Carnival Extends Original TV Programming to Telemundo

WHY IT RATES: Spanish-speaking travelers will now be able to enjoy Carnival’s original programming on the two largest Spanish networks in the United States.—Donald Wood, Breaking News Senior Writer.

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In an effort to continue expanding awareness of and demand for cruise vacations, Carnival Corporation & PLC, the world’s largest leisure travel company, announced “The Voyager with Josh Garcia,” will air on Telemundo, the second largest provider of Spanish-language content worldwide.

With this move, the company’s ambitious content production initiative now includes the distribution of its one of its most popular Ocean Originals TV programs on the country’s two largest Spanish networks and two of the country’s largest English broadcast networks, as well as its own digital streaming network, OceanView.

Episodes from the first season of the travel series are now featured in ‘Mi Telemundo,’ Telemundo’s new three-hour Saturday programming block that debuted in early January. “El Viajero Con Josh Garcia” has been dubbed into Spanish and takes viewers on an exciting and immersive journey around the globe with world traveler and host, Josh Garcia.

“One of our major goals at Carnival Corporation is to find innovative ways to introduce new audiences to the extraordinary experiences and adventures enabled by cruise vacations, and a key component of our plan is to reach the fast-growing segment of the Hispanic population in the U.S. that shares our love of travel, adventure, family and the power of vacations to bring people together,” said John Padgett, chief experience and innovation officer for Carnival Corporation. “With the expansion of our original programming to Telemundo, one of the most watched and trusted Hispanic networks, we are aiming to show even more viewers that not only does cruising provide travelers with the opportunity to visit multiple destinations in a single trip, but it is also offers something for all ages, making it a great vacation option at an exceptional value for kids, families and multigenerational groups.”

The expansion into the Hispanic market builds on Carnival Corporation’s recent partnership with Univision Communications Inc. (UCI), the leading media company serving Hispanic America, to develop the first O·C·E·A·N primetime series – “La Gran Sorpresa” (The Great Surprise). The program attracted more than 1.3 million viewers for its premiere, making its debut the number one show in Sunday Hispanic primetime TV. The show airs on Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT / 7 p.m. CT on the Univision Network.

“La Gran Sorpresa” uses the power of travel to reunite families as they overcome hardships created by illness, separation and other challenges. The one-hour program airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT and is hosted by award-winning television personality Poncho de Anda. For the series’ first six episodes, de Anda will be joined by several well-known personalities, including Univision Deportes’ Karina Banda; “Despierta America’s” Francisca Lachapel and Maity Interiano, and Ligia Uriarte of Univision’s primetime dramedy, “Mi Marido Tiene Familia.”

In its first season, the series surprises a number of families as they sail aboard ships from Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, and Holland America Line – three of Carnival Corporation’s nine global cruise brands – to exotic destinations including Cozumel (Mexico), Mahogany Bay (Honduras) and Half Moon Cay (Bahamas).

By producing and distributing content that speaks directly to the Hispanic community, Carnival Corporation is establishing an unprecedented position within a market of more than 54 million Americans that wield purchasing power that exceeds $1.3 trillion. Additionally, the company is looking to further increase demand for cruise vacations by tapping into the more than 82 percent of Hispanic adults who speak Spanish and are extremely loyal to marketers who show respect to their heritage and culture and advertise in Spanish.

Carnival Corporation’s Ocean Originals TV Programming

With the addition of “The Voyager with Josh Garcia” in Spanish on Telemundo, Carnival Corporation has created eight Ocean Original series, five of which have appeared on network or cable TV in the U.S., and two of which engage the growing Hispanic community in the U.S. These Ocean Original programs are part of the company’s focus on expanding awareness of an increasing demand for cruising vacations.

Three of Carnival Corporation’s travel shows appear weekends on ABC and NBC stations and rank as number one or number two in their time slot. With cruise vacations growing 20 percent faster than land-based vacations and with more people than ever taking cruise vacations in 2017, the strong ratings are further evidence that Americans' interest in cruise vacations is growing.

Ocean Original series produced by Carnival Corporation and now in their second season include "Ocean Treks with Jeff Corwin" and "Vacation Creation with Tommy Davidson and Andrea Feczko" on ABC; and "The Voyager with Josh Garcia" on NBC.

In September 2017, the company announced OceanView – the world's first over the top (OTT) digital streaming channel from a travel provider for completely free on major digital streaming platforms Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and Roku. The streaming channel features a slate of more than 100 Ocean Original episodes that includes the company's four original series that have been broadcast on network and cable TV in the past year, as well as two new direct-to-digital streaming original series, "GO" and "Local Eyes." OceanView content is also available on more than 80 of the company's 103 cruise ships.

SOURCE: Carnival Corporation press release.