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Increasing of bicultural audience
Last week I was able to catch a portion of the Mexican Billboard Award show on Telemundo, and I came away with a few thoughts. The show took place in Los Angeles, a city with a large Hispanic population. During the show I heard English words spoken by the artists, like, “thank you”, “wow” and “mis fans.” Also, some of the more prominent attendees were artists like Jenni Rivera, who was born and raised in the U.S.; Larry Hernandez, who was born in the U.S. and raised in Mexico; and Gerardo Ortiz, who currently lives in the Los Angeles area after spending most of his life in Mexico.
While Hispanics in the U.S. like to stay close to their roots, they are also assimilating very well to the United States. Telemundo has done a great job of recognizing that. According to Telemundo’s president Emilio Romano, his goal is to “focus on a more acculturated, more bilingual” audience, without alienating the core Spanish-dominant viewers. This group is more educated, has a higher household income and has more options as a viewer.
Telemundo has brought over Cristina Saralegui from Univision, who has promised that her new show will cater to a more mainstream audience. They are also introducing a novela, Una Maid en Manhattan which is based on the movie Maid in Manhattan, which starred Jennifer Lopez. Telemundo also has the Mun2 network which caters to a young, fully bicultural demographic.
All this leads me to a certain conclusion. In the Hispanic marketing world, there is always a sense that advertisers are not giving Hispanics a fair shot, or that TV networks are not producing enough Hispanic-focused content. But, at least Telemundo is doing its best to prevent the opposite from happening; that is, although it is a network focused on an Hispanic audience, it is still a network based in the United States, where their viewers live, work and play. This greatly improves the odds that as Hispanics become more acculturated, they will still tune in to a network like Telemundo.
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It’s definitely a positive trend that we are seeing.
Great observation. I don’t watch much Spanish language TV, but I have been noticing the bicultural / bilingual trend taking place in English-language TV as well, both in broadcast and cable, particularly with main and supporting characters using simple Spanish words and phrases and throwing out easily identifiable cultural cues in plot and visuals. Telemundo in particular is a leader in programming with a U.S. Latino audience in mind: Think Mun2, the production of telenovelas in the U.S., and the mentions of Telemundo on other NBC/Universal properties.
You’re right Abelardo- it’s only growing.