Latest from Next TV in Wapa-tv

WAPA Channels Are Back on DirecTV in Puerto Rico

kent.gibbons@futurenet.com (Kent Gibbons) — Thu, 14 Jun 2018 23:13:45 +0000

WAPA TV news anchors

The Puerto Rico-based TV stations WAPA Television and WAPA Deportes were restored to DirecTV on the island after about a six-week outage, under a new multi-year agreement on retransmission-consent payments signed today.

RELATED: WAPA Opens Feed For Hurricane Coverage

The stations were dropped by the AT&T-owned service on May 4, with AT&T claiming that Hemisphere Media Group wanted to "nearly double" its retransmission fees.

“WAPA has been Puerto Rico’s ratings leader for nine consecutive years, and we’re pleased to have reached a new agreement with DirecTV so our viewers can continue enjoying the #1 television network and leading sports channel in Puerto Rico,” Alan J. Sokol, CEO of Hemisphere Media Group, said in a statement. “We look forward to our continued partnership for years to come.”

“We have had a longstanding relationship with WAPA and WAPA Deportes in service of the local Puerto Rico community,” added José Juan Dávila, VP and general manager for AT&T Puerto Rico/USVI, in the release. “We are pleased to be able to restore these channels to our customers.”

And from WAPA president Javier Maynulet: “We sincerely thank our viewers for their continued support and loyalty during this difficult time, and we regret the inconvenience this has caused. We are committed to continuing to serve the Puerto Rican community the way WAPA has done for the past 64 years—by delivering the best news and entertainment programming to our people.”

During the outage, WAPA TV remained available over the air and on other distributors, including Dish Network.

This article was updated to reflect the pact covers carriage on Puerto Rico.

WAPA Wants to Win With New Daytime Game Show

Adam Jacobson, Contributing Editor, Hispanic Television Update — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 21:15:00 +0000

Popular Puerto Rican comedy duo Danilo Beauchamp and Francis Rosas are doing their best to award cash and prizes to contestants on Hispanic TV’s newest game show.

The hourlong Gana con Ganas (I Wanna Win!) debuted March 2 at 3 p.m. (ET) on both cable network WAPA América and WAPA-TV in San Juan, P.R.

The show, hosted by the comedy duo best known as would-be reggaetón rappers “Mongui & Pescuezo” on WAPA’s sketch-comedy series Risas en Combo and midday variety show Pégate al Mediodía, will put its focus on games and family fun, a WAPA spokesperson told Hispanic Television Update.

“We know our audience likes to watch fun and humorous programming during the afternoons, which is why we chose Danilo and Francis to host the new show,” Jimmy Arteaga, vice president of programming for WAPA Television, said. “The two comedians have a large and loyal fan base throughout Puerto Rico, and we’re confident they will win viewers’ hearts in this new role.”

Contestants will play different games on the show each day, the WAPA representative said. Among them are “Contra Viento y Marea” (Against the Wind and Sea), in which guests must ride a mechanical bull while singing karaoke in order to accumulate enough points from judges to win.

Other contests include a “guess the lyrics” game and a basketball shot challenge. The hosts will also offer viewers play-and-win opportunities via telephone dares.

Gana con Ganas is not to be confused with the RCN program of the same name.

WAPA América to Become Nielsen-Rated

Adam Jacobson — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 18:30:00 +0000

A decade after its stateside launch, Spanish-language pay TV network WAPA América is now Nielsen-rated.

The Hemisphere Media Group subsidiary in August reached an agreement with Nielsen, which results in WAPA América immediately being reported in the ratings agency’s national data. The first ratings results available to the public are set to arrive on Sept. 28.

“We’ve been analyzing preliminary Nielsen data for several months and we are very excited with the findings, which confirm that WAPA América has a large and loyal audience,” Hemisphere president Alan J. Sokol said.

Nick Valls, who oversees national ad sales for WAPA América, added: “We know WAPA América appeals to the 10 million Puerto Ricans and Caribbean Hispanics living the U.S., but now we’ll have the data to back it up. WAPA América offers a unique and highly-valuable proposition to national advertisers who want to get their messages in front of the second largest Hispanic community in the U.S. in content uniquely aligned to its culture and interests.”

WAPA América is seen in more than 5 million homes and is distributed via cable television, satellite TV and telco providers. Programming is focused on news and entertainment programming originating from WAPA’s Guaynabo, Puerto Rico studios, in addition to Puerto Rico-centric films, telenovelas and sports such as Puerto Rican league basketball.

Meanwhile, Hemisphere-owned Spanish-language pay TV movie channel Cinelatino is commemorating Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15-Oct. 15) with a slate of films ranging from highly anticipated blockbuster premieres to Dia de la Raza-themed movies set for Oct. 12.

Cinelatino will kick off the celebration on Sept. 15 with a two-day marathon of Mexican box office hits to coincide with Mexican Independence Day on Sept. 16. The lineup of films includes Morelos, a historical drama about the final years of the leader of the Mexican independence; Suave Patria, a comedy about two unemployed actors who stage a fake kidnapping; La Cebra, featuring two friends who travel to northern Mexico to enlist in Obregon’s army on a zebra, mistaking it for an “American horse;” and Salvando al Soldado Pérez, a black comedy about Mexican organized crime.