THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 26, 1996 TAG: 9609260465
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: (Dave Mayfield/Staff writer)
LENGTH: 26 lines
International Family Entertainment Inc., Virginia Beach-based parent of The Family Channel, said Wednesday it formed a 50-50 venture with Denver-based United International Holdings Inc. to launch TV channels in Latin America.
IFE said its existing Spanish-language version of Family Channel, now distributed in Mexico, will be migrated to the new enterprise, based in Miami and named United Family Communications. It said that the channel will be upgraded and relaunched next March across Central and South America along with two new channels - ATLAS, which will feature educationally oriented shows, and Casa Club TV, which will focus on lifestyles.
Paul Newton, an IFE senior vice president, said having three channels will let the partners offer a more attractively priced package of programming to Latin American cable and satellite services than competitors with single channels.
IFE's Family Channel de las Americas, launched in July 1995, has less than 100,000 subscribers, fewer than expected for this time, Newton said. United International, whose specialty is owning and managing cable-TV services outside the United States, has several times more than that number of subscribers in its Latin American cable systems. by CNB