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Cover StoryMTV Intemacional logoHISPANIC: Market share growingContinued from FIthe viewer enjoys having another choice.“Everyone is excited about the addition of Bakersfield and we are looking forward to more growth.”Terry McNally, vice president and general manager of Cox Cable, said Tele-mundo’s coverage here could increase. “We are talking to them (Telemundo) about what we can do to add them to our system. We are certain that by the end of the year, we will have the Spanish-language versions of several cable networks available.”Univision — a division of Hallmark Cards Inc. — is the nation’s largest Spanish-language communications concern and has been in existence since 1961. The network currently reaches 85 percent of the Hispanic households or 5.1 million viewers.How much Telemundo’s figures will increase with the addition of the Bakersfield market is a matter of dispute. The 1980 Census counted 87,000 people of Hispanic descent in Kern County — about 22 percent of the population. Representatives of the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund considered that figure is low by between 5 and 10 percent.Providing Spanish-language entertainment for the growing population is chiefly handled by Telemundo and Univision. Telemundo programming includes movies (80 titles each month), mini-series, sports (eight events per month plus weekly sports shows) and entertainment specials plus special programming created through a jcint venture with MTV (“MTV Intemacional”) and CNN (“Noticiero Telemundo”).Telemundo owns a television station and production facility in Puerto Rico that produce Spanish-language programming.“Our production is done at the company’s facilities in Hialeah (Fla.),” Raider said. “Although it is more expensive to create original programming here — instead of just getting shows from such countries as Venezuela — we will continue to increase our original programming as the financial situation allows.”Telemundo and Univision offer first-run programming, but the products garnered from other countries that have already been produced help keep operating costs lower.More than one-third of the Univision lineup is produced in the United States. Mexico provides 40 percent of the programming and the rest comes from other Spanish-speaking countries.•The decision to double its commitmentto the Hispanic viewer came after months of evaluations by the cable company. 1 everoni said the research was difficult because the Hispanic viewers are basically very quiet.” The cable company did discover the desire for another station.This was not a new discovery. Early plans for KDOB-TV Channel 45 included discussions of that station being a part of the Spanish-language network.“I was interested in getting Univision, but because they were contractionally tied to the Fresno station for three more years, we decided to go another direction,” said Dorothy Owens, general manager of KDOB-TV Channel 45.Owens was not interested in the other Spanish-language networks because they were designed more for Cuban and Puerto Rican viewers.“Should there ever come a time when Telemundo becomes a network affiliate here, we would still continue to carry the service on our cable system,” Leveroni said.Future plans for the Warner Cable and Cox Cable systems are to add a Spanish-language version of HBO before the end of the year. Anyone with a stereo television would be able to push a button to switch from the English to Spanish versions.“We are also looking at the possibility of broadcasting the audio version of Spanish-language HBO on an FM frequency,” McNally said.One advantage Telemundo offers is local advertising availability. Warner Cable will be able to sell a limited number of commercials to area merchants. Leveroni said the commercials Would not be limited to Hispanic operations.“We have people lined up to buy advertising already,” Leveroni said.That is an unusual trend for Telemundo. Nationally, the network is not getting cries of “ole” from advertisers.“We believe we are hitting about 7 or 8 percent of the viewing public and only getting less than 1 percent of the advertising dollar,” Raider said. “We are hoping our agreement with the Nielsen company will help change that.”To better monitor the increasing Hispanic viewing patterns, the Nielsen Media Research company has been selected to develop a national Hispanic rating service. If that audience can be better defined, it will make it easier for the Spanish-language networks to compete for advertising dollars.The Nielsen company will test its system in the fall in Los Angeles.CM 6861 ’V 6V -Uj ll»|WJiyuB3J1I2
Newspaper Details
Bakersfield Californian
Bakersfield, California, US
Fri, Aug 25, 1989
Page 78
Full Page
Clipped by
Sammi B.
NA 15 Apr 2024
Other Publications Near Bakersfield, California
The Berkshire County Eagle
Southern Californian and Kern Weekly Courier
The Weekly Californian
Kern County Californian
Daily Californian
