Sí TV Details ’08 Fare, Online Plans
English-Language Latino-Targeted Cable Network Holds Upfront Presentation
By Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, 4/17/2007 5:21:00 PM
New York -- Sí TV, which targets young adult Latinos with English-language content, is buttressing its linear lineup for 2008 while expanding its Web presence.
Officials speaking at the 14 million-subscriber network’s upfront presentation to advertisers here Tuesday said the service acquired an action-sports series, commissioned a pair of reality shows and is working toward a program that will integrate both short-form clips and user-generated content that will toggle between the network and its Web site.
Sí TV -- which is also rolling out fresh episodes of flagship program The Drop and will premiere fashion-forward Styleyes Miami May 26 -- acquired 44 installments of Adrenalina, an action-sports series that will fuse music and humor with skateboarding, surfing, BMX and wakeboarding. Senior vice president of programming Ed Leon said the half-hour show will bow on Sí TV in next year’s first quarter.
That period will also mark the debut of Total Combat, a reality series looking at how a husband/wife team is running the business end of a mixed-martial-arts fighting league.
Leon said the first season will comprise 13-16 episodes.
In next year’s second quarter, Leon added, Sí TV will roll out eight episodes of Past Port, another reality series in which young Latinos will encounter the culture shock of visiting the country their parents call home.
For next year’s second quarter, the network also commissioned 26 installments of Home Page, which was described as “YouTube done Sí TV-style.” To that end, the program will feature user-generated videos, animated versions of themselves, video clips and host interludes. Officials said viewer participation will also extend to voting and community participation from SiTV.com.
Speaking of the Web site, the company’s current promotionally oriented iteration is drawing unique monthly visitors in the low-six-figure range, according to VP of ad sales Tracey McCormack. However, the company anticipates significant traffic growth to 1.8 million uniques by December as it ties into cross-promotion with the likes of AOL Latino and adds new sites.
Indeed, the company plans to begin rolling out pieces of a new online-entertainment offering -- spotlighting the worlds of music, film, comedy and nightlife -- in June. That will be followed in August by attendant trend sites tied to clothing, sneakers, cars and gadgets.
With these and other efforts involving the creation of content for other new-media platforms, McCormack anticipated that Sí TV will be able to nearly double its base of advertisers to about 160 following this upfront season.
