UniMás

"TeleFutura" redirects here. For the Paraguayan television network, see Telefuturo.
UniMás
Launched January 14, 2002
(as TeleFutura)
January 7, 2013
(as UniMás)
Owned by Univision Communications
Picture format 1080i (HDTV)
Country United States
Language Spanish
Broadcast area Nationwide
Headquarters Doral, Florida
Formerly called TeleFutura (2002–2013)
Sister channel(s) Univision
Galavisión
Univision tlnovelas
Univision Deportes Network
Univision Noticias
Fusion
De Película
De Película Clásico
Website galavision.com
Availability
Satellite
Dish Network 271 (HD/SD)
272 (SD)
830 (HD/SD)
831 (SD)
DirecTV 408
IPTV
AT&T U-verse 3005

UniMás (stylized as UniMÁS) is an American Spanish-language broadcast television network that is owned by Univision Communications. The network is headquartered in the Miami suburb of Doral, Florida, United States. The channel originally launched as TeleFutura on January 14, 2002; TeleFutura relaunched/rebranded as UniMás on January 7, 2013 (exactly one week before the network's eleventh year on air).

The network (which targets males between the ages of 18 and 35) broadcasts telenovelas, soccer events, reruns of classic shows and feature films (primarily Spanish-dubbed versions of American films). The network had a major success on ratings and viewers, where it became the second highest-rated Spanish-language television network in key dayparts,[1] behind only sister network Univision.

History

As TeleFutura

Telefutura logo (2002–2013)

The network began on January 14, 2002 as TeleFutura, with programs such as the three-hour gossip/entertainment show Escándalo TV (formerly Escándalo en el Medio Dia, but the title was later changed due to the existence of a similarly named program airing in Mexico by Televisa S.A.), which was designed to compete with similar offerings such as Telemundo's Cotorreando. Most of the network's owned-and-operated stations were once affiliated with the Home Shopping Network, mostly through their prior ownership by HSN sister company Silver King Broadcasting; after the stations were acquired by Barry Diller's USA Broadcasting in 1998, some of these stations were converted into general entertainment independent stations with limited local programming as part of a format that was intended to roll out to the entire USA Broadcasting group; plans to convert USA's remaining HSN affiliates to independents were altered when Univision Communications bought the USA Broadcasting stations in late 2001.[2]

TeleFutura's programming consisted of telenovelas from Coral Productions, Televisa, Venevision, RCTV, RCN and Rede Globo as well as movies often consisting of recent American releases dubbed in Spanish. Movies were broadcast under the brands "CinePlex" (for daytime movies, usually on weekends), "CineEscape" (for late night movies), "Cine Especial" (for movie specials) or "Cine de las Estrellas" (for primetime movies). The network also aired the reality courtroom show Veredicto Final, soccer matches including Liga MX broadcasts, and sports news preograms (including Contacto Deportivo).[3]

In late 2005, TeleFutura began airing En Vivo y Directo, an early evening newscast that aired at 7 p.m. ET, opposite the taped 4 p.m. news program on Galavisión. The network eventually cancelled the program after only a few weeks due to low ratings, replacing the newscast with movies.[4]

The network also offered a children programming block called Toonturama to fulfill educational programming requirements set by the Federal Communications Commission. This block was split between Saturday and Sunday mornings, and included mostly American and European series dubbed in Spanish, such as Flight Squad and Problem Child (an exception was Toad Patrol, which it needed to dub in English to fix translation issues); anime series such as Lost Universe, Tenchi Universe and Red Baron also previously aired as part of the block.[5]

The network also carries Spanish-language coverage of the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament, due to Univisión holding the exclusive U.S. Spanish-language rights since 1970.[6] In 2006, it carried eight live games, all in the last days of group play when games are played simultaneously (like ESPN2 did with ESPN for English-language coverage); it also aired game replays and recap shows. TeleFutura also held exclusive rights to broadcast a Major League Soccer game of the week on Sundays. In 2012, the network aired the MLS Cup – which was watched by 485,000 total viewers, a 58% increase from the 2011 final and a 109% increase over the 2010 final, both of which aired on Galavisión.[7]

On June 27, 2006, Univision Communications was acquired by a consortium led by Haim Saban's Saban Capital Group (who had previously owned the entity Saban Entertainment), TPG Capital, L.P., Providence Equity Partners, Madison Dearborn Partners and Thomas H. Lee Partners for $13.7 billion or $36.25 per share plus $1.4 billion in acquired debt.[8][9] The sale received federal approval on March 27, 2007, with the deal being finalized that same day.[10] According to Nielsen Media Research, TeleFutura made significant gains in viewership during the February 2007 sweeps period at the expense of Telemundo, actually taking over second place among Spanish-language networks in the Adults 18–34, Men 18–34 and Men 18–49 demographics.[11]

In January 2009, TeleFutura launched the daily gossip show La Tijera, hosted by Charitin Goyco, Liliana Rodriguez, Paul Bouche, Carolina Sandoval and Augusto Valverde.[12] The hosting staff was gradually modified and incorporated Tanya Charry, Raul Garcia, Anabelle Blum and Rodolfo Jimenez joining Sandoval; the show was cancelled in October 2011.

On February 26, 2010, TeleFutura once again became the #2 Spanish-language network position with a special broadcast of “Buscando La Doble de Selena: La Gran Final” ("Search for Selena’s Double") attracting 1.9 million total viewers, making it the highest-rated entertainment special in the history of the network. On October 10, 2011, TeleFutura premiered a new daily gossip show Tómbola, and a late night show Noche de Perros. Tombola was cancelled on January 17, 2012, followed by Noche de Perros on April 20, 2012 due to low ratings.[13][14]

TeleFutura finished 2012 as the youngest broadcast network with a median age of 36 and finished the year averaging 642,000 total viewers aged 2 and up. It also ranked as the second highest-rated Spanish-language network in 2012 in key dayparts among Adults 18–49 and Adults 18–34.[1]

Relaunch as UniMás

On December 3, 2012, Univision Communications announced that it would relaunch TeleFutura as UniMás on January 7, 2013. The network would feature programming from Caracol Televisión, RTI Colombia and Televisa, as well as sports content.[3][15][16] The new logo and brand identity were created in collaboration with branding firm Troika Design Group. As part of the campaign to announce the launch, Univision Communications launched an extensive advertising campaign for UniMás that included promotional spots, digital ads, print ads and outdoor advertising in New York City, Los Angeles and Miami.[17]

UniMás also increased its sports offerings with events such as games from the Mexico National Team and Liga MX, and rights to the 2013 CONCACAF Gold Cup, 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup and 2014 FIFA World Cup. TeleFutura shows carried over to the relaunched UniMás included sports programs such as the boxing showcase Solo Boxeo and the nightly sports news program Contacto Deportivo. The network also launched several new series including Made in Cartagena, ¿Quién Eres Tú? and Cloroformo.[18] The station broadcasts Metástasis, the Colombian-produced remake of Breaking Bad.

Programming

List of programs broadcast by UniMás

UniMás HD

In January 1, 2010, TeleFutura – along with sister network Univision – began broadcasting its programming in high definition (broadcasting in the 1080i resolution format). The two were the last major broadcast networks in the United States to begin offering their programming in HD. DirecTV added the West Coast feed of the network in HD nationally on April 28, 2010.[19] Dish Network later added the West Coast feed on May 12, 2010.[20]

TeleFutura's HD format was also rebranded as UniMás HD on January 7, 2013

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Univision Transforms TeleFutura into UniMas, Delivering Programming from the Top Spanish-Language Content Producers in the World". MarketWatch. December 3, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Barry Diller Profile". Forbes. Retrieved 2013-01-10.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Guthrie, Marisa (December 3, 2012). "Univision Rebrands Telefutura as UniMás". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Rashel Díaz Joins "Telefutura En Vivo y Directo"". Univision. Retrieved 2005-09-29.
  5. ↑ Sam Thielman (December 10, 2012). "Hispanic Networks Rebrand en Masse". Adweek.
  6. ↑ Mark Reynolds (July 19, 2009). "Cover Story: Global Goal". Multichannel News.
  7. ↑ Paul Kennedy (December 4, 2012). "MLS Cup viewers jump on TeleFutura, Xolos are TV hit". Soccer America.
  8. ↑ "Broadcasting Media Partners Completes Acquisition of Univision". Saban. March 29, 2007. Retrieved 2009-02-19.
  9. ↑ Univision
  10. ↑ "Univision's new ownership takes over," Los Angeles Times, March 30, 2007.
  11. ↑ Rosemary Mercedes. "TeleFutura Delivers Highest Primetime Performance Ever in February Sweeps Among Key Hispanic Viewers". Univision Networks. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
  12. ↑ "El Publico Pide".
  13. ↑ "Work It" Didn't Work
  14. ↑ Cancelan 'Tómbola' de Telefutura. Varios talentos afectados (VIDEO Y FOTOS)
  15. ↑ "Univision Transforms Telefutura Into UniMás, Delivering Programming From The Top Spanish-Language Content Producers In The World" (Press release). Univision Communications. December 3, 2012. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
  16. ↑ Ellingson, Annlee (December 3, 2012). "Univision plays the hipster card". L.A. Biz. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
  17. ↑ Guthrie, Marisa (October 17, 2012). "Univision Unveils New Logo, First Tagline". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
  18. ↑ Meg James (January 7, 2013). "Univision to revamp its secondary Spanish language network". Los Angeles Times.
  19. ↑ DIRECTV Launches Univision and TeleFutura in Crystal-Clear HD DirecTV Press Release April 28, 2010
  20. ↑ Dish To Launch Galavision HD Multichannel News May 12, 2010

External links