The Biggest Night in Latin Music Will
Be Held on Thursday, Nov. 13,
2008,
at the Toyota Center
and Will Be Broadcast Live on the Univision Network
HOUSTON (April 08, 2008) — The Latin
Recording Academy® President Gabriel Abaroa, Univision Network news anchor Barbara
Bermudo, and Houston Mayor Bill
White today announced
that the 9th Annual Latin GRAMMY® Awards will be broadcast
live from the Toyota Center in
Houston on Thursday, Nov. 13,
2008. This marks the first time Houston will host the
premier international showcase of Latin music. The Latin GRAMMY Awards
ceremony previously has been held in Miami, Los Angeles, New York and
Las Vegas. This
important event — which recognizes and celebrates excellence in Latin music — will
feature performances from the hottest and most prestigious names in the genre. Additional
attendees at this morning's
announcement included The Recording Academy® President Neil
Portnow, Greater Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau Chairman Thomas Jones, Mayor Pro Tem Adrian Garcia, Toyota Center CEO Tad Brown, Lopez-Negrete Communications
CEO Alex Lopez-Negrete, Blue Door
Marketing CEO Daniel Barretto, Music
World Entertainment CEO Mathew Knowles,
and other members of the Houston business and arts communities and VIPs of the
state of Texas. Nominations for this year's
Latin GRAMMYs will be announced Wednesday,
Sept. 10, 2008.
"As the Latin GRAMMY
Awards has become a successful, dynamic, world-class entertainment show, we
continue to take steps toward promoting the growth of Latin music and our telecast
nationally and internationally by engaging partners whose goals are closely
aligned with ours," said Abaroa. "We are thrilled to be working with the
City of Houston and the Toyota Center,
and we look forward to embracing its vibrant and ever-evolving Latin community.
And we thank our great friends at Univision who will help to ensure that the 9th
Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards is once again a fantastic experience for millions of
music lovers around the world."
"Houston
has always held a very special place in our hearts thanks to continued support
of our many loyal viewers there," said Alina Falcón, Executive Vice
President and Operating Manager of the Univision Television Network."We
are extremely excited to be bringing the Latin GRAMMY Awards to one of our most
important markets and offering the people of Houston a unique opportunity to be
part of one of Univision's most highly regarded mega-events."
"Houston,
one of the world's great international cities, is very excited by the
opportunity to host the Latin GRAMMY Awards," said Mayor Bill White.
"Houstoniansshare the passionate love of great music and
appreciation for excellence that the Latin GRAMMYs were created to recognize."
Houston,
the fourth largest city in the United States
(trailing New York, Los
Angeles and Chicago),
is a thriving arts nexus and is rich in diversity. Home to world-class museums,
acclaimed galleries and internationally renowned performing arts, the city
boasts first-rate shopping, top-notch restaurants and a sophisticated but very
eclectic nightlife. According to the Travel Industry Association of
America, Houston
ranks among the nation's top 10 cities visited by Hispanic-Americans, making it
an ideal location for the Latin GRAMMYs.
Airing for the first time on
Univision — and entirely
in Spanish — in 2005, the Latin GRAMMY Awards was an unqualified ratings
success.Last year's telecast,
broadcast live from Las Vegas,
reached 12.0 million viewers and was the No. 1 program in its time period in a
number of major markets among key demos including all adults (not just
Hispanics) 18-34, 18-49, and teens 12-17.
The
9th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards will air live on the Univision Television
Network on Thursday, Nov. 13, at 8
p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central. Additionally, the telecast will be
seen globally in more than 100 countries.
About The Latin
Recording Academy
The Latin Recording
Academy is an
international, membership-based organization comprised of Spanish- and
Portuguese-speaking recording artists, musicians, songwriters, producers and
other creative and technical recording professionals. The organization is
dedicated to improving the quality of life and cultural condition for Latin
music and its makers. In addition to producing the Latin GRAMMY Awards to honor
excellence in the recorded arts and sciences, The Latin Recording Academy
provides educational and outreach programs for the Latin music community. For
more information about The Latin Recording Academy, please visit www.grammy.com.
About Univision
Univision Communications
Inc. is the premier Spanish-language media company in the United States. Its operations include Univision Network, the
most-watched Spanish-language broadcast television network in the U.S. reaching
99% of U.S. Hispanic Households; TeleFutura Network, a general-interest
Spanish-language broadcast television network, which was launched in 2002 and
now reaches 89% of U.S. Hispanic Households; Galavisión, the country's leading
Spanish-language cable network; Univision Television Group, which owns and
operates 64 television stations in major U.S. Hispanic markets and Puerto Rico;
Univision Radio, the leading Spanish-language radio group which owns and/or
operates 70 radio stations in 16 of the top 25 U.S. Hispanic markets and 5
stations in Puerto Rico; Univision Music Group, which includes Univision
Records, Fonovisa Records,La Calle Records and Mexico-based Disa Records
as well as Fonomusic and America Musical Publishing companies; and Univision
Online, the premier Spanish-language Internet destination in the U.S. located
at www.univision.com. Univision Communications also has a 50%
interest in TuTv, a joint venture formed to broadcast Televisa's pay television
channels in the U.S. Univision Communications has television network operations
in Miami and television and radio stations and
sales offices in major cities throughout the United States. For more information,
please visit www.univision.net.
Greater Houston
Convention & Visitors Bureau (GHCVB)
Houston is a cultural melting pot — home to a vibrant arts
scene, thriving ethnic neighborhoods and NASA's
Johnson Space Center.
Houston is one
of a handful of American cities to house professional theater companies for
each of the major arts disciplines. Sports fans can rally behind Houston's professional teams in nearly every major sport. Houston is also home to
the world's largest concentration of
medical professionals, world's
largest rodeo and nationally acclaimed restaurants and shopping. With 56,405
acres of total park space, Houston
rates first among the nation's 10
most populous cities in total acreage of park land. For more information on Houston, log on to www.visithoustontexas.com
or call 1.800.4HOUSTON.
About Toyota
Center
Toyota Center is
home to the NBA's Houston Rockets
and the IHL's Aeros, and is the
newest premier sports and entertainment facility located in the heart of
downtown Houston.
The state-of-the-art facility can accommodate up to 19,000 guests in the arena
and contains over 60,000 square feet of private event spaces. Host to many of
the world's leading events such as
the 2006 NBA All-Star Game, U2, The Rolling Stones, Hannah Montana, Ultimate
Fighting Championship and many more, Toyota
Center is truly the
CENTER of it all.