Telemundo wants channel in 23 countries in year one

Telemundo plans to have its relaunched Telemundo International channel in 23 countries within twelve months of its upcoming launch in Mexico. The NBC-owned Spanish-language programmer and channel operator will roll out the channel in Mexico this September.

Telemundo Internacional president Marcos Santana told TBIvision: "After the first launch we will spread the channel throughout Latin America, Europe and elsewhere. We want to be in 23 countries [within a year] including Spain, Portugal and Canada."

Telemundo has launched an international channel before, but its rollout was halted a couple of years ago. Santana says the quality of the programming is higher now and he expects it to perform better the second time round.

It will have wide coverage in Mexico after securing carriage on Televisa-backed cabler Cablevision and satellite platform Sky. That was agreed as part of a wide ranging ten-year deal between Televisa and Telemundo that also involved 1,200 hours of Telemundo shows airing exclusively on Televisa’s Channel 9 from next month.

Telemundo will provide Channel 9 with series and telenovelas while the content on the pay channel will be more focused on news, variety and entertainment programming.