Verizon FiOS Adds Cine Nostalgia

Verizon is expanding its Hispanic channel line-up, following an agreement to launch Carlos Vasallo's Cine Nostalgia channel on Nov. 10. As part of the agreement, the telco will also added Vasallo's Cine Estelar to its Spanish-language line-up in early 2012.

"Cine Nostalgia is one of the strongest television networks among pay-TV subscribers in the United States, demonstrating that its creative and programming leadership make it an effective alternative to reach U.S. Hispanic audiences," said Carlos Vasallo, president and CEO of Cine Nostalgia, Cine Estelar, among other entertainment venues, in a statement.

Cine Nostalgia is a black and white channel that offers movies from the "Golden Era" of Mexican filmmaking and Cine Estelar is a color movie channel with Mexican box office hits from the 1960s to the present.

Both channels were initially launched exclusively in the U.S. on DirecTV and were soon ranked among the top 10 most viewed Spanish channels in the satellite operator's pay-TV platform nationwide, Vasallo noted in a release announcing the carriage agreement. 

The exclusivity period has now ended and Vasallo is pursuing distribution on other pay-TV platforms.