South Florida viewers can now choose from half a dozen different Brazilian telenovelas airing on broadcast television. TV Globo novela Cabocla has been picked up by South Florida Spanish-language independent station WGEN-TV (known as Gen TV). The 1920s period piece premiered this Monday at 8 p.m. Gen TV had already been airing two other Globo novelas, Shades of Sin at 5 p.m. and Port of Miracles at 6 p.m. The latter novela is up against yet another Globo production and 1920s period piece, Chocolate con Pimenta, which airs at the same time on rival independent station WSBS (known as MegaTV).
At 10 p.m., two other Brazilian telenovelas compete head-to-head via nacional networks. Telemundo is airing the TV Record-produced La Esclava Isaura while Azteca America is airing the 10-year old novela Xica in the same time slot. Xica was produced by the now-defunct TV Manchete and had garnered strong ratings for Telemundo back in 2000.
“This deal strengthens the Brazilian distributor’s strategy to develop commercial partnerships with local and regional channels in the United Status,” Globo said in a statement.
The Federal Communications Commission has issued a further notice of proposed rulemaking to address the issue of providing future transmissions of Emergency Alert System broadcasts in languages other than English.
“We recognize the need for all Americans — including those whose primary language is not English — to be alerted in the event of an emergency,” the agency said in a notice. “We therefore seek comment on how non-English speakers may best be served by national, state and local EAS.”
In a statement, FCC chairman Kevin Martin, a Republican, added: “It is the government’s responsibility to ensure that the communications needs of all Americans, including non-English speakers and people with disabilities, are met in the event of an emergency. I agree that more work needs to be done to address the public safety needs of persons with disabilities and non-English speakers.”
Martin also expressed “hope that the industry will continue to work hard to find a way to provide multilingual alerts on its own.”
Democratic Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein expressed disappointment that the FCC failed to fully address “general emergency information access concerns of non-English speaking and multilingual communities.”
The further notice was part of a FCC order dealing mainly with new protocol requirements for broadcasters and other participants in the Emergency Alert System.
Entertainer Gloria Estefan and former U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros will receive $100,000 a year for serving on Univision’s board of directors.
In addition, both will receive an “equity incentive award,” the size of which will be determined by their fellow board members.
Univision’s Web site and Securities and Exchange Commission filings list 17 board members ,including Cisneros, who served as HUD secretary under President Clinton, and Estefan. However, its chairman is not named.
Several telephone and e-mail requests were made to a Univision representative requesting the name of the company’s chairman since March 30, but no definitive response has been received.
Q &A
David Downs, a former senior VP at ABC Sports, made the leap from English to Spanish-language television eight years ago when he joined Univision Sports, where he now serves as president. He spoke with Hispanic Television Update about the stateside soccer leader’s growing viewership. A further Q&A with Downs appears in the Hispanic Television special report of the July 16 print edition of Multichannel News. (http://email.multichannel.com/cgi-bin2/DM/y/hA0MKiQu0A0DIbz0EH ) An edited transcript follows:
Q: Did you grow up playing soccer?
A: Actually, I am one of the few people of this generation in the U.S. who had a bit of a soccer background before encountering it on the business side. I played a little bit in high school then actually walked on to the team at Amherst College and played there. I had a very enjoyable experience. I got back into the sport as a coach and referee at the American Youth Soccer Organization level and then started to get involved with it on the business side When I was at ABC Sports we bought the rights to the ’94 and ’98 World Cups. Obviously, coming to Univision, it has been our prime focus.
Q: What’s the deal with splitting language rights for the Gold Cup and other tournaments?
A: Well, if we had our preference we would like to own these rights exclusively and then choose to broadcast them exclusively in our language, which is Spanish. But, you can certainly understand the sensitive nature of that dynamic in the U.S. There is a perception, quite possibly true, that the U.S. is sort of a lesser country in terms of the development of the sport and it is very high on everybody’s agenda in the governing bodies of the sport — whether FIFA, CONCACAF or the MLS or whomever — to try and further the popularity of the sport in English. After all, 85% to 90% of Americans do speak English, if not more if you count the bilingual Hispanics.
It would be politically pretty difficult to put forward the notion that here in the U.S., where the majority language clearly is English, that these governing bodies were selling sports properties to us for the sole purpose of them being broadcast in Spanish. So especially on World Cup FIFA just couldn’t tolerate that kind of arrangement. What you see in the Gold Cup is a slightly different situation where the U.S. matches only were broadcast in both languages. Copa América you are seeing English-language coverage from Gol TV. It is something that if we weren’t sensitive to the politics we might fight harder to arrive at a different outcome, but the reality is that ‘s where we are and it’s for that political reason, not necessarily a business reason.
Q: How many non-Hispanic viewers are watching your soccer matches? Ten percent? More? Less?
A: I think 10% is a pretty realistic figure. I think that’s right about the right number and it can come from a number of different things.
Clearly, there are some distribution advantages that we have. Take the instance of the Gold Cup, which was being telecast on the Fox Soccer Channel. We have Univision and Telefutura in English-language homes that don´t get digital cable that would be necessary to get Fox Soccer Channel.
You might also get some viewing from people who simply enjoy the passion and the level of our announcers. It is a very different broadcast to listen to and I think there are some fans out there who enjoy regardless of the level of Spanish you speak. You don’t have to speak much Spanish to manage 20-odd technical terms and then watch the ball and provide your own play-by-play but listen to the rhythm of our announcers.
Q: Could you elaborate on what you mean by a ‘very different broadcast´?
A: I think the announcers that we employ tend to keep up a running dialogue. There are far fewer pauses than there might be in English-language commentary. And they absolutely escalate both the rhythm and the decibels of their voice as the ball advances down the field. And, of course, everyone is familiar with the various different goal calls that are pretty dramatic and exciting.
Q: What do the bikini-clad “senadoras” have to do with sports coverage?
A: You know, the senadoras on República Deportiva have been a very successful part of the show from its very first day on the air. My take on República is that they have a very successful formula that keeps churning out amazing ratings 52 Sundays a year. I am thrilled to death with the show and I wouldn’t dream of trying to change a thing. (Laughter)
Q: So the senadoras are the equivalent of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition?
A: Except that they are 52 weeks a year and the [swimsuit edition] is once a year. (Laughter) But yeah, I guess.
Briefing Room
Televisa, Azteca Duopoly Tested
(Excerpted from a July 16th article in the print edition of Multichannel News)
A verdict last month by the Mexican Supreme Court threatens to upset the longstanding Televisa/TV Azteca broadcast duopoly, and its impact may reverberate throughout the U.S. Hispanic television market.
The Mexican government estimated that in 2005 the two networks controlled 99.4% of the national broadcast advertising budget, with Televisa getting the lion’s share. The court ruled that several key components of a law approved last year that would have given existing license holders enormous advantages were unconstitutional. The justices voted to eliminate a 20-year broadcast license term, broadcast spectrum auctions and the grant of data, as well as telecommunications services to existing license holders.
Judge Genaro Gongóra Pimentel compared the latter to “the miracle of the loaves and fish.” The original law called for Televisa and Azteca to automatically and at no cost retain the spectrum freed up through digitalization. Gongóra estimated this would have left 65% of the spectrum in the hands of the two firms.
For more ...
Catching Up With Latinos on the Move
(Excerpted from a July 16th Q&A in the print edition of Multichannel News)
Exclusive rights to two popular soccer tournaments, Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana, have helped make Fox Sports en Español the leading Spanish-language sports network in ratings and number of Hispanic households. The network is available in 4.5 million Hispanic households and a total of 13.2 million U.S. households. FSE executive vice president and general manager David Sternberg, who, at 39, also heads Fox Soccer Channel, spoke with Multichannel News contributor Luis Clemens about the competitive landscape and sports programming. An edited transcript follows:
MCN: If 80% of GolTV is reportedly worth $200 million, then how much is FSE worth?
DS: Billions. [Laughter.] It is kind of funny. Obviously, that transaction has since fallen through. I am not sure that is really a valid comp but somebody was apparently willing to pay it. That valuation does point to the attractiveness of these assets.
The fact is GolTV is a smaller network than us. They have fewer Hispanic households. To my knowledge, they haven’t tipped the break-even point yet. And yet for them to get that kind of valuation clearly says this business that we are operating is tremendously valuable.
For more ...
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In the Los Angeles Times, columnist Gregory Rodriguez complains in a Los Angeles Times op-ed column that “the media gratuitously injected ethnicity into the scandal” surrounding Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s affair with local Telemundo anchorwoman Mirthala Salinas. He bemoaned the “lame comparisons between the mayor’s affair and telenovelas” and expressed surprise “no newspaper ran a cartoon of the mayor sporting a pencil mustache, a Zorro mask and a rose clenched between his teeth.”
For more ...
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