Vizio is marking Hispanic Heritage Month with premium and free programming sponsored by Minute Maid Aguas Frescas.

The Hispanic Heritage month collection offers home screen access to premium services and programming including the newly added ViX from TelevisaUnivision.

Vizio users can subscribe to ViX for $6.99 a month or $39.99 for the first year.

Beginning September15, Vizio’s WatchFree Plus platform will have a “Celebrating Hispanic Heritage” pop-up channel where viewers can find English- and Spanish-language TV shows and movies. 

WatchFree Plus on-demand titles include 

The Rising: Pelé, My Name is Lopez, Model Latina and Mario Lopez: One On One.

"We are excited to offer a collection of premium, multicultural content to Vizio users in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month," said Katherine Pond, Group VP of platform content and partnerships at Vizio. "Through our extensive network of content partners and data-driven approach to programming, this curated collection provides the best in premium entertainment honoring the rich stories, experiences, and creativity of Hispanic and Latin voices."

NBCUniversal said it is starting a new program to help diverse, small businesses with launch partners State Farm and ad agency Walton Isaacson.

“Open Doors: Where Small Businesses Thrive” is commencing during Hispanic Heritage Month and will key initially on Latino-focused businesses with ads on the NBCU platform running in Spanish and English.

The program is designed to bring big brand resources to smaller enterprises.

“As a small-business owner myself, I wanted to not only share resources with my fellow entrepreneurs, but also create an opportunity for big brands to deliver a return on impact for minority-owned small businesses who had been adversely impacted throughout the pandemic,” said Christine Escribano, senior VP, head of One Platform marketing, at NBCUniversal Advertising & Partnerships. “With the support from my colleagues on the NBCUniversal Empowerment & Inclusion Council and our launch partners, State Farm and Walton Isaacson, I am thrilled for Open Doors to take shape.”

The program features a virtual, bilingual visual marketing and creative services playbook that will arm small-business owners with strategic tools and resources, including detailed descriptions of brand positioning, as well as guidance on logo development, website-building strategies and how to use social media.

“Visual and audio creative content are essential to brand-building and also rebranding,” Walton Isaacson founder and CEO Aaron Walton said. “Key to capturing consumer attention, they are highly effective at building brand reputation and awareness. Yet start-ups and small businesses cannot always afford the investment to reap the recognition that big brand resources can. This initiative affords small businesses that opportunity and the tools and resources they need to build better businesses.”

The first ad spotlights family-owned Venezuelan restaurant Cachapas y Mas, located in New York City. In October, woman-owned Louisiana retail store Fluerty Girls will be featured in support of National Women’s Small Business Month.

“State Farm is excited to work with NBCUniversal and Walton Isaacson to spotlight how minority, small-owned businesses open doors for the entire community,” State Farm marketing VP Alyson Griffin said. “Every State Farm agency is independently-owned. Agents truly understand the unique needs of small business owners as they are business owners themselves, and they are invested in helping make their communities thrive.” ■

PBS announced Thursday (Sept. 15) its lineup of programs and specials for Hispanic Heritage Month. The programs can be found on PBS and streamed on PBS.org and the PBS Video app "throughout the duration of Hispanic Heritage Month and beyond," PBS said in a release.

Programming will include the premiere of Rosie's Rules from PBS Kids, streaming on Monday, Oct. 3. The show stars five year old Rosie Fuentes, "a bilingual Mexican American girl from suburban Texas...beginning to learn about how the great, big, fascinating world around her works," PBS stated in a press release. 

The 35th Annual Hispanic Heritage Awards will air Friday, Sept. 30 from 9 to 10 p.m. ET. The program was created by the White House “to commemorate the establishment of Hispanic Heritage Month in America…and is supported by 40 national Hispanic-serving institutions.” This year's musical performances, honorees and appearances include Victoria Alonso, Nikhil Arora, Olga Custodio, Ariana DeBose, Los Lobos, Alejandro Velez, Daddy Yankee and more. 

La Otra Mirada will air on Thursdays at 10 p.m. beginning Sept. 15 and running through Dec. 8. The series takes place in 1920s Seville after a woman by the name Teresa, played by Patricia López Arnaiz, flees from her "mysterious past." There she poses as a teacher, struggling to change her students' lives. 

“PBS is committed to reflecting the rich and diverse stories of our country through our programming all year long,” said Sylvia Bugg, chief programming executive and general manager, general audience programming at PBS. “We are proud to have multiple premieres during Hispanic Heritage Month, including a primetime drama in Spanish, La Otra Mirada, and the broadcast of the Hispanic Heritage Awards for the eighth year on PBS platforms.” ■

NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises said it is launching a new Hispanic Heritage Month campaign using the slogan "Be The Next Story Told" to inspire a new generation of Hispanics.

Like last year’s effort, the new campaign will run in English and Spanish across the entire portfolio.

Burger King, Expedia, Popeye’s and State Farm have signed up as the campaign’s initial sponsors.

The campaign features high achieving Hispanics — singers, comedians, TV journalists, athletes, doctors and teachers — exhorting viewers to strive to be future role models.

“As we honor our heritage and the countless contributions of Hispanic leaders to date, we’re also looking to the future, championing the next generation of Latinos shaping America’s story,” said Mónica Gil, chief administrative and marketing officer of NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises. “In giving the spotlight to our community, we want all generations of Hispanics to push forward by writing their own narrative. For a second year in a row, we’re spearheading an important conversation across the entire NBCUniversal family and inviting audiences everywhere to join us in celebrating our Hispanic culture and community – past, present, and future.”

The campaign starts Thursday morning on NBC’s Today show an Telemundo’s Hoy Día. Later in the day the campaign will aim for maximum exposure with a social media roadblock and an on-air roadblock during prime time.

Well-known faces in the first commercial include actress Kate del Castillo; The Voice’s singer and coach Camila Cabello; singer Camilo; sports anchor Andrés Cantor; actor and comedian George Lopez; WWE superstar Damian Priest; and journalists Julio Vaqueiro, Tom Llamas, and Morgan Radford.

The bi-lingual campaign was developed by Telemundo’s marketing team.

NBCUniversal will feature an entire month of special programming, curated content, and broadcast, digital, and social initiatives on its news, sports and kids channels, Peacock, local TV stations and Telemundo. ■

AMC Networks is teaming up with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on a public service campaign, "United/Unidos" for Hispanic Heritage Month, which began Wednesday (Sept. 15).

The PSAs, which will air on AMC, BBC America, IFC, SundanceTV, We tv and streaming service AMC Plus, will feature Democratic caucus members from California, including Reps. Tony Cárdenas, Raul Ruiz, and Nanette Diaz Barragán.

The focus of the PSAs is on community, opportunity and hope and on "what unites the Hispanic/Latino communities, the importance of sharing Hispanic/Latino stories, and the incredible leaders that inspire them."

Also on the streaming side, AMC Plus is launching “Celebrando La Unidad" (Celebrating Unity) a  collection of 25 films in various genres. Those include “La Llorona” from Guatemala; “Che Part 1 & Part 2,” and “Y Tu Mamá También."

Also Read: NBCU, Telemundo Launch Bilingual Hispanic Heritage Month Campaign

Vooks, a subscription service featuring read-along videos of children's books, will add 15 new Spanish-language titles to mark Hispanic Heritage Month.

The effort is part of Vooks’ Libros En Español initiative aimed at providing multi-language offerings.

“Vooks is a gateway, a launching pad that uses fun animated visuals to get kids excited about reading and gives them a deep love for books that we hope will last a lifetime,” said Russell Hirtzel, Vooks co-founder and chief content officer.

It is our belief that young readers around the world should be able to enjoy all that Vooks has to offer, regardless of location, language, or background,” Hirtzel said. “Our long-term goals have always included implementing other languages into our content offerings, and we are excited to take that first step with this slate of Spanish-language titles. This is only the beginning, though, and we look forward to adding even more titles in even more languages as we continue into the future!”

Vooks began offering Spanish language programming with its original story book Cinderella in 2019.

Among the new Spanish-language titles are the Vooks original Little Girl Big Dream: The Story of Olympian Samantha Peszek, Our Class Is a Family by Shannon Olsen, The Best Seat from Storybook Genius and Monster, Be Good from Apple books. 

Other titles include Under the Sea 123, I Love Daddy, I love Mommy, Who’s That Cat, Who’s That Dog and Opposites in the Park, all from Kidsbooks.

Vooks is available for $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year on platforms including Apple iPad, iPhone and Apple TV, Android devices, Roku and Amazon TV Fire Stick.

NBCUniversal and its Telemundo unit are launching a company-wide campaign in English and Spanish commemorating Hispanic Heritage Month.

The campaign, themed Come With Us--or Juntos Imparables--was created by Telemundo and will appear across the entire NBCUniversal portfolio of TV and digital platforms.

Unilever, Wells Fargo and Zelle have signed up with the campaign as sponsors.

“At a time when everyone is ready to look to the future with a renewed sense of optimism, we celebrate our Hispanic heritage and contributions as we kick off this important campaign,” said Mónica Gil, chief administrative & marketing officer, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises. “With this initiative, Telemundo and NBCUniversal are leading the way with a timely, inclusive and enriching message carrying Hispanics' legacy and culture across all NBCUniversal networks and inviting all audiences to share in the experiences of our diverse community.”

Also Read: Telemundo Launches Streaming Division That Will Feed Peacock

The initiative launches Wednesday on NBC's Today show and Telemudo's Hoy Día. All NBCU properties will participate in a social media roadblock and a big push on Twitter during that first day. There will also be an on-air roadblock during primetime when Come With Us messages will run simultaneously on all of the company’s channels.

The campaign will have English and Spanish language versions of the commercials, plus integrations, vignettes, special news coverage and Hispanic Heritage themed programming throughout the month.

For example, NBC News Anchor and Senior National Correspondent Tom Llamas’ new primetime streaming program on NBC News Now will launch Sept. 20, with daily segments focusing on Latin America and the lives of Latinos across the country. CNBC will feature business leaders from the Latinx community and Peacock will have a dedicated Hispanic Heritage Month destination and a new Latinx virtual channel. Local NBC and Telemundo owned stations will also have special coverage of community events and features about local leaders and organizations.

News segments covering subjects from culture and equality to food and music will appear on Telemundo news shows and there will be integrations during Telemundo’s coverage of the Billboard Latin Music Awards show on Sept. 23. The campaign will also be highlighted during broadcasts of the NFL Hispanic Heritage Sunday Night Football Game on Sept. 23 and World Cup soccer qualifying matches.

“Our approach to develop the ‘Come With Us’ campaign establishes an even stronger relationship across NBCUniversal’s businesses to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and all heritage months moving forward,” said Craig Robinson, chief diversity officer, NBCUniversal. “It’s an honor to leverage our vast creative resources, showcase our unrivaled programming and to bring together our company-wide talent to celebrate and recognize the diversity of NBCUniversal and our audiences worldwide.”

ABC has released the trailer for the eighth installment of its One America streamed news series.

That comes just in time to kick off Hispanic Heritage Month (which is actually Hispanic Heritage 30 days, starting Sept. 15 and ending Oct. 15).

Our America: Todos Unidos, a weeklong special, streams Sept. 15 on the web sites of ABC's eight owned TV stations and will also be available on ABC's almost three dozen connected TV apps on Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, Roku, and Hulu.

"From actors and activists to business owners who are keeping traditions alive, the hourlong news special shines a light on diverse voices from the Hispanic community honoring their heritage, celebrating their culture and expressing their identity," ABC said.

The series was helmed by the ABC-owned stations' Race and Culture Content EPs Mariel Myers, Porsha Grant and Nzinga Blake.

mun2 will simulcast the 2014 NCLR ALMA Awards live on Friday, network officials said.

The awards, which celebrate America’s favorite Latinos in the entertainment industry, television, film and music, will be hosted by Eva Longoria and Mario Lopez. The NBCUniversal-owned network will also broadcast a one-hour pre-awards show special, mun2 All Access: Road to the ALMAs 2014 as part of its Hispanic Heritage Month, said network officials.

Telemundo.com will also live stream the NCLR ALMA Awards pre-show. The awards show and post-show will also stream live on MSNBC.

Fox Deportes will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with a marketing campaign profiling Hispanic athletes representing a variety of sports, said the network officials.

Beginning this month and running through the end of the year, the network’s first ever campaign showcases athletes in a series of vignettes that will run across all Fox Deportes programming.

The campaign includes World Boxing Champion and Hall of Famer Oscar De La Hoya; U.S. Men’s National Team and LA Galaxy star Omar Gonzalez; Kentucky Derby winner on California Chrome, jockey Victor Espinoza; NFL rising stars Gavin Escobar of the Dallas Cowboys and Mychal Rivera of the Oakland Raiders (pictured); and UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis and number-one contender Gilbert Melendez, coaches of the new season of The Ultimate Fighter: A Champion Will Be Crowned.

 “FOX Deportes is thrilled to launch this campaign,” said Carlos Sanchez, Executive Vice President and General Manager in a statement. “The project gives us the opportunity to honor Hispanic athletes who really try to make a difference, and collaborate with our partners to celebrate our community.” 

Discovery Networks will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with a series of multi-language spots featuring Hispanics whose curiosity has brought success to their lives.

All Discovery-owned networks throughout the month of September will air three 15-second spots in both English and Spanish under the tagline “A Culture of Curiosity” that will feature Hispanics whose innate curiosity has led them to where they are today. The spots profile a Hispanic sushi chef, a Latina video game blogger and a Hispanic teacher, who all discus how curiosity has guided their careers, helped inspire them and shape their lives, said company officials.  

The spots will air during shows that rate well with Hispanic viewers, including Discovery Channel’s Fast N’ Loud, TLC’s Long Island Medium and Own’s If Loving You Is Wrong. In addition, Discovery will supplement the spots with a social media strategy, leveraging the #cultureofcuriosity and integrating shout-outs from various network talent saluting Hispanic followers.

Online, longer versions of the spots that will be featured in Discovery’s dedicated website, as well as on various networks on their websites and social media pages, said the company.