Univision held its upfront presentation this morning in NYC’s New Amsterdam theater.
Besides numbers, ratings and pitches about why it’s a “One for All” multiplatform network, the big surprise was when network President César Conde announced that El Rey network had partnered with Univision.
Conde introduced filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, who took the stage to show a promo video of the network, saying El Rey was “going to kick ass.”
Rodriguez unveiled the first original scripted production for his network: “From Dusk Till Dawn.” The series is based on the action/horror franchise from Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, and will be written, produced and directed by Rodriguez.
With this partnership, Conde promised to increase its reach to Hispanic millennials, becoming its second English-language network, along with Fusion, to cater to this younger bilingual audience.
El Rey, now hand in hand with Univision, is slated for a December 2013 launch. Fusion’s launch date is yet undetermined.
The Univision news comes as a surprise, because in February of last year, Comcast announced it selected El Rey as one of two Hispanic-themed cable networks in its line-up, with a scheduled launch of January 2014.
At the time, Comcast said El Rey would include a mix of reality, scripted and animated series, movies, documentaries, news, music, comedy, and sports programming that will feature Hispanic producers, celebrities and public figures.
Stay tuned for more upfront details.