Post-Newsweek Stations Strike Multicity Deal With LATV

By Garth Johnston -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/16/2007 3:04:00 PM

Post-Newseek Stations Tuesday announced a multicity affiliation deal with digital multicast station Latino Alternative TV (LATV). The deal will put the 24-hour bilingual station, currently available on KJLA Los Angeles, onto four of the group’s digital station affiliates in Houston (KPRC), Miami (WPLG), Orlando, Fla. (WKMG), and San Antonio (KSAT).

LATV is a five-year-old music/entertainment network aimed at the 12-to-34-year-old Hispanic demographic, “but because it is bilingual,” says Frank, “we think it will reach second- and third- generation Hispanic viewers, plus have a great cross-over appeal because the music is hot and the culture is very appealing.”

LATV’s bilingual nature is also popular with advertisers like Verizon, Target and McDonald’s, all looking to tap the bi-cultural market.

The station is scheduled to roll out in the spring, by which time the Post-Newsweek expects to have digital carriage deals with cable providers worked out in all four markets, according to Post-Newsweek President/ CEO Alan Frank. The launch will bring roughly 3 million additional viewers to LATV, for a total of 8 million cable and broadcast homes in four of the top 10 U.S. Hispanic markets.

LA represents roughly 17% of the Hispanic population in the U.S., and the four stations provided by Post-Newsweek represent another 20%. “We have big Hispanic markets,” says Frank. “Houston, San Antonio, Miami. And Orlando is a growing Hispanic market, so we’re excited.”