ESPN Latin America
1823011
179003866
2007-12-19T18:35:09Z
201.137.42.106
{{Infobox Network |
network_name = ESPN Latin America|
network_logo = |
country = Latin America|
network_type = [[Cable television|Cable]] [[Television Network]]|
available = Latin America|
owner = [[The Walt Disney Company]] (80%)<br>[[Hearst Corporation]] (20%)|
key_people = [[George Bodenheimer]], President, ESPN, Inc.|
launch_date = [[1989]]|
founder = [[Scott Rasmussen]] and Bill Rasmussen|
slogan = |
past_names = |
website =
}}
'''ESPN Latin America''' is an [[ESPN]] channel that broadcasts in Latin America, not to be confused with [[ESPN Deportes]], which is another channel which broadcasts in the [[United States]] in Spanish. ESPN Latin America is not available in the U.S., because is not authorized to air most of the programming seen on its U.S. sister channels due to television rights affecting the programs. It is adapted to the demands of [[Spanish language|Spanish-speaking]] viewers, who tend to prefer [[football (soccer)|football]] and Hispanic [[baseball]] players to the more [[Anglosphere|Anglo-centric]] programming or athletes.
ESPN Latin America first aired in [[1989 in sports|1989]]. It cablecasts programs in Spanish; some of the programs are live or taped retransmissions of the sister channels [[ESPN]], [[ESPN2]] and [[ESPN Deportes]]. Some of those programs include English-language audio on a [[second audio program]] (SAP) with commentators from sister channels of the U.S. or commentators who work just for the ESPN Latin America channel. One of the voiceover announcers who announces programming on TV commercials has also appeared as a voiceover substitute for [[CNBC]] programs like ''[[Kudlow & Company]]'' and ''[[Mad Money]]'' in the U.S.
ESPN Latin America, unlike its U.S. sister channels, has more programs related to [[football (soccer)|football]], such as live games from the [[Spanish football league]]. It also airs live retransmissions of ''[[Sunday Night Baseball|ESPN Sunday Night Baseball]]'', the Home Run Derby, All-Star Game, Playoffs and World Series with [[Ernesto Jerez]] as the Spanish-language play-by-play announcer and other baseball commentators such as [[Venezuelan]] brothers [[Luis Alfredo Álvarez]] and [[Fernando Álvarez]] and former Puerto Rican [[Major League Baseball]] player [[Candy Maldonado]]. On weekday mornings at 9 a.m. [[North American Eastern Time Zone|Eastern Time]], ESPN Latin America also airs the taped ''[[SportsCenter]]'' programs which air live the night before on ESPN in the U.S. at 1 a.m. ET.
Many of the TV commercials shown on ESPN Latin America are for companies from [[Mexico]] (e.g. [[Bimbo (company)|Bimbo]] sliced bread), [[Venezuela]] (e.g. [[Empresas Polar]] beer) and [[Argentina]] (e.g. [[General Motors Corporation|General Motors]] Argentina), where the viewer numbers are higher than in other countries.
ESPN Latin America's main competitor is [[News Corporation]]'s [[Fox Sports LA|Fox Sports Latin America]] from [[Los Angeles]] (formerly called ''FOX Sports Americas''), which, unlike ESPN Latin America, has a FOX Sports Latin America Northern Cone channel for the [[Caribbean]]/Mexico baseball-focused region, and another channel called FOX Sports Latin America Southern Cone for central and southern South America, which is more soccer-oriented.
The [[The Walt Disney Company|Disney]]/[[Hearst Corporation]] [[joint venture]] has also added some secondary regional channels for the Spanish-speaking Americas in the last few years, like [[ESPN Dos]] (ESPN2) for the Caribbean/Mexico region, and [[ESPN+]] (ESPN Más) for the [[Río de la Plata]] region (Argentina/[[Uruguay]]/[[Paraguay]]/[[Bolivia]]/[[Chile]]).
The channel is also available in Portuguese for [[Brazil]], where ESPN also owns regional channel [[ESPN Brasil]]. An exclusive feed for Brazil was launched in [[December 15th]] [[2005]], introducing programming subtitled in [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], ESPN Brasil programming and events commented by ESPN Brasil staff.
==See also==
*[[List of ESPN Latin America announcers]]
*[[Sports_television_broadcast_contracts#Latin_America|Latin american sports television broadcast contracts]]
*[[ESPN+]]
==External links==
*{{es icon}} [http://www.espndeportes.com ESPNdeportes.com]
*{{pt icon}} [http://www.espn.com.br ESPN.com.br]
{{ESPN}}
[[Category:ESPN Latin America]]
[[Category:ESPN media outlets]]
[[fr:ESPN Latin America]]
[[pt:ESPN América Latina]]
[[es:ESPN Latinoamérica]]