Adiós, mun2! Hola, NBC Universo!

NBC's new Spanish-language channel will focus on sports.

Laura Martinez

On February 1, NBC was the place to be for America’s number-one live TV event.

But while the Patriots battled the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, NBCUniversal was staking its claim for dominance among the millions who watch TV in Spanish as well as English.

The media giant said adiós to its 13-year-old cable channel aimed at young Latinos, mun2, and in- troduced NBC Universo to mun2’s estimated 40 million households nationwide.

The date for the switch was no coincidence. In 2014 NBCU had secured the Spanish-language rights for the 2015 Super Bowl, making the annual ratings extravaganza the ideal opportunity to introduce NBC Universo.

“We are convinced that there is a place for a strong cable channel targeting Hispanics,” says Rubén Mendiola, a former Comcast executive who was appointed president of mun2 earlier last year and led its evolution into NBC Universo.

But since its launch in 2001 as a cable sibling of broadcast network Telemundo, mun2 did not show the growth NBCU had expected.

"We saw its growth was slowing down, says Joe Uva, NBCUniversal's chairman of Hispanic enterprises and content. He commissioned a series of studies, and the conclusion pointed toward a need for a general entertainment cable network targeting Hispanics.

The new channel will be identified with NBC — it will even feature the network’s iconic peacock.

NBC Universo will offer a mix of telenovelas, unscripted series and sports. Like Telemundo, it will carry the 2015 and 2018 FIFA World Cup championships. While it won’t become a sports-only channel, as some had speculated, NBC Universo will be sports-heavy, given the properties secured by its parent company.

The focus on sports — in Spanish — is an interesting bet.

“When it comes to fútbol [soccer], Hispanics prefer to watch it in Spanish,” says Pablo Buffagni, a former creative director at Saatchi & Saatchi’s Conill and founder of the BBQ Agency, a marketing agency in California. “It’s all about the passion and how a match is narrated in Spanish. I’ve noticed this behavior even among friends who speak English perfectly.”

Speaking of language, both Uva and Mendiola say NBC Universo will be open to programming in Spanish or English. “While sports will air in Spanish — which is the language the network holds the rights to — entertainment and other programming will be conveyed in the appropriate language,” Uva says. “This is part of our strategy to be organic.”