- John Consoli, Mediaweek

NEW YORK Univision Communications, beginning January 2009, will offer more than 1,000 hours of video on demand that will include sports, news, movies and entertainment previously televised on its two broadcast networks, Univision and TeleFutura, and its cable network, Galavision.

Plans call for offering games from the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The new VOD plan was announced during the Nation Cable and Telecommunications Association conference in New Orleans today.

"Univision is focused on providing our distributors with the opportunity to tap into the huge growth opportunity with U.S. Hispanics," said Tonia O'Connor, executive vp of distribution sales and marketing for Univision.

"Univision can be a very powerful marketing tool for cable operators," O'Connor said. "The quality and extent of our VOD offering, coupled with an unmatched relationship with our audience, positions us to meet the needs of both our viewers, who want expanded access, and our distribution partners, who need to effectively compete in today's crowded television space."

The VOD offering will include access to exclusive footage from Univision's highest-rated programs and biggest events. In addition to the World Cup, other shows to be made available will be Latin music show Premio Lo Nuestro a la Musica Latina, and Premios Juventud, an awards show honoring idols of Hispanic youth in the areas of film, music, sports, fashion and pop culture. Also on tap are many of Univision's lifestyle, news, sports and reality programs.

Univision does not own its own novelas, buying them from Grupo Televisa, and the company does not have the rights to offer those novelas on VOD.