Univision to launch Flama and 5 new UVideo channels

Univision, which touts 7.5 million unique monthly visitors to its sites, today held its first Hispanic Digital Content NewFront presentation in New York City.

During the event, Kevin Conroy, Univision’s President of Digital and Enterprise Development, unveiled plans for new original digital content and announced the company will launch Flama, a new digital destination with culturally relevant content for Hispanic millennials, as well as 5 UVideo channels.

Flama will house original one-off videos and recurrent series across a variety of genres, from comedy to documentary, in addition to ancillary editorial and social features.

Scheduled to debut in the fall, Flama is billed as “a place to incubate innovative content and develop new talent with fresh, independent voices.”  Among the series concepts under development:

·         “Salseras” – Univision and VEVO are jointly taking to market this scripted web series about two childhood best friends that become fierce rivals in their college campus salsa dancing competition.

·         “Back Home” – A new docu-series that takes young Hispanics on a journey back to their ancestral homelands with a small budget and a list of challenges to discover their roots (which sort of sounds like nuvoTV’s Pastport series, which takes celebrities back to their countries of origin to reconnect with their roots).

Univision also announced 5 new channels on UVideos, its bilingual digital video network, which will showcase lifestyle, cooking, beauty and fashion, comedy and behind the scenes programming:

·         “La Buena Vida” (Lifestyle Channel) – a new lifestyle channel with fitness trends and tips to help consumers live a good life.

·         “En La Olla” (Cooking Channel) –  everything food-related from recipes to restaurants and more. Features new content from “Despierta America’s” Karla Martinez.

·         “Canal Fashion” (Beauty and Fashion Channel) – with everything from celebrity faux pas to the hottest trends.

·         “La Carcajada” (Comedy Channel) – comedy channel featuring “Despierta América” co-host, Raul González.

·         “Lo Que No Ves” (Behind the Scenes) – new web-only content channel dedicated to giving fans a behind the scenes peek at Hispanic America’s celebrities.

Univision will also continue building UVideos’ News and Sports content.