Dish Network Adds Telenovela Channel

Dish Network has launched Pasiones, a new Spanish-language channel dedicated to the soap opera/telenovela genre, officials said Tuesday.

Pasiones airs exclusively on Dish Network Channel 834, an addition to the satellite provider’s new DishMexico package, which caters exclusively to the Mexican American audience. The channel is also available via Dish Network's DishLatino packages.

Pasiones combines top-rated Latin American soap operas, including the most recent high-definition productions, and never-before-seen, exclusive behind-the-scenes content. Pasiones' approach is based on offering of a wide variety of telenovelas produced in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Uruguay and the United States. La Baby Sister, Porque Diablos, Tormenta de Pasiones, Puerto de los Milagros, Metamorfosis and Kachorra are some of the soap operas included in its programming lineup.

"The soap opera is one of the most important entertainment sources in Mexico and Latin America, thus we are confident that the Hispanic audience in the U.S. will celebrate the arrival of Pasiones - the only channel that offers a perfect mix of variety and quality of telenovelas from across Latin America," Pasiones general manager Juan Pablo Santos said in a statement. "Pasiones' multicultural approach will definitively take passion for telenovelas to the next level."

DISH Network customers have exclusive access to Pasiones for as little as $9.99 per month for the first six months via its newly launched DishMexico package, which features more than 50 channels plus local channels (the price goes up to $19.99 once promotion period has ended).

The Pasiones programming lineup has been designed with an intent to appeal to the Mexican-American audience with actors, stories and telenovelas that have been successful with the Mexican audience. Such actors include Sebastian Ligarde, Gerardo Albarran, Alejandra Lazcano and Lupita Ferrer, among many others.

Pasiones was successfully launched in Latin America in July, and since then, has obtained daily primetime averages comparable to many of the well-established TV channels in the region, and in most of the countries, broke into the top 25 ranking in its first month of operations, according to Dish officials.