Galavisión to Air the Premios Texas Awards

When the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum designated Austin City Limits as a historic rock & roll landmark last week, music lovers agreed it solidified Austin's reputation as the live music capital of the world. That profile is expanded this Sunday, when Austin can lay claim to being the live Latin music capital of the world, too.

Sunday night is when local Univision affiliate KAKW Channel 62 airs the fifth annual Premios Texas, otherwise known as the Texas Latin Music Awards. That's news in itself. What's more significant is that the show will air nationally on Galavisión, the leading Spanish-language cable network and sister network to Univision. This positions Austin among such other high-profile cities as Los Angeles, Miami, and New York, where Latin music is more often celebrated.

While Premios Texas started as a Tejano music-based show, "as our great state continues to grow in diversity, so does this award show," explained Luis Patino, general manager and vice president of Austin's Univision 62. The Premios Texas awards now recognize both a broad range of Latin musical genres – including pop, tropical, regional Mexican, rock, and urban music – and contributors to the genre by handing out a lifetime achievement award.

Latino musicians from the U.S. and throughout Latin America descended upon the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday, Aug. 13, to tape the show, which will be broadcast nationally on Sunday, Aug. 23. Participating musicians include merengue artist and two-time Grammy-award-winner Olga Tañon, Panamanian reggaeton artist Makano, platinum-selling Tejano musician Bobby Pulido, duranguense bands K-Paz de la Sierra and El Guero y Su Banda Centenario, Latina pop star Reyli, and Austin's own Vallejo. And among the 11 award categories is one specific to Austin: Best Austin Band nominees include Vallejo, La Clave de Mexico, Foco Rojo, and the blazing hot Los Bad Apples. Sissi, the Cuban supermodel and former co-host of the long-running, enormously popular, Spanish-language variety show Sabado Gigante, is the mistress of ceremonies.

Austin's Univision 62 is the leading Spanish-language TV station serving Central Texas. In conjunction with the city's recent growth spurt in Latino households, Univision 62 has seen an impressive 38% growth in viewers. In addition, the station's local 5pm news program has consistently been rated No. 1 for the last two Nielsen Station Index sweeps periods among adults 18-49, Patino confirms.

While the Premios Texas awards show is primarily in Spanish, Patino believes the show appeals to all audiences. "Music has no barriers, and thus, even non-Latino or non-Spanish speakers can enjoy and appreciate the various musical styles," he says.

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The fifth annual Premios Texas awards show airs Sunday, Aug. 23, at 7pm on Galavisión.