Latin America. The Olympic gold medalist, 10-time world champion, and one of the most important boxing promoters in the world, Oscar de la Hoya, will launch a new television channel of sports, travel and style in Spanish, called De La Hoya TV, as announced by the "Golden Boy", within the framework of the NATPE.
Offering news, analysis and original programming focused on combat sports, including boxing and MMA, the multi-platform channel will feature entertainment, travel, lifestyles and news about international sports, giving fans another level of access to the champions of the sports they admire.
"De La Hoya TV will be the authority on boxing and other combat sports, offering fans exclusive to the world and lifestyles of their favorite athletes," said De La Hoya, president of the company. "The channel exists to inspire everyone to live the life of a champion, offering exceptional perspectives from athletes and entertainment programs, world destinations, news and more."
Building on the brand of boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya, the channel will launch with Spanish-language content and focus on U.S. Hispanic market share.
The Latino audience — which now numbers more than 50 million Hispanics in the U.S. — has long fueled the popularity of combat sports, and De La Hoya TV will provide this market with an experience it has always longed for. Among the U.S. Hispanic audience, boxing is the second most popular sport after soccer, and recent data suggests that more than 50 percent of mixed martial arts (MMA) fans are Hispanic.
The cross-platform channel will launch in spring 2015 and will be available for cable and satellite distribution. Initially its launch will be in Spanish, with a view to offering content in English in the future. In this way, modern consumers will have multiple options to participate in the channel's programming.
De La Hoya TV is a collaboration between three partners: Oscar De La Hoya, businessman and international boxing promoter José Alberto "Pepe" Gómez, and media executive and Fashion TV Latin America partner Victor Hugo Montero.
Gómez is an important promoter of Mexican boxing, increasingly recognized at the international level. Gómez owns Grupo Quequi, one of the most important business groups in Mexico, made up of the most important newspaper in the region, a radio station, among other businesses.
Montero is an executive with experience in television and cable, having launched Venezuela's first cable channel, Sun Channel Tourism Television, which is currently available throughout Latin America. Most recently Montero relaunched Fashion TV Latin America, an international cable channel.
"In my decades working in television, I've seen few opportunities to connect with an untapped market and exponentially growing market like this one. For over a year we have worked on this project and are focused on expanding Spanish-language content to soon also include English and make it available to a wider audience – all to serve consumer appetite," said Victor Hugo Montero, CEO and Managing Director of De La Hoya TV.
"The popularity of combat sports continues to grow throughout the United States, Latin America and the world, and now fans will finally have a resource for news and analysis through De la Hoya television," said Jose Alberto "Pepe" Gomez, vice president of De La Hoya TV.
Original production for De La Hoya TV will begin in early 2015, details on programming schedules to be announced soon. The network is based in Miami, Florida.
