New York, NY – March 22, 2002 – "Urban Latino", a magazine-lifestyle program, makes its premiere on MetroTV on Sunday, April 7th at 8:30 PM. MetroTV announced plans to air the 13 original episodes of the series each Sunday at 8:30 P.M. with a weekly second run of the series to follow on Saturdays at 8:30 P.M. "Urban Latino" highlights the diverse elements of Latino culture with topics ranging from entertainment and celebrity interviews to fashion, music and food, each from a New York perspective. MetroTV can be found on Time Warner Cable channel 70 and on Cablevision channel 16.
"Urban Latino" is hosted by well-known and popular Spanish television personality Celines Toribio. She began her television career in 1995 at Univision's New York affiliate, WXTV-41. She went on to gain national exposure on Univision Network as entertainment reporter for the popular entertainment magazine programs "El Gordo Y La Flaca" and "Primer Impacto". Celines has interviewed almost every major Latino celebrity and personality, including Ricky Martin, Luis Migel and Celia Cruz. Currently Celines can be heard weekday mornings on the radio on WCAA – Latino Mix 105.9. "Urban Latino" is Celines' first English language television effort since leaving Univision.
"Since the Latino community is such a big part of New York, the show makes perfect sense for our viewers. It's breaking into a relatively untapped market, reaching out to an audience interested in the Latino lifestyle," adds Judith Tolkow, VP of Programming and Development.
"The double primetime airing of 'Urban Latino' is a first for Latino targeted English language programming and is a testament to the commitment of MetroTV not only to Urban Latino but to the New York Latino market in general," said Robert Rose, President of Artist and Idea Management, Packager and Executive Producer of the show.
The series is supported by a strong promotional and marketing platform via Urban Latino Magazine; a New York based, nationally distributed, English language magazine that has been serving young Latinos for over seven years. In addition, Urban Latino Magazine provides access to events and in market promotional opportunities such as college tours and concert sponsorships that tie in to the promotion and marketing for the series.
The English language television series targets young U.S. Latinos and is a co-production between Artist and Idea Management, Urban Latino Magazine, Gallco Studios and MetroTV. Additional episodes of a broader, more national version of "Urban Latino" is also being produced for a syndicated launch for the Fall 2002 season targeting the remaining top U.S. Latino markets via English language broadcast outlets.
About MetroChannels
Rainbow Media's MetroChannels (MetroTV, Metro Learning and Metro Traffic & Weather) is the first and only suite of television networks devoted entirely to the experience of living in the New York metropolitan area. MetroTV is the only local channel providing original programs focusing on everything from fashion, comedy, music, and sports to independent features and documentaries about the people, places and history of New York. MetroTV has received numerous accolades for its programming including three NY Emmy Awards from the 1999 and 2000 competitions, the 2000 Gold Promax Award, the 2000 & 2001 Community Spirit Award, New York Festivals Awards, Omni Awards, and The Communicator Award. MetroStories provides documentary programming devoted to telling the stories of the people and places that make the New York metropolitan area world-famous. Metro Traffic&Weather is the tri-state's first and only 24-hour local traffic, transit, and weather channel.
MetroChannels is owned and managed by Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc., a leader in news, sports and entertainment programming. A subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE:CVC) and NBC, Rainbow manages American Movie Classics, WE: Women's Entertainment, Bravo, The Independent Film Channel, MagRack, MuchMusic USA, Rainbow Sports Networks and News 12 Networks as well as the Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation and Rainbow Network Communications. In addition, Rainbow is a fifty-percent partner in FOX Sports Net.