NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises in recent years has made it a point to note its considerable investment in local TV news. Now, Univision Communications is following suit by launching three new morning newscasts across four of its Lone Star State markets.
Primera Edición DFW will be seen on KUVN-23 in Dallas, while KXLN-45 in Houston will bow Noticias 45 Primera Hora. For Austin and San Antonio, viewers to KAKW-62 and KWEX-41, respectively, will now get Primera Hora Teas Central.
The local newscasts will air from 5am-7am weekdays, taking a cue from successful English-language TV stations’ newscasts ahead of national breakfast-hour programs. In the case of Univision, the local sunrise shows will lead into the long-running Despierta América morning show, which was recently retooled by Univision.
Univision says this is the first time that local Spanish-language morning newscasts will be airing on its stations in those three markets.
The new Texas telecasts follow Univision’s recent launch of local news apps in Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Houston, Dallas, Chicago and the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose market.
“We are more focused than ever on expanding our local news offerings to deliver our audience the news and information they need, when they need it most and across multiple platforms,” said Chris Peña, Univision’s SVP/Local News. “Supporting the needs of the Hispanic community in markets across the nation has been the hallmark of Univision since the company was formed over five decades ago, and we look forward to continuing that legacy with the new morning newscasts in Texas.”
Primera Edicion DFW on KUVN is anchored by Johana Suarez and Miguelangel Piñero.
Noticias 45 Primera Hora on KXLN is led by Karina Yapor and co-anchor Nathaly Alcala.
Primera Hora Texas Central is co-anchored by Myrna Salas, Francisco Paco Fuentes, and Carime Hernandez with field reporters Sandy Marin in Austin and Jorge Ernesto Vinals in San Antonio.
