KEYT announced Thursday that it will broadcast its evening newscast with a Spanish language simulcast after Jan. 1, 2012, helping fill a void if Entravision Communications Corporation follows through with the planned cancellation of Noticias Univision Costa Central, the Central Coast’s only Spanish-speaking television news program.

“We are thrilled to serve our local Spanish-language community once again by providing up-to-the-minute news, sports and weather,” KEYT General Manager Michael Granados said.

Noticias Univision Costa Central has focused on local reporting for the past eight years but is scheduled to be off the air by Dec. 30 because of financial losses, according to Entravision.

BriteFlash Media is interested in picking up the show, according to CEO David Cruz. He said his company has channels in Ventura County and Los Angeles, and that it would be a natural fit.

Supporters of the show held a news conference Monday morning, urging Entravision to preserve the broadcast. They said losing the show would leave more than 200,000 community members in California’s Central Coast uninformed and at constant risk during a state of emergency.

“There’s a need for it, if Univision decides not to continue its local news operation TV viewers won’t have any other place to go,” KEYT News Director C.J. Ward said. “We’re in the best position to fill that void.”

KEYT offered a Spanish simulcast before 2006, but Ward said he wasn’t sure why it was discontinued.

— Noozhawk staff writer Alex Kacik can be reached at akacik@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.