Washington, DC, 07/01/2010
TV Marti premieres the first of a series on Cuban-American musical performers, as well as a tribute to the U.S. Armed Forces in its launch of prime time broadcasts over Independence Day weekend. Beginning Saturday, July 3, TV Marti will broadcast from 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
via DirecTV to Cuba to showcase a fresh line-up of news and features on economics, sports, health, and technology.
TV Marti will feature Grammy-award winner "Albita" in the first of a new series called Musica de mi Alma (Music of my Soul), highlighting the importance of Cuban music as a fusion of musical genres including Latin, jazz and blues.
"There is solidarity of spirit and shared love of music between Cuban-Americans and Cubans," said Pedro Roig, Director of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting which oversees Radio and TV Marti.
"We are grateful to Albita for generously launching our prime time music series."
To fulfill its mission in providing Cubans with objective and reliable news, TV Marti will further expand its broadcast hours to Cuba on Direct TV, Channel 8, on Saturdays and Sundays from 9 p.m. to 11 pm, in addition to the existing weekday schedule. To help spread the word, anadvertising campaignis being launched today to invite Cuban Americans to tell their relatives in Cuba about the expanded programming.
In addition, on June 21, Radio Marti introduced a new program clock, with faster tempo news and a more dynamic sound. Programming includes a half hour newscast at the top of each hour, followed by expanded news related programming on various topics.
A redesigned website for Radio and TV Marti, www.martinoticias.com, also will launch in the coming weeks.
(DirecTV http://bit.ly/ajC5nq/)
(Yimber Gaviria, Colombia)