The love child of ABC and Univision bursts into life
MIAMI — The longawaited DNA exchange between ABC and Univision emerges from the test tube this month, aiming to stretch the limits of traditional network programming.
The English-language television network, called Fusion, will target millennial Hispanics and their friends as it attempts to capitalize on a generation for which cultural fusion is the norm and digital media is king.
The network will provide something of a grab bag: a mix of hard news, commentary, sports and irreverence aimed at 16to 30-year-olds. Sure, there will be nightly news programs, but also an ani- mated puppet news and entertainment show by David Javerbaum, former head writer of “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.”
“Not everyone will get it; and that’s sort of the point,” Univision News President and now Fusion CEO Isaac Lee wrote in a memo to staff earlier this month.
The green and blue mood-lighting of the warehouse-turned-news hub known as Newsport suggests Miami Beach club over newsroom. Like millennials who can’t afford to move out on their own, Fusion shares the cavernous space with Spanish-language parent Univision News. Senior staff members gather for brainstorming sessions in brightly painted and glass-walled rooms overlooking the newsroom.
On a recent afternoon, Lee strode across the floor like the head of a Silicon Valley startup, sketching flow charts of Fusion’s evolution. One millennial staffer wrestled a ping pong ball from the mouth of Chocolate, Lee’s brown Labrador. Others chimed in on the essence of the network that goes live Oct. 28.
Alicia Menendez describes her new Fusion show as a mix of sex, money and politics. Isn’t everything? “Yes, but most people won’t admit it,” Menendez shot back. The 30-year-old gained early exposure to politics as the daughter of U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, a Cuban-American from New Jersey.