ESPN Deportes HD Gets Super Launch on Dish

Dish Network is adding ESPN Deportes HD to its Spanish-language DishLatino package days ahead of the network’s telecast of Super Bowl 50 on Sunday.

ESPN Deportes acquired the rights to the Super Bowl from CBS, which will broadcast the game in English.

DishLatino already carried ESPN Deportes in standard definition. The network is in 6.1 million Hispanic households nationwide.

“We are always looking for ways to enrich our customers’ experience, and the addition of ESPN Deportes in HD helps bring to life some of the biggest events in sports,” said Alfredo Rodriguez, VP of DishLatino. “The Super Bowl is the perfect way to kick-off this programming, delivering Spanish-language, HD coverage of American football’s biggest night.”

To complement the live Super Bowl 50 telecast, ESPN Deportes is presenting week-long multimedia coverage of the big game. The lineup on Super Bowl Sunday will feature Spanish-language coverage leading up to the game, live from San Francisco, including a 90-minute pregame special and a postgame show.

“Expanding ESPN Deportes’ HD distribution is essential in our effort to continue delivering topnotch sports content to our Spanish-language fans,” said Freddy Rolón, VP, programming & business initiatives, ESPN Deportes. “We are thrilled that our DishLatino viewers will be able to watch our content in the highest quality available as we get ready to deliver a wide variety of great sports events this year including the anticipated Super Bowl 50.”

Other major events that will be telecast on ESPN Deportes in the year ahead include EURO 2016 and UEFA Champions League.

“By offering ESPN Deportes in HD to DishLatino customers, we are addressing demand to increase HD penetration of Spanish-language sports networks to a growing Hispanic fan base,” said Sean Breen, senior VP, affiliate sales, Disney & ESPN Media Networks. “Watching live sporting events in HD heightens and enhances the viewing experience for fans, and today’s launch is yet another example of how we are working closely with our distributors to add value to their customers’ pay TV subscriptions.”

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.