The powers that be at Fox News have noticed that the Hispanic population in the US is growing, and there are plans on the drawing board to take a stab at serving this emerging market. But the plans do not include a new cable television channel.
The service, FOX News Latino, is coming this fall and will be sited at www.FoxNewsLatino.com, according to a Reuters report.
Fox says that in a 700-channel cable programming universe, it is simply not feasible to attempt a cable television service at this point.
Fox News exec Michael Clemente addressed the possibility that Hispanics would avoid a website with the Fox brand due to the strong anti-illegal immigrant stance of the FNC’s conservative opinion shows, saying that shouldn’t be a problem because this service will be strictly news-oriented.
RBR-TVBR observation: The internet allows broadcast companies to experiment in ways that just were not possible before. This gives Hispanic viewers who want to consume a mainstream news service as a step toward cultural assimilation a link back to their heritage community.
And it allows Fox, for a relatively modest up front investment, to explore the viability of an Hispanic news service. If it doesn’t go anywhere, not much will be lost. But if it takes off, it opens the door to an entire new demographic.
