Carnival Corp. Continues TV Push With New Univision Partnership

Carnival Corporation is continuing its investment in television programming through a new partnership with Univision.

The partnership will see Carnival Corp. developing the first OCEAN primetime series that will air Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT and 7 p.m. CT beginning January 7 on the Univision Network. Called “La Gran Sorpresa” (The Great Surprise), Carnival Corp. said that the new show will use “the power of travel to reunite families as they overcome hardships created by illness, separation and other challenges.” The one-hour program will be hosted by award-winning television personality Poncho de Anda. For the series' first six episodes, de Anda will be joined by several well-known personalities, including Univision Deportes' Karina Banda; "Despierta America's" Franscisca Lachapel and Maity Interiano; and Ligia Uriarte of Univision's primetime dramedy, "Mi Marido Tiene Familia."

In its first season, the series surprises a number of families as they sail aboard ships from Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises and Holland America Line to destinations including Cozumel (Mexico), Mahogany Bay (Honduras) and Half Moon Cay (Bahamas).

'La Gran Sorpresa' is the seventh Ocean Original series created by Carnival Corporation, the fifth to appear on network or cable TV in the U.S. and the first to engage the growing Hispanic community in the U.S., Carnival Corp. said. The new series builds on other Ocean Original series the company has produced that have aired on network and cable TV in the United States, and is part of its focus on expanding awareness of and increasing demand for cruising vacations.

The company currently produces three other travel series that appear weekends on ABC and NBC stations, and rank as number one or number two in their time slot, Carnival Corp. said. With cruise vacations growing 20 percent faster than land-based vacations and with more people than ever taking cruise vacations in 2017, the strong ratings are further evidence that Americans' interest in cruise vacations is growing.

Ocean Original series produced by Carnival Corporation and now in their second season include "Ocean Treks with Jeff Corwin" and "Vacation Creation with Tommy Davidson and Andrea Feczko" on ABC; and "The Voyager with Josh Garcia" on NBC.

Earlier in the fall, the company announced it had created OceanView – the world's first over the top (OTT) digital streaming channel from a travel provider for completely free on major digital streaming platforms Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and Roku. The streaming channel features a slate of more than 100 Ocean Original episodes that includes the company's four original series that have been broadcast on network and cable TV in the past year, as well as two new direct-to-digital streaming original series, "GO" and "Local Eyes." OceanView content is also available on more than 80 of the company's 103 cruise ships.

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