MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fox International Channels and the RCN Television Group (RCN), headquartered in Colombia, jointly announced today the formation of joint venture which will launch MundoFox, a new Spanish-language television network catering to the U.S. Hispanic market. The network, scheduled to launch during the Fall season of 2012 in Hispanic homes nationwide, will aim to bring a similar sensibility as the Fox Network to Latino audiences, with exciting entertainment, best-in-class programing content and differentiation from the limited options currently available to viewers.
“Our partnership with RCN is a key step in the launch of MundoFox,” said Hernan Lopez, President & CEO of Fox International Channels. “There is an increasing demand for quality Spanish-language content in the U.S. from both viewers and advertisers. FOX saw similar dynamics in play 25 years ago when it launched the Fox network, and it would be a missed opportunity not to provide an alternative for the 50+ million Latino viewers who currently have limited options in Spanish-language broadcast television. Our partnership with RCN will help us do this and we aim do it in a big way.”
“RCN has provided the main Hispanic networks in the US with much of their prime-time content for over two decades. We now plan to maximize our capabilities and bring an increasing variety of fresh and innovative productions directly to Spanish-speaking viewers. I am certain that FOX is the best partner to make this a successful network,” said Gabriel Reyes, CEO of RCN.
Fox International Channels operates 350 channels in 35 countries, and most recently achieved great success with a consortium of three cable networks targeting the U.S. Hispanic consumer: FOX Deportes, Utilisima and NatGeo Mundo. RCN is one of the largest producers and exporters of Spanish-language television in the world and operates cable channels throughout the Americas.
Content for the network will come from several diverse sources, including:
1. RCN Television S.A. - the top broadcaster in Colombia. Past successes from this creative force have been the original “Ugly Betty,” called “Betty La Fea”, the only Spanish-Language series to have inspired a mainstream U.S. network drama; and “El Capo”, an action-packed prime time daily series that has broken ratings records in many countries, including the US.
2. Fox International Channels – over the last several years, FOX has produced high-quality weekly dramas for prime time that combine US-style, character-driven story-telling and visuals with Latino sensibility. Additionally, it has produced gripping factual series and a wide array of lifestyle shows.
3. FOX Deportes – the #1 sports brand for the U.S. Hispanic market, with exclusive U.S. Spanish-language rights to the UFC, as well as various soccer tournaments, including Copa Santander Libertadores, Copa Bridgestone Sudamericana, and European tournaments. Some of these events will be broadcast on MundoFox.
4. Shine Group – one of the leading producers of unscripted and scripted programming worldwide (including hit formats “The Biggest Loser”, “MasterChef” and “One Born Every Minute” and successful international dramas including “Merlin” and “The Hour”), will be producing their first original Spanish language content for MundoFox.
5. NTN24 – RCN’s international, 24-hour channel that offers Spanish-language news, analysis, opinion, sports and entertainment news programs from a uniquely Latin point of view. NTN24 also produces online, English language content with an emphasis on news from the Americas.
6. Third-party Suppliers – additionally, MundoFox will license and/or commission original programs and movies from a variety of third party producers, both from the English-language world as well as Spanish.
Although distribution is currently being established, MundoFox has plans to be carried on stations covering 75% of US households. The network currently has several affiliate deals being finalized in top Hispanic markets across the country.
About Fox International Channels
Fox International Channels (FIC) is News Corporation’s international multi-media business. FIC develops, produces and distributes over 350 wholly-and majority-owned entertainment, factual, sports and lifestyle channels across Latin America, U.S. Hispanic, Asia/Pacific, Europe and Africa, in 35 languages. These networks and their related mobile, non-linear and high-definition extensions, reach over 1.1 billion cumulative households worldwide. We also operate a global online advertising unit, .FOX (pronounced “dot-fox”) which specializes in online video and display, and four TV production houses. [In operation since: August 14, 1993.]
About RCN
RCN is a leading television network and production company with a long track record of highly acclaimed series and telenovelas. The company belongs to the Organización Ardila Lülle (OAL), one of the most prominent industrial conglomerates in Latin America. RCN currently licenses its content in over 120 countries worldwide, including some of the biggest Spanish-language hits of recent years in the U.S., such as productions of “El Capo”, “Café Con Aroma de Mujer”, “Yo soy Betty la Fea” and “Pura Sangre”, and format rights for “Destilando Amor”, “Mañana Es Para Siempre”, “Hasta Que El Dinero Nos Separe” and “La Fea Mas Bella”. RCN also operates and programs three cable networks: TVColombia, RCN’s international signal; NTN 24, a twenty-four-hour global news channel; and RCN Telenovelas, a channel programming the best of RCN’s novelas. RCN was advised by Sidley Austin LLC and PanAmerican Capital Partners LLC.
[In operation: since July 10, 1998.]
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