News Corp launches Spanish-language network in US

The new Spanish-language broadcast network MundoFox -- a joint venture of News Corp and RCN Television Group of Colombia -- began broadcasting Monday with the goal of reaching the growing US Hispanic market. The company, which says its programming is aimed at providing "Latino entertainment" with an "American attitude," will break the duopoly held by Univision and Telemundo in providing broadcast Spanish-language news and entertainment in the United States. "We've reached a tipping point in the evolution of US Spanish-language programming and the time is right for MundoFox," MundoFox President Emiliano Saccone said in a statement. "Like we did in 1986 when we launched Fox Broadcasting, we've read the landscape and believe the time is now." The US Hispanic population is expected to reach 133 million people by 2050, "meaning that nearly one in three Americans will be Hispanic," the company said. "Fifty percent of US population growth over the past decade has come from this group with an annual spending power of $1 trillion. This number is forecast to climb to $1.5 trillion by 2015," the company said, citing Nielsen Media Research. News Corp's Fox International Channels (FIC) and RCN "currently reach over 1.2 billion households worldwide with primetime comedies, dramas and daytime series, as well as factual, sports and lifestyle programming," the Los Angeles-based company said. MundoFox will provide dramas and comedies, as well as Fox shows like "American Dad" dubbed in Spanish. The network will also have two live evening news broadcasts, one aimed at viewers on the US east coast and the other for the west coast.