TeleFutura

Infobox Network
network_name = TeleFutura
network_
country = United States
network_type = Broadcast
television network
available = National; also available in Mexico
owner = Univision Communications, Inc.
key_people =
launch_date = January 14, 2002
founder =
past_names = None
brand =
website = [http://www.telefutura.com/ www.telefutura.com]

TeleFutura is a U.S. Spanish-language broadcast television network owned by Univision with headquarters in Miami, Florida.

Overview

The network started on January 14, 2002, a month behind Telemundo's launch of its cable TV network, the bilingual mun2, with programs such as the 3 hour gossip/Entertainment show "Escándalo TV" (formerly "Escándalo en el Medio Dia", but later changed due to a similarly named program airing in Mexico by Televisa S.A.) which was designed to compete with similar offerings like "Cotorreando" from NBC Universal's Telemundo. Commercials for TeleFutura often air on the Univision network. Most of the stations that carry TeleFutura once aired the Home Shopping Network. Univision bought the stations from Barry Diller's USA Broadcasting late in 2001.

TeleFutura's programming consists of Venezuelan telenovelas from Coral Productions, RCTV, and game shows from Televisa and Venevision. The network also airs movies (mainly recent American releases dubbed into Spanish), boxing, "Futbol Liga Mexicana" broadcasts, news (including Contacto Deportivo) and game shows, including their first game show "Que Dice la Gente" (formerly the Televisa program "100 Mexicanos Dijeron"), based on the popular "Family Feud".

In late 2005, TeleFutura started airing En Vivo y Directo, a 7pm newscast, opposite the taped 4pm news on Galavisión). But the network eventually cancelled "En Vivo y Directo" due to low ratings after only a few weeks and have replaced the newscast with movies.

The network also offers a children programming block called Toonturama to fulfill the E/I requirements. Curiously, this block is show both on Saturdays and Sundays, and includes mostly American and European series dubben into Spanish, as "Flight Squad", "Toad Patrol" and "Problem Child". In the past, anime such as "Lost Universe", "Tenchi Universe", and "Red Baron" were shown in the block as well.

TeleFutura is also a part of the Spanish-language coverage of the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament, as Univision owns exclusive US Spanish-language rights. For 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 had game replays and recap shows. In addition, and in conjunction, Telefutura also airs an exclusive Major League Soccer game of the week on Sunday afternoon/evening.

In late June 2006, Univision was sold to an investment group including entertainment industry veteran Haim Saban for $13 billion. There are reports on media message boards that TeleFutura is being phased out and several key on air talents are being shifted to Univision and Galavision channels. However these rumors have not been verified, nor will the shutdown of TeleFutura happen anytime soon: According to Nielsen Media Research, in February 2007 TeleFutura made significant gains in viewership 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 demos. [http://www.hispanicprwire.com/news.php?l=in&id=8151&cha=7]

Primetime Schedule

Movies/Movies shows are in red; Reality/Game Shows are in green; Primetime Telenovelas are in blue; News are in purple.