New TV channel Fusion aims at US Hispanics, in English
Washington (AFP) - A new cable television channel aimed at US Hispanics in English, dubbed Fusion, was set to debut Monday, snagging an interview with President Barack Obama for its first day.
Fusion describes itself as a "news, pop culture and satire TV and digital network," and is a joint venture of Walt Disney unit ABC and the Spanish-language broadcaster Univision. Its website is integrated in the Yahoo-ABC News Network.
The channel is targeting one of the fastest growing demographic segments in the United States -- young people, so-called "millennials" -- who identify themselves as Hispanic, but whose primary language is English.
The first broadcast scheduled was an interview with Obama at 2300 GMT as part of the program ?America with Jorge Ramos.? The president scheduled the interview with ABC correspondent Jim Avila.
Ramos, the anchorman since 1986 for Noticiero Univision, also was to interview Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who led an effort that shut down the US government in an attempt to block the president's signature health reform.
Grammy-award winning recording artist Enrique Iglesias also was appearing on the first day.
Fusion touts itself as a channel aimed at "a young, diverse and inclusive America" and said it would offer "a unique mix of smart and irreverent original reporting, lifestyle and comedic content."
?Over 80 percent of millennials sleep with their phones next to their beds every night because they don't want to miss a beat,? said Fusion chief executive Isaac Lee.
?We want to be the ones they wake up with. This beta site will help lay the building blocks as we continue to develop our digital properties.?
Fusion has agreements to be carried on Cablevision, Charter, Cox, AT&T U-Verse, Verizon FiOS and Google Fiber.
The Fusion website went live on October 21.
The launch of Fusion comes two months after the debut of Al Jazeera America, which aims to offer an alternative to the three major US cable news channels.
