Discovery en espanol will no longer be an orphan. The cable channel, geared to the U.S. Hispanic market, is getting two new siblings in June along with increased attention from its global multichannel parent Discovery Networks.

It’s part of Discovery’s strategy to make inroads in the mushrooming U.S. Hispanic pay-TV market with a new Miami-based division, the U.S. Hispanic Networks Group, launched two weeks ago with some 15 staffers in programming, advertising sales, research and distribution.

Discovery launched its “en espanol” channel seven years ago for U.S. Spanish-speakers, but has largely focused on developing Spanish-language channels in Latin America and Iberia.

About a year ago, Discovery started researching opportunities to lure more U.S. Hispanic viewers and came up with two “underserved, underprogrammed” niches: shows for children and women, Silberwasser said.

To start transmitting on June 17, Viajar y Vivir (Travel and Living) is designed to be a lifestyle channel aimed at women, with programming to encompass travel, food and home decoration.

Starting on the same date, Discovery Kids en espanol will offer “safe haven” programming with educational value: preschool fare in the morning, shows for school-aged kids in the afternoon and family programs on animals and nature in the evening.

Discovery’s push into the U.S. Hispanic market comes amid an explosion in pay-TV channels aimed at stateside Spanish-speakers. Last year, 19 networks were launched, many of them channels from Latin America, with another half-dozen announced to go up this year.

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