The first new network premiere of 2002 is set for Monday, with Univision
Communications Inc. ready to unveil its Spanish-language spinoff channel,
TeleFutura.
TeleFutura will reach approximately 70 percent of U.S. Spanish-speaking
households at launch.
Although distribution will meld broadcast and cable affiliates, the channel's
initial universe consists of 44 broadcast stations, including stations in New
York, Los Angeles and other major markets where Univision had earlier acquired a
foothold from USA Networks Inc.
No cable affiliates were disclosed at press time.
Hollywood and Latin American films will dominate TeleFutura's primetime
schedule, as opposed to its sister networks, Univision and Galavisión, which
focus on novelas and bilingual fare aimed at young Latinos, respectively.
Competitor Telemundo Communications Group Inc. presents an amalgam of novelas
and Hollywood and Latin American flicks in primetime.
TeleFutura's daytime lineup will feature novelas, cartoons and a two-hour
talk/variety show.
The network also will carry Contacto Deportivo, a
SportsCenter-type nightly roundup show that was previously planned for
Galavisión but canceled just prior to its scheduled premiere, a victim of
Univision's cost-cutting.
Univision officials projected that TeleFutura would spend $100 million on its
launch and first year, and they expect it to break even by the end of 2002.
Univision and Galavisión are slated to simulcast TeleFutura's opening-day
special, coinciding with launch events in home base Miami, Los Angeles, Chicago,
Dallas and New York.
