KBEH-TV Launches To Serve Hispanic Community On Los Angeles Area.

Broadcasting veteran Robert Behar announced the launch of Spanish-language family channel KBEH-TV Channel 63 in Los Angeles. Unlike any other channel, KBEH’s mission is to provide local Mexican-American children and adults an ongoing link to their language, culture and homeland, said Behar, president and chief executive officer of Miami-based Bela LLC, owner of KBEH.

Bela purchased the formerly Camarillo-based station from Biltmore Broadcasting LLC in March 2004. The company quickly secured FCC approval and increased KBEH’s signal power to cover the entire Los Angeles media market — the largest Latino market in the US.

KBEH is currently seen in 400,000 households in the Los Angeles market on DirecTV, DISH Network, and Adelphia Cable channel 6 in Ventura County and surrounding areas. Behar says he expects KBEH to be available on all Los Angeles cable systems by September 2004.

“Mexican-Americans represent two-thirds of US Hispanics. KBEH is the first Spanish-language channel committed to supporting Mexican-Americans in maintaining their language and traditions, and promoting a sense of pride within their communities as they forge their place in local society,” Behar said.

KBEH broadcasts 24 hours of family programming in Spanish, including eight hours of children’s programming Monday through Friday in two blocks targeted to preschoolers and school-age kids, respectively. These blocks include cartoons, sports programming and a game show. Saturday and Sunday, KBEH airs an hour of early morning cartoons.

In addition to children’s programming, KBEH offers talk shows, a cooking show, music blocks, and classic and new Mexican movies for the whole family every night at 8 p.m. The balance of KBEH’s program mix is made up of music, sports and wildlife programming.

KBEH offers 29 hours of original programming per week produced in Mexico and relevant to the local Mexican-American community:

“Mujeres Divinas” (“Divine Women”): Three different versions of this one-hour talk show run Monday through Friday at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. “Mujeres Divinas al Despertar” (“Divine Women in the Morning”) addresses issues pertaining to women with school-age children. “Mujeres Divinas al Mediodia” (“Divine Women at Midday”) focuses on general topics. “Mujeres Divinas por la Noche” (“Divine Women at Night”) explores topics of interest to women and men.

“Con Sazon” (“With Relish”): This hour-long cooking strip celebrates traditional Mexican cuisine.

“Fiesta Mexicana”: Seven days a week, this one-hour show highlights the hottest bands south of the border, with music videos and personal dedications from the homeland to the new land.

“Fiesta Latina”: Similar to “Fiesta Mexicana,” this show features an hour of music from a variety of Spanish-speaking countries every Saturday and Sunday.

According to Behar, future plans call for adding news and locally produced shows to KBEH’s program mix.