ABC News and Univision have closed on their new joint 24-hour news channel. The two networks officially announced the channel in May. The agreement means that ABC and Univision will move ahead on what will become the first 24-hour, English-language news channel aimed toward the fast-growing U.S. Hispanic audience.
“ABC News and Univision News share a goal of serving the thriving Hispanic audience that makes up such an influential and essential part of America,” ABC News president Ben Sherwood said in a statement. “Our new joint venture will empower Hispanic Americans and connect audiences of all kinds to culturally relevant news, information and lifestyle programming. The signature of the definitive agreement is an important, exciting first step toward achieving our vision.”
“We are pleased to come one step closer to our goal of delivering a new English-language news offering to U.S. audiences,” Univision News president Isaac Lee said. “Together, Univision News and ABC News will inform, engage and empower the thriving Latino community as well as provide news and information from a Latino perspective to a broader audience. Signing the definitive agreement is an important milestone of many to come.”
The ABC News-Univision website will launch this fall; the channel will launch in mid-2013, reports Politico.
