Apple Launches iTunes Latino , adds Telemundo Content

Apple Computer on Wednesday announced its collaboration with Telemundo, a Spanish-language television station and its sister network, mun2 to offer its iTunes Store users television programming in Spanish, as well as bilingual shows from the mun2 youth network.

The Cupertino, California based maker of award-winning desktop and notebook computers and the digital music revolution, iPod, has said that popular Spanish-language television programming from Telemundo and bilingual programs from mun2 are now available for purchase and download on the iTunes Store.

By adding the new segment that highlights Latino entertainment to its world famous iTunes stores Apple has enhanced the volume of its online music catalog. The iTunes Store features the world's largest digital music list with over 3.5 million songs. The digital music store has so far sold a stunning 1.5 billion songs. This is the best way for Mac and PC users to legally discover, purchase, and download music and video online.

The iTunes Latino division has itemized the top-selling songs and albums from Latino artists, as well as links to Spanish-language television programs, videos, audiobooks and podcasts (iPOD broadCAST).

According to Apple, the new contents such as "Pasion de Gavilanes," "El Cuerpo del Deseo" and "Decisiones," from NBC Universal's Telemundo programming and mun2 reality content such as "mun2: The Immigration Special" are now available for purchase and download for just $1.99 each. The computer company also announced its plan to offer more content from Telemundo over the next few months.

“We’re thrilled to be iTunes’ first Hispanic property,” said Telemundo President Don Browne, in the release. “We can offer our original content to our audience through innovation and hugely popular platforms such as iTunes, which is why we are pioneers in the Spanish-language television and digital-media industries.”

Apple has previously included Latin music in its online store but company officials said customers were asking for more Latin content. Customers’ demands and highly successful performance of this music on iTunes have forced the company to create a section dedicated to the category on the iTunes store, Apple said in a statement.

"We're delighted to work with Telemundo and mun2 to offer outstanding Latin programming on the iTunes Store," said Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of iTunes. "iTunes is the world's most popular video download store selling over one million videos a week, and now offers over 250 TV shows from over 40 networks."

Wholly owned by NBC Universal, Telemundo is one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies. The network is the vital source of entertainment, news, and sports for the Hispanics. Through its 16 owned-and-operated stations, 36 broadcast affiliates and nearly 684 cable affiliates, this Spanish-language television network reaches 93% of U.S. Hispanic households in 142 markets.

mun2, which is pronounced in Spanish "mun dos" or "mundos" meaning "worlds" in English, is a national Cable TV station aimed at young Latinos in America and is owned by NBC Universal. This bilingual multiplatform youth entertainment network offers authentic content that reflects the lifestyle of this fast-growing segment of the population, and is distributed to over 10 million U.S. TV households.