Today ABC News and Univision formally “sealed the deal” so to speak, having completed the agreement to form a joint venture cable news channel. The companies have been hammering out the details since May, when the tentative agreement was announced.
Not coincidentally, a number of details about the upcoming cable news channel have leaked as part of an application granting it $10.5 million in incentives from Miami-Dade County and the State of Florida. The incentives are meant to ensure that the channel will be based out of Miami. The application in question indicates that if the incentives were not approved, the company would consider basing its operations out of New York, Los Angeles or Houston.
The new company (identified as “Confidential Project ‘Vision'” in official documents obtained by TVNewser) says it will add 346 jobs in the county, with an average salary of over $81,000 a year. That is in addition to the 137 people currently employed by one of the parent companies there. The expected capital investment cost for the company is expected to be $275 million. As we have previously reported, the channel will launch online this year, and on TV next year.
The application does not mention Univision or ABC by name, but the description of the companies leaves little to the imagination. South Florida Business Journal‘s Brian Bandell has details:
One paragraph in the incentive application has facts about station ownership and a joint venture that also apply to Univision.
“We are a leading media company that is one of the top five networks in the U.S.,” the company wrote in its application. “Headquartered in New York City, the company owns and/or operates television stations in the U.S. and 69 radio stations, with television network operations in Miami and other major cities throughout the U.S…The company has agreed in principal to form a joint venture with another major media network dedicated to providing uncompromising coverage of current events with a unique perspective.”
The incentive application: