Language and targeting younger generations
Until recently, the only game in town was Univision and Telemundo, but now with multicast digital platforms many non-Spanish language broadcasters are also looking to place Hispanic programming in place.
Most of the content comes from Latin and South America, from providers like Televisa and Venevision. Telemundo's bid to win market share away from Univision (and they're having some measure of success) is to create original US-generated Spanish language programming content specifically for US Spanish-speaking viewership. Says Mike Castello, VP of television syndicator AIM Tell-A-Vision Group (AIM TV): "And it is written to be relevant to their lives to include things that the challenges, circumstances, backdrops, etc. that are recognizable for them and that they can relate to."
"Hispanics' experiences change dramatically once they migrate to this country. The best way to serve this growing audience is by offering programming that is relevant to their lives while it entertains and gives them an inspirational outlook for the future," said Ramón Escobar, Senior EVP/Network Entertainment, Telemundo.
Some of Telemundo's most successful programs include programs and novelas like "El Cuerpo del Deseo," "Tierra de Pasiones," and the weekday series "Decisiones."
With added bandwidth provided by digital cable and satellite, networks are now programming the full spectrum, from pure Spanish to pure English. All Azteca America programming, for example, is pure Spanish-language with no mix of bilingual programming and 100% Mexican produced in Mexico City.
On the other side of the spectrum, cable net SiTV CEO Michael Schwimmer explains his network targets young Latinos in English with all production done in the US. The younger they are the more likely they are to be speaking English because they're often second and third generation Hispanics. "Some are what are called 'one and a half,' meaning Latinos that arrived but arrived here young," he explains. "They're bi-lingual of course but that doesn't mean they want to watch their moms' Novellas. If you look at the Hispanic audience, 50% are bilingual and another 25% are English-dominant. Young Latinos are watching American Idol, MTV and the baseball game but no one is programming to them. There was no place they could go where they can see themselves playing strong roles as opposed to being the dishwasher, the gardener or speaking Spanish in a Novella."
And the dollars are rolling in for English-speaking Hispanic programming. Julio Rumbaut, President, Rumbaut & Co., a Hispanic media advisory firm, says while the vast bulk of the dollars are being spent against Spanish in television, "because of the perception there is an untapped target against young English dominants or bilinguals, there appears to be a willingness on the part of advertisers to pay fairly decent rates for the new entities that are trying to serve this audience, even in the absence of ratings data."
AIM TV is one of the top programming producers in the US for Hispanic audiences. Ironically, much of their programming ends up on the major general market networks. Like SiTV (which runs some of AIM's programming), the content is also in English.
AIM TV CEO and Executive Producer Robert Rose says the two weekly shows-American Latino TV and Latination-has grown from clearing 27 markets five years ago to over 100 markets today. "We actually have more full power, over the air broadcast clearances than Univision, Telemundo and all the Spanish language networks. We're on ABC, NBC and CBS affiliates because we target US-born Hispanics-really the majority of Latinos in the US."
La Familia Cosmovision, from The Inspiration Networks, is filling the void for "family friendly" television by providing programs that speak to the Latin way of life. The array of programming-a blend of Spanish and English-language content-is now available in 8 of the top 10 Hispanic markets and is carried by 11 MSOs in 24 states.
Says Tom Hohman, SVP/Affiliate Relations, The Inspiration Networks: "Second generation Latinos favor bilingual programs. In response to this shift, LFC has adjusted the percentage of its pure Spanish-language programming from 85% to 70% to accommodate second and third generation Latinos."
Bottom line-on both the television and radio side of the coin, targeting US-born Latinos seems to be the ticket right now. Says Rose: "Very few US-born Latinos watch any Spanish-language TV, but they're very Latino, they're very into their culture. So what we try to do is fill that void between this lily-white network programming and this hardcore, Spanish language TV stuff that came from Mexico. There's a whole big audience in the middle."
