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Main >> Previous Updates >> April 2004 >> April 20, 2004 >> Article ID 4697
 Cable Finds New English-language Market: Young Hispanics | Type: Internet Article |
| | Cable Finds New English-language Market: Young Hispanics | Mar 06, 2003 | by Ramiro Burr
Summary:
"Latinos are successful crossing over in to general market media, and so young Latinos are hugely attracted to Shakira, Marc Anthony and Christina Aguilera, who perform in English and Spanish," he said. "It is much bigger than just a new TV show, or new network. It is affecting all of us. From TV programming and movies to ad agencies, we're all participating." |
Fans of the gritty NBC crime drama "Kingpin," with its cool soundtrack, might want to punch up the new mun2 network on their remote controls.
The English-language programming - fast and irreverent music shows, entertainment, comedy and talk - is aimed at a suddenly hot demographic.
But when television executives talk about that new audience, they are talking about Hispanics - American-born, young, urban and, though often bilingual, more comfortable in English.
"There is a segment of the population that prefers to speak English," said Lynette Pinto, vice president of marketing at NBC Cable Networks. "They tend to be young, and they have been underserved to date."
In an attempt to reach that audience, NBC-owned, Miami-based cable network mun2 overhauled its mostly Spanish lineup in September, replacing it with English-dominant shows for young Hispanics.
Music-centered programs such as "Morning Video Mix," "Fuzion" and "Jamz" focus on hip-hop and dance artists who rarely appear on Spanish networks, which cater to an older audience.
Its flagship prime-time show is "The Roof," which comes off as a cross between MTV's "Total Request Live" and its 1990s dance show "The Grind."
At the recent Texas CableConnects conference, Pinto was among a few industry experts on a panel examining the need for the right marketing to reach the hot audience segment the TV industry labels "English-dominant Latinos."
"It is an important part of the population that has been ignored forever, and it is new, exciting, and the right thing to do," said Al Aguilar, chief executive of the Creative Civilization ad agency in San Antonio. "Media that is English-language programming targeting Hispanics can be universally appealing.
"If Bill Cosby can be universally appealing to all audiences, so can George Lopez, and that's certainly proven the case," he said.
Yolanda Foster, the vice president of programming and promotions mun2, sees the channel's role as similar to BET or MTV in terms of disseminating cutting-edge youth culture.
"When you're looking at reaching the audience that we're targeting, you're looking at a lot of youth, urban trends," Foster said. "There are a lot of similarities in urban markets between the African-American and Latino populations."
As part of mun2's marketing thrust, a new professional internship program was established last summer. Known as u-mun2, these street teams of university interns were set up in the major cities such as Los Angeles, Miami, New York and San Antonio. The teams organize promotional and marketing events, including concerts and program tapings that will air on the various entertainment shows.
NBC also owns Telemundo, a more traditional Spanish network, and wanted to make sure it wasn't competing with mun2.
"If Telemundo is producing Spanish-language programming for first- and second-generation Hispanics, then we look to reach a separate enough audience so that we don't step on each others toes," Foster said.
Hispanic population growth is finally translating into more representation on mainstream networks, as well. A decade after early attempts such as "House of Buggin" and "Culture Clash" failed to capture ratings, "Greetings From Tucson," "George Lopez," Nickelodeon's "Dora the Explorer" and the syndicated show "Urban Latino" are finding success.
Aguilar is not surprised by the new trend, pointing to the recent Latin explosion in pop music.
"Latinos are successful crossing over in to general market media, and so young Latinos are hugely attracted to Shakira, Marc Anthony and Christina Aguilera, who perform in English and Spanish," he said. "It is much bigger than just a new TV show, or new network. It is affecting all of us. From TV programming and movies to ad agencies, we're all participating."
Another cable offering, SiTV, plans to go on the air in October with a concept similar to mun2. Officials say the San Antonio-based network will focus on quick and edgy comedy, music and talk programming for the highly desirable 16-to-34-year-old demographic. |
 Source: Hispanic Business | |
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