By this time next year, much of the treasured-yet-empty Kress department store building downtown Tampa may be transformed into a multimillion-dollar television studio and headquarters for the operations of CNN Latino across the eastern United States.
Engineers are working on design plans for the space that will be designated for high-end TV studios and administration, and the owners of the CNN Latino affiliate station here in Tampa say they have a big advantage: Their partners already own it.
A cooperative project with CNN, the CNN Latino station has a news and information focus, but also is looking to develop hundreds of hours of original programming, said Sari Famiglietti, the marketing director and oftentimes chief negotiator for CNN Latino in talks with pay TV providers such as Verizon and Bright House Networks.