moms, Discovery Familia is adding 130 hours of new programming, expanding its existing offering with shows that focus on money, health and other advice for her children, her home and her time.
"It is really a departure from what we had before," Bilai Joa Silar, vice president and channel director, Discovery Networks U.S. Hispanic Group, told Hispanic TV Update.
A new look on the network and online went live Oct. 11.
The new look and feel is only the first step of a wider revamp, which includes an ongoing study on 1,000 Hispanic moms and 500 non-Hispanic moms, seeking answers to what truly makes a Hispanic mother a unique one, Joa Silar said. The study was commissioned to women-owned C&R Research and findings will be released in February.
"We know this research will validate our shows," she said. "Ultimately, we want to be closer to our consumer."
As part of the revamp, Discovery Familia has also enrolled Jeannette Torres-Álvarez, an early childhood expert, wife and mother, as "brand ambassador," part of a national television and online push, in English and Spanish, to attract bilingual and Spanish-dominant mothers.
As for programming, Discovery Familia preps the Spanish-language premiere of Maxed Out, a half hour show coined as "factual entertainment," in which a money couch visits a family and looks at their behavior in front of financial crisis. Premiering in the first quarter of 2011, the series is originally produced in English but will be dubbed into Spanish for the Discovery Familia audience.
In the medical realm, Discovery Familia this month premiered I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant, a series revealing some astonishing tales of women who conceive and carry their babies all the way to labor and delivery with no idea that they were ever pregnant.
Other series making their Spanish-language debut on Saturday nights are Surgery Saved my Life and Mystery Diagnosis.
