Posted 12 May 2008 - 08:37 PM
Here's a translation of the main article, guys. Apologies for any mistakes made.
CNN Chile: the first 24-hour news channel will debut in the second half of the year
This is the first joint-venture of this type between CNN and a Latin American operator.
In five months' time or more, the first 24-hour news channel will commence its transmission in the country: CNN Chile. The project was announced yesterday and is a result of a joint-venture between VTR and CNN to create a television channel. VTR and CNN will be equal owners.
The agreement was signed in Santiago Tuesday night, between the president of the cable operator Mauricio Ramos and the CEO of Turner Broadcasting System Latin America - which owns CNN - Juan Carlos Urdaneta.
The negotiations were formalized and agreed upon three weeks ago, and the work to materialize the project had commenced long before that. An extensive team consisting members from both VTR and CNN worked to bring this project to a good start. A source confirms that a pre-agreement had already been signed in 2005.
"CNN Chile", which for CNN is pioneering since it is its first cooperative project with a Latin American company, will be broadcast initially only on VTR's systems. VTR reaches 800,000 households and is owned by Liberty Global of the US (80%) as well as Cristalerias of Chile. The administration of the channel will be in the hands of Chilean professionals while the editorial team will be headed by the industry don Patricio Hernandez, formerly the Director of Programming at Channel 13.
Programs will be broadcast from studios that will be constructed specially in Santiago. The network will have access to the resources of CNN International.
The investment, according to well-acquainted sources in the industry, involves a little less than US$8 million, which will be spent in the first five months.
It is estimated by industry sources that the news department of Channel 13 spends around $15 million daily, or US$32 million. However, sources related to CNN Chile highlight that a project like this does not need enormous facilities like a general television channel, especially since the channel can make use of modern technology and operate with little more than a few square meters. A good example of this is Telecanal, located in an office building in the capital.
Although transmission begins in the second half of the year, those working on the project had already started work since the 1 March.
Why Chile?
Although this will be a first for CNN in Latin America, the U.S. based network has already established affiliates worldwide, such as CNN+ in Spain, CNN Turk in Turkey, CNNj in Japan and CNN-IBN in India. In these countries, these networks are one of the five most watched channels.
Sources linked to the CNN Chile project revealed that Chile was chosen by CNN for at least two important reasons. One of them is the absence of all-news channels in the country. This reason attracted many U.S. investors. The second reason is the political and economic stability Chile provides, in addition to the maturity of the Chilean market. The local TV sector is a good place to start news businesses, even with its high barriers to entry.
Another factor is the high TV penetration in the country.
Today, there are around one million households connected in Chile.
I'm Rosemary Church, thanks for your company. *SMILES*
