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Seinfeld who?

Latin TV takes on the competition and wins

Web posted April 22, 1998

MIAMI -- Television viewers elsewhere in the country may never have heard of Esmeralda or Maria Isabel, but in Miami those soap-opera heroines are causing headaches for the people who bring you ``ER'' and Jerry Seinfeld.

Univision Communications Inc.'s WLTV captured Spanish-language TV's first-ever ratings sweep in this market during the most recent Nielsen ratings period -- topping not only the news ratings but also winning in prime time.

That means that more people tuned in to Univision's ``Maria Isabel,'' a sappy soap about a Mexican Indian woman trying to fit into Mexico City high society, than NBC's ``Seinfeld. And another soap heroine ``Esmeralda'' drew more viewers than ``ER,'' another top TV favorite elsewhere in the nation.

Miami, with more than 3.5 million viewers, is the largest market where a Spanish-language television station has managed a ratings sweep in one of the periods key to establishing advertising rates.

Industry experts say Los Angeles may be next as Spanish-language television improves its programming.

``General market television has not incorporated Latinos,'' said Federico Subervi, a University of Texas professor who studies the Spanish-language media. ``The English-language media doesn't tell Latinos what they really want, such as news from Latin countries.''

Univision and Telemundo Group Inc. are the major Spanish-language networks battling for the market of 32 million Hispanics in the United States. Univision, based in Los Angeles, has grabbed up to 80 percent of the market share, and Telemundo about 18 percent. The competition may get tougher, however, now that Miami-based Telemundo has the backing of Sony and cable conglomerate Tele-Communications Inc. The two companies each bought under 25 percent of Telemundo last November, and are promising to revamp its programming.

Univision, which had an average of 1.4 million households tuned to its prime-time lineup in 1997, is the nation's fifth largest network and reaches 92 percent of the nation's Hispanic households. Telemundo reaches about 85 percent of the Hispanic households in this country.

Some Latino bilinguals are comfortable switching channels, taking advantage of increased choices they get with their language skills.

``I watch a lot of English TV but I like the Spanish soap operas,'' said Mercy Estrada, a Cuban-born legal office secretary whose favorite program is Univision's ``Esmeralda'' soap. ``I get hooked.''

Spanish-language TV has succeeded partially because network executives have managed to develop a pan-Hispanic image that gets past the traditional rivalries that Mexicans, Cubans, Puerto Ricans and other groups may have.

In addition, the Spanish networks fill a void left by the English-language television news, which gives little attention to events in Latin America.

``Most bilinguals who have a choice between watching English or Spanish-language newscasts probably lean towards the Spanish because they are more complete newscasts, they're more world-oriented, they're not as parochial,'' said Joe Angotti, a Miami-based media consultant and former NBC executive.

Indeed, in Los Angeles, Univision's KMEX regularly wins the news ratings over English-language stations.

In other programing, both Univision and Telemundo have made improvements. They are still heavily dependent on telenovelas, soap operas usually produced in Mexico or Venezuela, but that's changing.

They have successfully copied the talk-show and tabloid-entertainment formats that have become common on English TV.

Now that Sony has a stake in Telemundo, one of the ideas floating around is making Spanish-language versions of popular Sony-owned programs.

Univision last year launched a morning show to compete with NBC's ``Today.'' In the Miami market, Univision's ``Despierta America'' rated higher than CBS's revamped ``This Morning,'' but trailed the other English-language morning shows.

English-language stations, while complaining that Nielsen doesn't accurately measure viewership in South Florida, have begun to take notice of the competition.

Local NBC and ABC affiliates have started previewing their evening newscasts on Spanish-language radio, using their Spanish-speaking news staff.

And CBS now broadcasts ``60 Minutes'' nationally with Spanish close-captioning. Kevin Tedesco, a spokesman for the program, said producers want to appeal to Spanish speakers who may not be comfortable with English.

As Spanish-language TV rides a boom, two problems are surfacing.

The success has fostered new competition. For example, Miami-area viewers have a choice of four Spanish-language broadcast stations, plus cable newcomers such as Galavision, Univision's cable channel; Gems, a channel geared to women; H-TV, a music channel; CBS-Telenoticias, a news channel; and Fox Sports Americas, a sports channel.

``Just as English-language broadcasting has been fragmented so Spanish-language TV is becoming specialized -- people are getting more choices,'' Angotti said.

The other big fear for Latin TV is the assimilation of its viewers.

``A lot of my students, who were second-generation Cubans, aren't watching anywhere near the amount of Spanish TV as their parents,'' said Angotti, who until recently taught at the University of Miami. ``I think it's probably as good as it gets for Spanish TV right now.''

Subervi, who's heard the same assimilation predictions before, doubts Latin TV executives have anything to worry about soon.

``Not unless we build a huge wall on the border with Mexico,'' Subervi said, ``because there's always going to be an immigrant influx from Latin America.''