Q&A: Liberman Media's Lenard Liberman
Laura Martínez -- Multichannel News, 2/18/2009 4:08:09 PM
Lenard Liberman is the executive vice president of Liberman Media, the Burbank, Calif.-based Spanish-language broadcaster he co-founded in 1987 along with his father, Mexico-born José Liberman. The broadcaster, which has grown to include a roster of six television and 21 radio stations, is now marketing its brand and outlets as a national network dubbed Estrella TV, scheduled to launch in July. From one of the company's owned TV stations in Houston, Liberman spoke to Hispanic TV Update about the upcoming launch, its affiliation strategy and how he plans to compete head to head with Univision and Telemundo in a year in which most TV properties are struggling. An edited transcript follows:
Q: Why go national now?
A: Part of it has to do with the success we've had with our programming in some of the markets we operate. We are now the No. 2 in Los Angeles, beating Telefutura and Telemundo, per November ratings. And when you have these kinds of results, you have to put out your programming across the country.
Q: What's the distribution strategy?
A: For many years we were holding out to own our own stations, without having any affiliates. But we realized not long ago that owning every single station isn't as important as we thought it was going to be. With the digital roll out, there will be a tremendous need for additional programming, and we have that programming: we produce 56 hours of original content each week.
Q: Have you signed any affiliates yet?
A: Earlier this month, we signed our first affiliation agreement [with CCA] for four markets in Texas: Brownsville-McCallen [KVEO], El Paso [KTSM], Waco [KWKT] and Tyler [KETK]. These stations will carry Estrella TV on their digital multicast signals and are scheduled to go on the air by July 1.
Q: Do you think multicast distribution limits your reach?
A: Not really. You have to look at this from the perspective of where television is going to be six months or a year from now. Right now we all watch on TVs that are just one channel, and in fact in most markets (with some exceptions like San Francisco and San Jose) most Hispanics that watch ourselves and Univision and Telemundo -- about 65% to 70%-- are watching over the air; they don't get cable or satellite, and I don't think that's likely to change very much even after the transition. Those who install a digital converter box will have the same television and the same antenna; they'll just be watching digital television over the air.
Q: Will Estrella TV remain focused on the Mexican-American audiences?
A: I would say that our programming is far more generic than that. But it's true that when we started, we were just in Los Angeles [1998], where 80% of the Hispanic market is Mexican, so you focus on that audience. Over time, however, as you expand out, you realize that if you want to create a network and be in all Hispanic markets, your shows have to be relevant East of the Mississippi. In fact, I would say we only have now one show that plays specifically to the Mexican audience. The rest have content that are equally accessible to all Hispanics. Still, if you look at Univision's programming, it is very much Mexican-oriented. I think if you want to be successful in the national arena, you are going to cater to the Mexican audiences without alienating other audiences. And whether we'll be able to do that or not ... well, we'll find out.
Q: Any plans to produce telenovelas?
A: There is certainly an audience for telenovelas -although I think that audience is shrinking. But I don't think it makes sense to fight against Televisa's telenovelas, which are the best ones out there. I think there is a way of winning by offering alternative programming and that's what we are doing.
Q: If not with telenovelas, how do you compete with Univision?
A: We have programs that are attractive and well produced. But we also take elements of shows that are successful in the U.S. and then add the cultural cues. [Hispanic audiences] just by the fact of being in the U.S., are exposed to shows such as Lost, American Idol or Dancing with the Stars...and they demand shows that are similar. We endeavor to come up with formats that you might see in a general market in terms of flow, dynamic and look, but include certain things that are culturally important, or important from a historic perspective so that they appeal to Hispanic audiences.
Q: Isn't this a tough time to launch a network?
A: It's definitely tough. Thank God it's been better for us than our competitors, because of our ratings gains -- and I'm talking about main demos, not some obscure demos. Besides, the [network] launch doesn't really increase our costs because we are already producing all this programming; it's really just the cost of distributing all this to other stations. The huge benefit now is that we can go after the large pool of network dollars, which we never had access to.
Q: How do you intend to go after these network dollars?
A: We have a national sales team selling our programming to every major advertiser in the country on a spot basis (buying markets individually); but now we want to access the national advertisers in one shot. As part of the agreement with our affiliates, they will have national sales representation from our own rep team, Spanish Media Rep Team.
Q: Will Estrella TV hold an upfront presentation this year?
A: As long as the industry does that, that's something we might think about doing. That is one of the things we have to learn as a network; we've never done it before. So to the extent that others still think [hosting an upfront] is popular, we'll do an upfront. But first I want to make sure we're set to go. We've already signed our first affiliates and we want to make sure that we'll be able to launch on a certain date. What I don't want to do is make promises to advertisers that later we'll not be able to keep.
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