Telemundo Puerto Rico (TV channel)

Telemundo Puerto Rico
Launched	December 1994
Owned by	NBC Universal
Picture format	480i
Country	Puerto Rico
Language	Spanish
Broadcast area	National
Formerly called	Telenoticias (1994-1996) CBS TeleNoticias (1996-2000)
Sister channel(s)	Telemundo, mun2, Syfy Latin America, Syfy Spain
Availability
Cable
Available on select cable systems	Check local listings for channels

Telemundo Puerto Rico, also known as Telemundo Internacional, is a Latin American cable channel.

History

Launch

Telemundo Internacional began in December 1994 as Telenoticias, Latin America's second 24-hour news channel that did not broadcast from Latin America (NBC's Canal de Noticias NBC, launched two months earlier from Charlotte, NC, was the first). It was based out of Miami, Florida. During the mid-90s, Telenoticias was owned by Reuters (42%), Telemundo (42%), Grupo Clarín (8%, Argentina) and Antena 3 (8%, Spain), and it broadcast in Spanish and Portuguese. From the beginning, the group's several owners did not have a smooth relationship.

Some American stations carried programs from the channel, such as KUBD in Denver; WSNS in Chicago; and KQBN in Tucson. Anchors during this time included Marian De La Fuente, Jose Gray, Carlos Maria Ruiz, Rodrigo Vera, Pablo Gato, and Susana Roza Vigil.

In late June 1996, CBS bought out the network, marking its first cable venture. By this point, the channel was broadcast to 20 million homes in 22 countries. In 1997, it was rebranded CBS Telenoticias. The Telemundo network struck a deal, buying 2 newscasts from the company and airing them at 6:30 p.m and at 10:00. The network also was able to utilize the CBS Newspath news feed to supplement their content as well. The company used the CBS Newspath headquarters in Washington to house a small crew of reporters. The network launched in the United States in 1997 with a service that emphasized the United States, Caribbean, and Mexico; featured two issues-focused talk shows; and launched, unluckily, on the same date as CNN en Español.

In late 1997, CBS TeleNoticias began providing news programs to Radio Unica, which launched in December of that year as the first national Spanish-language radio network in the United States.

CBS TeleNoticias logo used from 1997 to 2000.

Brazil

The Brazilian version of the channel, a 14-hour-a-day operation launched in 1997 (under the slightly different CBS Telenotícias title), gained a coup early, striking a deal with Jornal do SBT to share resources. But Net Brasil, a major joint venture cable company owned by major media companies in that country, refused to carry the channel, possibly due to a preference for Globo's news channel instead. In addition, the launch of the channel had already been forced into a delay because the satellite it was to be carried on, PanAmSat 5 (launched in August 1997), became operational only on the 12th of October, and cable operators were receiving satellite dishes to carry the channel off the satellite later than expected.

1998: Sale, bankruptcy and sale

In the first quarter of 1998 alone, Telenoticias and Eye on People lost $9 million combined. In late 1998, CBS sold 70% of the channel to Mexican-based Grupo Medcom, as the former continued to provide the news resources; it also sold its Eye on People stake. By July 1999, some phones at one of its bureaus were disconnected; paychecks came late; and reimbursements were never paid out. It laid off 77 people at the end of the month, then filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy days later.

CBS sold its stake in Telenoticias to then-Telemundo owners Sony Pictures Entertainment and Liberty Media in early 2000 for the price of $2.35 million as approved by federal bankruptcy court. With the new owners, the network changed its name to Telemundo Internacional.

As Telemundo Internacional and Puerto Rico

The 24 hour news service would be restructured to be a bilingual entertainment channel airing programs from the Telemundo network and Mun2, with some shows produced by Telemundo Internacional, like Hoy en América and América en vivo and four newscasts, some of which were re-aired on Telemundo. Senior anchor, Marian de la Fuente,is the only original anchor to continue on air, also as Managing Editor.

In 2005, the news was cut back and the Mun2 shows were dropped. The channel started to broadcast some old telenovelas produced by Colombian company RTI, which has had a content partnership with Telemundo as a whole.

Despite losing viewers when Dish Network replaced the channel for CNN En Español, the network continued until early in 2006, when the Telemundo network decided to reform the channel as Telemundo Puerto Rico in order to compete with WAPA-TV, which was launching a national superstation channel. That same year, Dish Network added Telemundo Puerto Rico back to its lineup on channel 837. The channel is no longer available on Dish Network.

Later that year, NBC Universal, the current owner of Telemundo Puerto Rico, announced a restructuring plan (known as NBCU 2.0) to cut costs and jobs. The morning, afternoon, and weekend editions of Telenoticias were pulled on 1 December 2006. No replacement programming for Telemundo Puerto Rico has since been announced.

Programming on Telemundo Puerto Rico

Telemundo Puerto Rico is also a collaboration with WKAQ-TV channel two in Puerto Rico. The network airs newscasts under the following schedule:

• Telenoticias 5pm: M-F 5pm-6pm
• Telenoticias 10pm: M-F 10pm-10:30pm

Telemundo Puerto Rico also airs a 60-minute gossip and analysis program "Dando Candela" ; a mid-day 90-minutes entertainment program "Dia a Dia" and a cooking show of 30-minutes "Operación Chef".

One oddity about Telemundo Puerto Rico is that it airs no traditional adverts; instead, breaks feature 90% public service announcements, 5% promos for Telemundo Puerto Rico programs, and the remaining 5% devoted to a Puerto Rico video travelogue.

External links

• Official website
• Iberoamérica y sociedad multimedia interactiva
• National Organization For Women, Who Controls the Media