Former local Univision anchor Jaime Méndez is looking to fill the void in Spanish language news after Sinclair’s station KUNS switched to the CW network.
The Colombian reports that Mendez has started the station from his home.
Méndez stood in front of a wall draped with green fabric, superimposed with a map of the world on viewers’ screens. Bright lights illuminated his face. He read his Spanish-language script from a prompter as his wife, Diana Oliveros, and a digital engineer in Mexico City stood by to help.
Advertisement“For now, this is what we can afford,” Méndez said of his Lynnwood home studio. He hopes that will change as his and Oliveros’ new company, Se Habla Media, grows.
This was day four of Jaime Méndez News, which began streaming last week on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram Monday through Friday at 6 p.m.
With the newscast, Méndez and Oliveros, a former community outreach director for the Mexican consulate, aim to fill the void in local Spanish-language news created when the Sinclair Broadcast Group ended its affiliation with Univision in Seattle. Méndez co-anchored Sinclair station KUNS’ local newscast, the only Spanish-language program of its kind in Western Washington. It had its last broadcast Dec. 31.
KVOS in Bellingham, Wash., took over the region’s Univision affiliation this month, but the station does not have a local news show. “We are looking at options to add local programming,” said Steve Farber of Weigel Broadcasting.