With many US branches of the Music Television getting higher audiences by the day, the executives thought of launching a channel aimed precisely at a niche of the audience, thus far 'neglected'. MTV Tr3s (pronounced 'tres', the Spanish for 'three') will address exclusively the Latino public while, at the same time, maintaining the same format that made the network such a hit all over the world.

Tr3s will start as music-heavy in the first couple of months and, later on, various shows (among which many reality series) will be fitted into the schedule. The main singers who will help promote it have already been named as of yesterday, with pop sensation Shakira, Sean Paul and Kumbia Kings vouching to do their best to make Tr3s a guaranteed hit.

One of the first shows that will feature from the very beginning is a perfect copy of 'Total Live Request' (or MTV TRL), called 'MiTRL', and the producers have already signed in huge Latino stars like Ricky Martin and Alejandro Sanz to make their appearance in the first two editions.

The decision to make a Spanish version of MTV came from the fact that the Latino culture is, in most cases, overlooked and poorly represented in the world. As Lucia Ballas-Traynor, vice president and manager of the newly-founded network said: 'I look at it as a pop culture destination because these kids have not really had their music or culture and what is really defining US Latino culture on a channel 24 hours a day'.

MTV Tr3s starts airing today, with actor/comedian Carlos Santos as VJ, and deals with huge chains like Wal-Mart have been signed to ensure that Latino music will be promoted further than the channel.