• by David Goetzl , July 14, 2011

ESPN's Spanish-language network is launching its own version of ESPN's "60 Minutes"-style sports magazine show. With the same "E:60" name, ESPN Deportes will air six hour-long episodes in its first season starting next week.

Segments will include reports on cockfighting, alligator wrestling, supermodel kickboxers and more conventional sports, such as soccer and baseball. José Ramón Fernández, David Faitelson and Jorge Ramos will serve as hosts and there will be five reporters.

One story in each episode will be an ESPN Deportes original with other segments having also aired on the ESPN original version. Episode one will include a report on Latino players in baseball and the hurdles they face in getting noticed by some trainers, tabbed as "hustlers."

ESPN Deportes, which is in 5.3 million U.S. Hispanic homes, will face a challenge from the coming Univision Deportes when that network debuts with MLS and Mexican league soccer games. Fox has also formed a Fox Hispanic Media Group that includes a Fox Deportes.

ESPN Deportes' original programming expansion also includes the launch of its first scripted series "El Diez" in the fall. The 10-part dramedy focuses on a young soccer star who arrives in Mexico City.

Spanish-language media companies are feeling buoyed by U.S. Census results showing major growth in the Hispanic population. Plus, the demographics skew younger -- a possible enticement for advertisers, with the median age of Mexican-Americans at 25 and other Hispanics at 30, per the Pew Hispanic Center.

Despite the potential increase in bilingual Hispanics, Spanish-language networks believe that cultural ties will continue to attract them and boost viewership.

A Pew Hispanic Center analysis of the census indicates a reversal in the trend of the growth of the Mexican-American population, initially driven by immigration. From 2000-2010, the Mexican-American population grew by 7.2 million due to births and by 4.2 million because of immigration.