Get ready to shop on TV in Spanish A new Spanish-language home shopping channel, Viva TeleCompras, is going to set up shop in Miami next year

Spanish-language home shopping channel Viva TeleCompras is going to set up shop in Miami

Attention Spanish-speaking shoppers, Viva TeleCompras is coming to a TV near you.

A group of investors headed by a Los Angeles TV producer is planning to launch early next year a Spanish-language home shopping channel based in Miami.

"It's basically QVC but 100 percent in Spanish," said Greg Martin, vice president of investor relations for the channel's corporate parent, Home Shopping Latino.

The venture has been four years in the making by Frank Celecia, chief executive of HSL and a TV producer with 25 years experience. He was instrumental in creating the 1980s cable-TV series Down to Earth.

The channel, to be called Viva TeleCompras, will be transmitted via satellite from the Globecast studios in North Miami and will reach North and South America, where HSL eventually plans to set up shop, too.

In the United States, Martin sees broadcasters' digital channels as a main distribution avenue as TV stations are looking for low-cost content to fill their extra airwaves.

"We've been contacted by a lot of them," he said. "We can give them a percentage of sales in their ZIP Codes so they'll have the incentive to publicize it."

Viva TeleCompras, which is planning to raise money through a $30 million IPO this fall, is not the first shopping channel to target Spanish-speaking consumers.

In 1997, Univision teamed up with Home Shopping Network to launch Spanish Shopping Network. The venture proved short-lived, however, in part because many of the buyers did not use credit cards. Much of the merchandise had to be shipped cash-on-delivery, which led to high product return rates.

"It's a tough business model because of the lack of credit-card usage by Spanish-dominant Hispanics, and that's who'll be the main ones using this," said Hispanic-media consultant Jose Carlos Cancela. "Cash is king in that group."

To combat that problem, Martin said that Celecia & Co. have developed an HSL credit card that will be available to consumers for shopping on the channel. "We've learned a couple lessons from that experience" of Spanish Shopping Network, he said.

Texas-based TV programming consultant Luis Estrada noted that payment methods have been an Achilles heel for many direct-response marketers seeking a foothold in the Spanish-speaking market.

Sending money through Western Union is also an option for this consumer group, but only after buyers learn to trust the brand and that they will be shipped the product, he said.

"If they can figure out the whole payment thing, then they've got something," Estrada said.

One reason HSL decided to base the channel in Miami is easy access to Latin entertainers, Martin said. The channel will feature celebrity presenters, music and cooking segments, besides a full range of products for purchase.

"We're going to be a little more fun and flexible," Martin said. "It's going to be more social."