Univision Rebrands Telefutura as UniMás

Univision Communications will rebrand its TeleFutura network UniMás. The rechristened channel will launch Jan. 7 and unite the company’s second most popular channel under the Univision banner.

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“UniMás will offer the new generation of Hispanic Millennial trendsetters -- the Más Generation -- options for bolder content,” Cesar Conde, president of Univision Networks, said in a statement Monday. “We recognize the opportunity for offering an alternative to our audiences while maintaining our commitment to only delivering the best programming available. That is why we are making a significant investment in the new brand, with new content offerings and considerable off-network marketing efforts. We will deliver more of the best available Spanish-language programming, more series, more sports and more movies that speak to what our audience is looking for.”

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The move follows rebranding efforts this year at Galavision and an update of flagship Univision’s iconic tulip logo with a new tagline – The Hispanic Heartbeat of America.

TeleFutura has had success with rebroadcasts of Hollywood movies. But UniMás will target a younger, male demographic with edgier fare via new content deals with Colombia-based distributors Caracol Televisión and RTI Colombia, which co-produced rival Telemundo's popular telenovela La Reina del Sur. NBCUniversal's Telemundo Media owns a 40 percent stake in RTI and has a first-rights deal with Caracol, which will cease at the end of the year. So the content deals could be seen as a broadside at Telemundo, which is now the second most-watched Spanish-language network, although Univision still has a substantial (more than 50 percent) share of the U.S. Hispanic audience. Earlier this year, Telemundo unveiled its own redesign of its T logo, the first in 11 years. And Telemundo and NBCUni last year won U.S. Spanish-language rights to the World Cup in 2018 and 2022. 

New series on UniMás will include the gritty crime drama Made in Cartagena (from Caracol), the RTI-produced thriller Quien Eres Tu (Who Are You) and the boxing-themed drama Cloroformo, produced by Televisa.

The network also will increase its sports offerings with games from the Mexican National Team, Liga MX, CONCACAF Gold Cup 2013, FIFA Confederations Cup 2013 and World Cup 2014 and will continue airing the professional boxing series Solo Boxeo and the nightly Contacto Deportivo, which features sports highlights.

“For more than 50 years, Univision has been committed to listening to the needs of our consumers, and UniMás expands on our promise to be the Hispanic Heartbeat of America,” said Randy Falco, president and CEO of Univision Communications. “UniMás is the result of Univision listening to our audience and our vision to leverage the deep connection of our Univision brand, creating a new brand that complements our other networks’ offerings while expanding our opportunity to deliver the best content for our audience. UniMás delivers more action, more drama and more sports than ever before and will be another platform for us to celebrate our culture and connect America.”

Email: Marisa.Guthrie@thr.com

Twitter: @MarisaGuthrie