Walt Disney, Univision to launch cable news channel – report

Walt Disney, owner of the ABC broadcast network, is in talks with US Spanish-language broadcaster Univision Communications to create an English-language 24-hour cable-news channel, Bloomberg reports, citing two people with knowledge of the situation. According to the same sources, Disney would oversee advertising sales and distribution for the venture. The channel would draw newsgathering resources from ABC News and Univision. The discussions have been under way for at least six months and are ongoing, said the people. The channel would be based in Miami and start service before November. A venture would provide Disney with a cable-news presence, and advance Univision CEO Randy Falco's goal of building new channels. Falco is interested in starting English-language service in sports and news, he told the Wall Street Journal in October. Univision is soon expected to launch a Spanish-language telenovela network on Dish Network's satellite-TV system. According to company spokeswoman Monica Talan, Spanish-language sports and news channels will follow by midyear.