MIAMI — A Los Angeles-headquartered multimedia company rooted in U.S. Hispanic media that today derives the majority of its income from digital advertising solutions on Tuesday quietly gave birth to a free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channel devoted to noticias. It boasts a four-anchor delivery scheme, as Entravision Communications begins a new era with a news platform giving en español Americans information ahora.
Introducing AHORA, described by publicly traded Entravision as a “Spanish-language news streaming platform integrating live programming and local reporting to serve U.S. Hispanic audiences.” The FAST channel “combines national coverage with Entravision’s strong local-market presence” by integrating reporting and content from Miami, Orlando, McAllen, El Paso, Denver, Las Vegas and San Diego. Viewers will get everything from breaking news to stories focused on politics, immigration, the economy, public safety, health, weather, sports and the tales shaping Latino communities nationwide.
AHORA will originate from Entravision’s new Miami operations hub, and use a virtual production environment powered by Unreal Engine and AI-assisted workflows. Entravision’s Rio Grande Valley operation will also support programming, creating what Entravision calls “an integrated production model” that connects local newsrooms with the national platform.
The launch of AHORA is also noteworthy for Entravision’s debut of “Latina Inteligencia Artificial,” or “LIA.” It is described as “a new AI-powered information companion” that will appear alongside “trusted news anchors” to “enhance the viewing experience by delivering real-time information, weather updates, data visualizations, election results, explainers and other contextual content that helps viewers better understand the stories shaping their communities.”
Entravision also made it clear that LIA “is designed to complement—not replace—the role of journalists.
Entravision President María Martínez-Guzmán is spearheading AHORA’s launch. “AHORA reflects Entravision’s continued commitment to serving Hispanic audiences with news that is relevant, trusted and connected to their communities,” she said. “By bringing together experienced journalists, the strength of our local news operations and innovative technology, we are creating a national platform that elevates the stories and voices of Latino communities across the country.”
Arianna Requena, Vice President of Special Projects and Strategic Initiatives for Broadcast at Entravision, added, “Our vision for AHORA is to create a news platform that feels national while remaining deeply connected to the local communities we serve. We want our audiences to see their communities, their concerns and their stories reflected in our coverage every day.”
The use of LIA comes after the successful expansion of an AI co-hosted show featuring Geraldine “GeeGee” Guzman and artificial intelligence air personality “Coyotec” distributed by Entravision’s Fuego Network to stations in Sacramento, Las Vegas, Modesto, and Palm Springs, Calif.; and the Rio Grande Valley after initial success at KLYY “José 97.5” in Southern California.
Four anchors are helping to drive AHORA’s growth in an environment where Estrella Media enjoys a head start, being one of the earliest U.S. Hispanic media companies to place their content on FAST channels — rapidly attracting consumers by the month.
For those of Puerto Rican heritage, they’ll likely recognize Lourdes Del Rio, the WAPA “NotiCentro 4” reporter known for stories on politics, immigration and community health who would go on to enjoy a 27-year career at Univision. She’s joined by Jorge Viera, a former anchor at Univision’s WXTV-41 in New York; Norma Ribeiro, who has had news roles with Univision’s KMEX-34 in Los Angeles and the national “Primer Impacto” news magazine; and Eduardo Padilla, who has served as a Noticias Univision reporter.
A WAPA-BRANDED ORLANDO NEWSCAST BOWS
Entravision’s newly christened Miami hub will also produce “NotiCentro Orlando,” a new local newscast for “WAPA Orlando.”
The Central Florida-focused newscast from the venerable Puerto Rico TV brand features Viera in the anchor seat alongside multimedia journalists Luis Marcano, Laura Bermudez (formerly of Univision/Orlando and a native of Venezuela), and Laura Isabel Perez, who worked with Univision on the local level in Sacramento and, later, Orlando after graduating from Florida International University seven years ago.
