V-me
V-me | |
---|---|
Owned by | V-me Media Inc. |
Picture format | 480i |
Slogan | V-me Televisión Diferente (English: V-me done differently) |
Country | United States |
Language | Spanish |
Broadcast area | United States |
Headquarters | Miami, Florida |
Sister channel(s) | V-me Kids (vmekids.com) |
Website | vmetv.com |
Availability | |
Terrestrial | |
Via subchannels of local PBS stations | Channel numbers and availability vary |
Satellite | |
DirecTV | 440 |
Dish Network | 846 |
Cable | |
Cablevision | 199 |
Comcast | Varies according to location |
Time Warner Cable | Varies according to location |
IPTV | |
AT&T U-verse | 3015 |
Verizon FiOS | 477 |
V-me (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈbeme], a pun on veme, "watch me") is the first and only Spanish broadcast television network in association with public television stations created for the United States Hispanic market. Reaching more than 70 million households in the United States, V-me is broadcast in 43 markets by PBS stations and is available on DIRECTV, DISH Network, AT&T U-verse, as well as major cable companies including Comcast. V-me delivers drama, music, current affairs, food, lifestyle, nature and educational pre-school content to its viewers. The 24-hour digital broadcast service was launched on March 5, 2007, and it is dedicated to entertain, educate and inspire families in Spanish with a contemporary mix of original productions, exclusive premieres, acquisitions, and popular public television programs from PBS and American Public Television, specially adapted for Hispanics. [1] [2]
The first venture of the media production and distribution company V-me Television Media Inc., it is a public-private partnership between WNET, a non-commercial educational public television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, and the investment firm Baeza Group, the venture capital firm Syncom Funds, and Grupo PRISA from Spain, one of the world's largest Spanish and Portuguese-language media companies.[3][4] WNET is a minority partner in the for-profit venture.[1]
Broadcast in 43 U.S. markets, V-me is available free over the air, and on basic cable, through its association with PBS member stations, making it the fourth largest Spanish network in the U.S. with 78% of broadcasting across the nation [5] V-me is also carried nationally via satellite in the basic packages of DISH Network and DirecTV. In some areas, V-me is available on Verizon FiOS, AT&T U-verse and the Atlantic Broadband. V-me is also available on Cox Cable with its TV Starter Digital Pack, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision and Comcast's XFINITY MultiLatino Package as well as the Limited Basic Package in some markets.
In April 2013, a Florida-based private investor group took control of V-me Media, Inc., the U.S. Hispanic content and distribution company that owns Spanish-language network V-me and V-me Kids. Financial terms of the deal and the percentage of the ownership of the new investors was not disclosed. The V-me Board includes former AOL executive and founder and CEO of DailyMe.com, chairman of the board, Syncom managing partner Terry Jones and WNET’s VP and general counsel Robert Feinberg. V-me founder, Mario Baeza, stepped down as chairman, but will continue to have an ownership interest. LPM is the largest stakeholder in V-me.
Among the journalists who have worked for V-me are Jorge Gestoso, Juan Manuel Benitez, Luis Sarmiento, Alonso Castillo and Marián de la Fuente.
Programming
The network broadcasts a variety of programming in Spanish:
- Latino-focused lifestyle content: health, parenting, travel, food, home, design, self-improvement and sports programs
- Prime time drama series
- News and current affairs, with Oppenheimer Presenta and Jorge Gestoso Investiga
- Nature documentaries from BBC, National Geographic and PBS
- Latin films and TV miniseries
- Original music series, like Estudio Billboard
- Weekly arts and pop culture specials
- Educational preschool programs in Spanish (40 hours a week); children's television shows include:
- Franny's Feet (Los Pies Mágicos de Franny)
- Hairy Legs (Mi Amigo Harry)
- Hi Opie!
- hoopla doopla!
- Luli's Wonder Days
- Mouk
- My Animal Family (Mi Familia Animal)
- Plaza Sésamo
- Space Racers (Exploradores Espaciales)
- UMIGO
- Vitaminix
- Zoobabu
Affiliates
References
- 1 2 Everhart, Karen. "Multicast channels crowd bitstream: Vme TV, in Spanish, joins options for stations’ DTV broadcasts." Current. February 12, 2007. Retrieved July 18, 2011.
- ↑ Vme TV - Sponsors. Retrieved July 18, 2011.
- ↑ Elizabeth Jensen (February 7, 2007). "Public Television Plans A Network for Latinos" (PDF). New York Times. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 24, 2011. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
- ↑ Dru Sefton (April 23, 2012). "PubTV multicaster Vme TV faulted for airing 'ordinary commercials'". Current.org. Retrieved December 14, 2012.
- ↑ Vme TV Upfront 2011–2012. May 19, 2011. Retrieved July 18, 2011.