Disney and Univision name joint venture network Fusion

The upcoming joint venture cable network from ABC and US Hispanic broadcaster Univision will be called Fusion.

The news and entertainment service will launch in the second half of this year.

It will be based in Florida and programmed in English for a US Latino audience.

At launch Fusion will be distributed on five US cable systems Cablevision, Charter, Cox, AT&T U-verse and Google Fiber.

Cesar Conde, president, Univision Networks recently told TBI: “Spanish language will always be the core of what we do, but as part of a portfolio approach we have introduced English in a culturally relevant manner. We’ve done it for the portion of the [Hispanic] audience who prefer to consume content in English and also for English-speaking viewers who like Hispanic content and are interested in Hispanic issues, food, music and culture. We felt it was important to have that in the portfolio.”

Hispanics represent 16% of the total population in the US, a number that is projected to double to 30 percent by 2050, ABC and Univision noted when announcing the branding for the new channel.