Hero Broadcasting may also turn NY station into a CNN Latino affiliate

Bob Behar, president & CEO of Hero Broadcasting, said to PRODU that in addition to its Los Angeles channel 63 KBEH having joined CNN Latino, it might also affiliate its New York station.“It’s a partnership with CNN Latino: we provide the master control and the commercialization of the channel, while they provide the programming. CNN Latino is a large project that will bring great rewards,” said Behar.Throughout his 32 years in the industry, Behar has launched 16 channels from Hero’s facilities.“The most important one was Telemundo, then TeleFutura (formerly Gems Television International), HBO Internacional, all of them were launched from our facilities. Channel launches have become somewhat of a routine, but there is a passion associated to each that makes them special,” said Behar.Behar spoke about current topics, including the growth of the U.S. Hispanic market.“Ever since I entered the Hispanic market, I’ve heard it is going to disappear, that Hispanics would assimilate, and that there is no future in Hispanic TV, but the market has proven otherwise. Latinos will be the second largest minority within five years and the need for services and programming for them will not diminish. We Latinos watch TV in Spanish; we enjoy watching our content on our channels,” he added.