How does Denver’s TV-news ratings leader top itself when it already produces a record 14 newscasts a day?
Add another two, in Spanish.
KUSA-Channel 9 will launch a partnership with Telemundo affiliate KDEN-Channel 25 to produce a Spanish-language newscast this fall that will air on the Telemundo station weekdays at 5:30 and 10 p.m.
“9News en Español,” starting Oct. 3, will be produced at Channel 9 using the assets of the NBC affiliate, with bilingual staff from Telemundo. The anchors are yet to be named.
“This has taken several months to work out,” said KUSA news director Patti Dennis. “We are just starting the hiring process.”
Both Telemundo and KDEN are owned by NBC Universal. In terms of local collaborations, however, this deal is rare. “This is the first joint strategic partnership,” Dennis said.
KUSA general manager Mark Cornetta said the partnership will be beneficial to the community and to the stations.
“As our community continues to grow and become more diverse, so too should the newsgathering and storytelling,” Cornetta said. “Having the opportunity to work with Telemundo to provide such an opportunity is quite exciting.”
Denver is the nation’s 15th-largest Latino market. Univision, the leading Spanish-language network, often tops most of the network affiliates in the 5 p.m. ratings, trailing only KUSA.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
