BOUND FOR BRAZIL

CBS TeleNoticias plans Portuguese news web

By ELIZABETH GUIDER

MEXICO CITY - CBS TeleNoticias is prepping a Portuguese-lingo sister channel to its Spanish-language news net for launch this spring, the programmer announced Tuesday.

Targeting Brazil, the new channel will initially feature eight hours of news programming in Portuguese during primetime, with a dedicated Portuguese-speaking news team based in Miami and Brazil.

In the future, additional hours of Portuguese content will gradually displace Spanish-lingo programming on the new web.

"CBS TeleNoticias' Portuguese network will offer exclusive programming that will be targeted specifically for the Brazilian marketplace," said John Frazee, VP of news services for CBS News.

Competition in place

The CBS net will go up against several home-grown news channels. Last October, Brazilian media giant Globo launched Globo News, while pay-TV rival TVA is prepping a news channel for launch in February.

The Spanish-lingo service, launched in late 1994, is currently available for at least 12 hours per day to more than 10 million Latino homes.