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Maradona ready for cable TV and Internet channel
(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-01-15 09:46
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MEXICO CITY: Millions adored or loathed Maradona as a player. Now comes a new love-hate possibility as one of the world's greatest football players prepares to launch his own cable TV and Internet channel.
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 Argentina's national football team coach Diego Maradona wearing diamond earrings a few days before Italian authorities seized a gold pair to pay off part of his huge tax bill. [Photo/Agencies] |
Maradona's latest venture kicked off Thursday in Mexico City, although programming isn't scheduled to begin until late May or early June, just days before the start of the World Cup in South Africa.
In 2005 his TV show "La Noche del 10 (The Night of the No. 10)" pulverized the competition for Canal 13 in Argentina, featuring interviews with Pele, Mike Tyson, Cuba's Fidel Castro and English singer Robbie Williams.
It's that kind of star power that promoters are hoping for.
"It will be what people want to know outside sports, not the games themselves but what happens behind the games and after the games," said Rodolfo Cavalcanti, the president of On&Off Holding, a digital advertising and public relations agency with a branch in Mexico City.
Cavalcanti said he was one of the partners with Maradona in the venture. He said there were other partners, but didn't name them.
Cavalcanti said programming plans were still vague, but the focus would be on sports with an emphasis on fashion, entertainment and celebrity.
The channel will carry Maradona's image and be called 10 ETV, but Maradona will appear little. The channel's name comes for Maradona's famous number, with the "E" standing for entertainment, Cavalcanti said.
"Maradona will have very few shows, not many of his own," Cavalcanti said. That's certain to be the case in June, and into early July, if Argentina plays well in the World Cup. Argentina plays in Group B with South Korea, Nigeria and Greece.
Love him or hate him, Maradona can draw a crowd. Of course, he had it as a footballer, who often thumbed his nose at authority. He took over as Argentina's national coach just over a year ago, drawing both praise and criticism.
Despite some of the world's top players _ including Barcelona's Lionel Messi _ Argentina struggled to qualify for the World Cup and Maradona's coaching acumen has been widely criticized.
In November he was handed a two-month ban and fined $25,000 by FIFA, the world governing body of football, for an expletive-filled rant after his team qualified for the World Cup.
Cavalcanti said the channel's revenue source would come through cable and Internet subscription, and through advertising and sponsorship.
He said the launch took place in Mexico to make clear the venture is not seen as an Argentina-based channel.
"This is a channel for the world, not just Argentina," Cavalcanti said.
