NBCUniversal will rebrand its Spanish-language cable network mun2 into NBC Universo beginning Feb. 1, 2015, the day of Super Bowl XLIX.
The sister network of broadcaster Telemundo, mun2 is scheduled to air the Super Bowl in Spanish while the NBC broadcast network airs the game in English.
The move further aligns NBCU’s Spanish-language properties with its English-language ones; cross-brand synergy has been a company-wide mandate this year. As it did when NBCU rebranded Versus into NBCSN, the new logo will feature NBCU’s famed peacock.
The rebrand is the culmination of a brand repositioning that was kicked off during Telemundo and mun2’s upfront presentation back in May. Mun2 president Rubén Mendiola, who came abroad the cabler in May from Comcast Cable, even said that the network would get a new name during last month’s Hispanic TV Summit.
The Super Bowl XLIX broadcast will kick off what figures to be a big year for mun2 – and Telemundo – as the two networks gain U.S. Spanish-language World Cup rights from longtime holder Univision. While it will get a new name, NBC Universo’s programming focus will remain a mix of telenovelas, unscripted series and sports.
“Our prominent new name and logo reflect to the world that we are NBCU’s modern general entertainment cable channel for Latinos,” said Mendiola. “We will super-serve this community with a universe of exciting viewing options in ways that are compelling and culturally relevant for Latinos. Through this strategy, we are building a high-quality cable TV channel that we believe distributors are ready to embrace, advertisers are ready to support, and viewers will be drawn to.”
