RTVE launches Star HD, its new thematic channel for the Americas

The broadcast tests began in August and the final release is scheduled for the first half of 2016

Coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the launch of the TVE Internacional channel, RTVE goes a step further to stay at the forefront of technological innovation and presents Star HD, its new thematic channel in High Definition. Aimed at an American audience, its lineup includes entertainment programs and fiction series that have achieved national and international success.

Star HD is Radiotelevisión Española’s means for bringing the best entertainment programs and fiction series to all of its followers in the Americas. With this new channel, RTVE wants to take advantage of the benefits of High Definition technology to enhance the experience of its international viewers.

At the presentation of the new international thematic channel at the FesTVal of Vitoria, TVE’s director of Strategy and Image, María José Bultó explained that Star HD "will complement TVE Internacional and Canal 24 Horas. While TVE Internacional is a general-interest channel, Star HD will be thematic, for the Americas, and focused on entertainment and fiction. "We wanted to strengthen our leadership in the international arena and expand brand Spain."

For María Jesús Pérez, deputy director of International Sales at TVE, "the aim is to sell emotion, to share with the American audience what we do in Spain with our series and programs." She estimates that the channel’s potential audience will be over 400 million people.

The Star HD broadcast tests began during August, with a loop of eight hours of programs. In this period, the broadcasting of the new RTVE channel is carried out via satellite on a free-to-air basis. From the final date of its launch in the first half of 2016, the feed will be encoded in the same way as for TVE and 24 Horas channels, and distributed through various American pay-TV broadcasters.

The Star HD schedule will include the series that have achieved the highest audience numbers in Spain, as well as awards in various international competitions. Fictions such as 'Isabel', whose broadcasting rights have been acquired by broadcasters in some 90 countries; La Señora; Gran Reserva; Los Misterios de Laura; and, of course, iconic series like Cuéntame, which provides an overview of the history of Spain from the sixties to the eighties; Aguila Roja, which has had excellent ratings in its seven seasons and whose eighth season will be released next week; or El Ministerio del Tiempo, which has had a very high impact on social media, achieving a large group of followers.

Entertainment programs will also seek, to a certain extent, to provide a vision of Spain and its rich cultural diversity. The first broadcasts will include programs such as ‘Españoles en el mundo,’ ‘Destino España,Comando Actualidad or Un país para comérselo.