Jennifer Lopez inks deal with English speaking Latino channel NuvoTV

Jenny from the block stay gettin’ gwap!

Jennifer Lopez To Partner With English-Latino Channel NuvoTV

Two months after deciding to step down as a judge on American Idol, global superstar Jennifer Lopez today announces a multi-year partnership with nuvoTV, an English-language cable network for U.S. Latinos. The performer will become part owner of the network, and with her production company, Nuyorican Productions, will promote, produce and appear in new content for the channel, as well as collaborating on programming strategy, marketing and distribution to grow its overall business.

“When I sat down with everybody at nuvo and heard where they wanted to go with this network, it was a no-brainer,” Lopez said yesterday in an interview with FORBES, taking a break from a world music tour that is headed next to Europe and Australia. “This is who I am. I am the English-speaking Latino who grew up in America and identifies with being an American and being a Latino.”

Lopez recalled being a little Puerto Rican girl growing up in New York and only watching English-language television with her parents. With few Latino characters to identify with, she remembers Latin couple Luis and Maria from Sesame Street and West Side Story as early inspirations. “This seemed like the perfect way to create programming aimed at that audience,” Lopez said, “with our music, culture, food and fashion.”

A pioneer in the trend, nuvoTV, which is available in 30 million homes, was founded in 2004 to target “bi-cultural” American Latinos who speak English. It’s become a market sweet spot. According to recent reports, there are now 52 million Americans of Latin-American ­de­scent—a number that is projected to nearly triple by 2050—representing annual spending power of $1 trillion. Now, several networks are scrambling to provide more English content for the bilingual Latino audience, including Univision and Disney’s recent partnership on a news channel expected next year.

“The time is certainly ripe to make a major partnership like this,” said nuvoTV CEO Michael Schwimmer. “[Lopez] has an amazing track record of success across multiple genres. She’s a creative powerhouse and a savvy businesswoman, and her role will reflect that in front of and behind the camera.”

For our latino brothas and sistas, does this move excite you about the future of NuvoTV??

Image via WENN

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