Posted by Elena del Valle on June 30, 2006
Jimmy Smits prepares for his first childhood visit to la Isla, circa 1963
Photos: courtesy of Jimmy Smits and WLIW New York
WLIW will distribute “The Puerto Ricans: Our American Story,” a program about Puerto Rico originally produced in 1999, a second time nationwide in August 2006. Entertainer Rita Moreno, late musician Tito Puente, actors Ricardo Montalban, Jimmy Smits and Miriam Colón, singers Justino Díaz and Ednita Nazario, author Esmeralda Santiago, tennis player Gigi Fernández, and former Governor Pedro J. Rosselló share their personal stories.
Filmed in the continental United States and on the island of Puerto Rico, the program explores the customs and traditions that have bonded Puerto Rican families for generations.
The show’s producers set out to illustrate how Puerto Rico’s customs, traditions, music, and dances define the identity of a growing American community. According to them, these cultural connections are so powerful for Puerto Rican families they exist even for those living on the mainland who have never been to the island. They say that for those who have been to Puerto Rico there is an inextricable bond to the island.
The spectrum of Puerto Rican music and dance includes plena, whose rhythms and traditional costume reflect the island’s African influence, Hispanic Day Parade, New York City, October 1998
Jimmy Smits describes the preparations for his first childhood visit at age five as if it were a religious ceremony; with starched white shirt, vest, suit and tie. According to author Esmeralda Santiago (When I Was Puerto Rican), being Puerto Rican American is “like a child jumping double Dutch… two ropes [Puerto Rican and American identity] going in opposite directions very quickly… it is a constant juggling, a constant jumping up and down trying to be in one place or another.”
This duality put tennis player Gigi Fernandez at a crossroads as she prepared for the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and had to choose between representing the mainland or the island. Fernandez talks in the program about her personal struggle with the two worlds of Puerto Rican life as “a hard emotional decision but a very easy career decision” because she knew the only way she would win was on the U.S. team. Representing the United States that summer, Fernandez became the first Puerto Rican woman to win an Olympic gold medal.
“The Puerto Ricans: Our American Story” was produced by WLIW New York. They have produced other public television specials celebrating the diversity and ethnic character in America such as “A Laugh, a Tear, a Mitzvah” (Jewish Americans); “The Cuban Americans;” “The Polish Americans” and “The Mexican Americans.” The production team included Ron Rudaitis, director; Roy Hammond, executive producer; Ron Rudaitis and Sam Toperoff, producers; Yvonne Rodriguez Sanchez and Robin Llompart, associate producers; and Sam Toperoff, writer.
Posted by Elena del Valle on June 28, 2006
Alejandro Cosentino, CEO, Voy Music
Photos: Voy Music, Starmedia.com
Miami, Florida – StarMedia and Voy Music recently launched StarMedia Radios, a joint online digital Latin music service powered by Voy. According to promotional materials, StarMedia Radios provides “the broadest selection of Latin music available online,” a network of 26 originally programmed radio stations, a music store, the world’s first Latin music virtual record label as well as podcasting, and news.
StarMedia Radios’ new media player offers streaming music and news that is “fully integrated” with other services including viral networking features allowing users to rate, recommend and share specific selections with friends.
“The launch of StarMedia Radios will provide StarMedia’s customers with a leading-edge digital entertainment platform to discover, explore and enjoy all facets of the Latin music experience,” said Alejandro Cosentino, CEO, Voy Music. “The service is intuitive and comprehensive, allowing Latin music fans to fully search, select, consume and share all things relevant to their passion for Latin music and the best of Latin culture.”
Juan Jose Nuñez, vice president, Operations, Starmedia
“StarMedia has continually sought to strengthen its brand by developing the variety and relevance of its content. The new StarMedia Radios service will significantly enhance our user’s online experience, through an innovative, cutting-edge digital music service, the latest in a series of recent upgrades to the portal,” said Juan José Nuñez, vice president of operations, StarMedia.
Starmedia.com is a free-to-web service connecting approximately 18 million Spanish-speakers through the Internet. Voy Music executives describe their company as a next generation platform dedicated to the discovery, promotion and marketing of Latin music. StarMedia has local operations in Mexico, Spain and the United States (Los Angeles, Miami and New York). It is wholly owned by Wanadoo, a subsidiary of the France Telecom Group and one of Europe’s largest online companies.
Posted by Elena del Valle on June 6, 2006
Fredy Wiles, Terra, senior producer, interviewing Mexican soccer player Cuahetemoc Blanco
Photo: Terra.com
Coral Gables, Florida – Terra.com leveraged the journalistic collaboration of Terra Networks’ regional sites to create a bilingual (English and Spanish) World Cup 2006 tournament website, Alemania 2006, focusing on the road to Berlin. Promoters describe it as “the largest, most complete site.”
They promise recaps of the Elimination Round, more than 2,000 photos detailing the history of previous World Cups and live reporting from Terra.com’s 10 international online correspondents. Website visitors can obtain team stats, calendars, team standings, videos, country information, a German travel special and advanced wireless features like mobile ring tones, scores, and alerts.
Additionally, soccer fans who follow the tournament online can receive minute-by-minute match coverage in Spanish and English, Terra TV (video-on-demand) including four original exclusive videos per day from Germany, online games, photo galleries, forums and blogs.
“Terra Networks’ journalistic collaboration offers World Cup fans unparalleled in-depth coverage and is a prime example of the Internet’s ability to reach a mass audience,” stated Fernando Rodriguez, CEO, Terra. “The Internet is fast becoming the media of choice for avid sports fans. Anyone with a browser and connectivity can actively partake.”
Terra.com served as the official site for the Copa Oro and offers fan clubs for Spanish teams, Barcelona and Real Madrid. Terra also features the teams and games of the Fútbol Mexicano, Copa Libertadores de America, and Copa Europa.
According to Terra executives, World Cup 2006 is set to reach an estimated 3 million spectators attending 64 matches that will be played in the German cities of Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt and Hannover. Millions are expected to follow the games on television, radio and online.
Terra Networks is an Internet group with a presence in the U.S. and Latin America operating websites in the United States, Spain and Latin America, and is among the largest access providers in Spain and Latin America. Terra.com is the U.S. Hispanic arm of the Terra Networks. Visit Terra.com for the Spanish website and Terra.com/shared for the English version.
Posted by Elena del Valle on June 1, 2006
MundoHispánico new design
Photo: MundoHispanico
Atlanta, Georgia — MundoHispánico, billed as Atlanta’s largest circulation Spanish-language weekly and owned by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, redesigned the newspaper to make it more attractive and easier to read. The revamped look includes a new logo and a contemporary design as well as a format meant to encourage readers to spend more time with the paper.
“The latest in a series of moves to expand and improve our publication to meet the needs of the rapidly growing market,” said Lino Dominguez, publisher, MundoHispánico.
Atlanta’s Hispanic population exceeded 500,000 in 2005 and is expected to grow by another 31.5 percent by 2010. MundoHispánico is distributed on Thursday with a circulation of 75,000, including a 7,000-copy zoned edition in suburban Hall and Clarke counties.
Three weeks prior to the redesign, MundoHispánico launched a second weekly that serves as a “how to” guide for new Hispanic residents of metro Atlanta. Pasos: Para vivir mejor (Spanish for Steps to a Better Life) is a free tabloid publication with a weekly distribution of 35,000. Pasos is published each Monday and features short stories and color photographs to illustrate the steps readers can take to accomplish their goals.
Acquired by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2004, MundoHispánico recently moved into new offices in suburban Atlanta. The newspaper has served metropolitan Atlanta’s Hispanic market since 1979. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is a division of Cox Enterprises, Inc., a national media company and providers of automotive services.
Comments:
Filed Under: Media
Posted by Elena del Valle on May 25, 2006
Jose Rivera Font, general manager, Yahoo! North Latin America
Photo: Yahoo!
Barely weeks after making news with its World Cup fan sites, Yahoo! has yet another business venture geared towards the Spanish language Hispanic community. This time they united with Telemundo and NBC Universal Television Group to create Yahoo! Telemundo.
Yahoo! en español internet services and Telemundo content will be combined to make one website to take the place of the original Yahoo! en español and Telemundo websites.
“This is a game-changing deal that will reshape the U.S. Hispanic Internet business as we know it, in terms of user engagement, customer value and monetization,” said Jose Rivera Font, general manager, Yahoo! North Latin America. “Yahoo! Telemundo will provide the kind of cross-media interaction that will deliver an integrated and immersive media experience for both users and advertisers.”
Although the staff and advertising profits will be merged there will be no equity investment from one company to the other. Even though the process will take months, the site is already up and running. Visitors to the Yahoo! and Telemundo sites are redirected to the new site.
Yahoo! staples will be available including Mail, Messenger and Search and the new site has the original Yahoo! layout. In addition, Telemundo will furnish content ranging from sports to music.
Randy Falco, chief operating officer, NBC Universal Television Group, stated, “Our partnership with Yahoo! is a win-win deal for both sides that will drive more hits to the site and ultimately expand our capabilities.”
The companies will produce new advertising technologies which they hope will lead to exclusive media campaigns targeting Spanish speaking Hispanics across the country. According to them, this merger marks the first time a national Spanish language television network partners with an established Spanish language online service. For more information online, visit Yahoo!Telemundo.com — Melissa Gonzalez
Posted by Elena del Valle on May 12, 2006
New Yahoo! en español sports website
Photos: Yahoo!
The Internet is used to voice opinions of love and hate. Sport’s fans who love the sport but hate the opposing team are commoners in the Internet community. Relying on fans’ desire to voice their opinions online, Yahoo! en español recently launched World Cup fan sites where visitors are able to use message boards, Real Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds and polls. The sites are available on Yahoo! en español at Mundial.yahoo.com, Yahoo! Mexico at Mundial.yahoo.com.mx and Yahoo! Argentina Mundial.yahoo.com.ar.
Adam Chandler, national manager, U.S. Hispanic Sales, Yahoo!
“Much of the excitement of sporting events comes from not only rooting for your team, but from also sharing that love of the sport with others,” said Adam Chandler, national manager, U.S. Hispanic Sales, Yahoo!
With the World Cup only weeks away fans worldwide will have access to some of the most recent news, pictures and video clips via the new websites. Yahoo! fan site sponsors include Motorola, DirecTV and General Motors.
Yahoo! and the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) have had an exclusive multi-year global relationship since 2001. They jointly produced and market FIFA’s official World Cup website for this year’s games in Germany. Yahoo! has since become one of the 15 official FIFA partners. Also included in the deal was the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan. Due in part to this partnership advertisers on the FIFA World Cup website can spread their message through out Yahoo!’s global network. According to Yahoo! representatives, their network reaches more than 400 million visitors every month; and Hispanic monthly visits alone have already topped 11 million. —Melissa Gonzalez
Comments:
Filed Under: Media
Posted by Elena del Valle on May 4, 2006
GolTV Screaming Race
Photo: GolTV
Atlanta, Georgia – GolTV Television Network, which broadcasts only soccer in the U.S., recently introduced three interactive games as part of an overall multiplatform marketing strategy. The games, GolTV Trivia, GolTV Header’s Challenge and the Roaming Screaming Race, allow participants to test their skills and knowledge and win prizes.
“We always look for innovative ways to connect with consumers and fans,” said Eileen Montalvo, executive vice president, Marketing, GolTV. “This is why experiential marketing is so important. It creates a lasting impression. With our new initiatives and games, we look to extend the reach we already have by engaging the soccer fan at events (such as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America show as well as the Street Soccer and Kick-it 3V3 youth soccer tournaments) where they congregate. We also look to later extend some of the gaming offerings to our website.”
According to GolTV, consumers link their purchasing decisions increasingly to their experiences. Executives there believe that for GolTV to connect with the soccer aficionado it is important to bring some of the programming to life and make it participatory.
The GolTV Headers Challenge allows players to test their soccer skills by keeping GolTV’s icon, the blue soccer balls up in the air as long as they can in this virtual camera-action game. In the Roaming Screaming Race players enter a virtual stadium and scream GolTV as loud as they can. The player who screams the loudest will find that his soccer player has scored the goal. In GolTV Trivia participants compete to see who knows how a particular play will end.
In less than three years, GolTV has penetrated 31 percent of all Hispanic cable and satellite households, approximately 2.5 million homes. Delivering more than 1,500 soccer games each year from around the world, GolTV offers live games from some of the best leagues in the world with exclusive rights to games from Italy, Spain, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Bolivia and Uruguay.
GolTV also broadcasts live and live-on-tape games from Europe, Copa del Rey and International Friendly Games; the U.S. Open Cup; and tournaments in Central America. Other programming features from GolTV include GolTV News, two daily independent half hour-long wrap-up shows highlighting the latest and most important happenings in the world of soccer and 45/45 a weekly debate show taking a deep look into Latin American soccer. For more information online, visit GolTV.tv
Posted by Elena del Valle on April 25, 2006
Orishas to perform on LATV
Photo: LATV
In April, LATV “En Concierto” has brought viewers and the in-studio audience live performances by Latin and non-Latin artists with a mix of English and Spanish language music. Offerings have included a variety of music genres such as hip hop, indie rock, and electronic music.
LATV “En Concierto” airs in LATV Studios in Los Angeles every Monday and Wednesday evenings at 9. The program also dedicates nights to specific genres or styles and has events like Ladies Night, A Night of Hip Hop, and Puerto Rican Rock Night.
The program has had Hip-Hop with artists Ana Alicia, Rican, and Generalz; Rock with The Redwalls, The 88, OK Go, and Puerto Ricans Bletzung & Ardnaxela; and Electronic with Belanova & Cubiky. Other popular artists that have performed include Julieta Venegas, Natalie y La Forquetina, Ill Nino, Gian Marco, Obie Bermudez and Jorge Drexler.
Artists that will perform in the last week of April include Orishas, Glory, Juan Gotti, and Bimbo, as well as Calle 13, Voltio, Yaga, Mackie. LATV Network targets bilingual Latino youth and is predominantly in English. LATV is one of the only networks in Los Angeles that reaches the bilingual demographic. Sergio Carmona
Posted by Elena del Valle on April 20, 2006
Click here to sponsor a HispanicMPR.com podcast
Jose Martin Samano, Azteca America reporter
Following Hurricane Katrina’s devastation on the gulf coast in late August, Azteca America anchor José Martín Sámano was one of the first reporters on the ground in Louisiana. His series of segments covering the storm’s effects on Hispanic residents earned him a plaque of special recognition presented by Lupita Colmenero and Tom Oliver president and executive director respectively of the National Association of Hispanic Publications (NAHP).
“The influence that we have as Hispanic media is growing every day. As we improve the quality of content, we will be able to attract new bilingual viewers to Hispanic media as well as maintaining viewership of existing Spanish speakers of the fastest-growing minority group in the nation,” said Sámano to a group of publishers at the NAHP Annual Conference.
Sámano stayed in the impact zone of Louisiana for two weeks. His segments focused on the disaster and the plight Hispanic residents of Louisiana dealt with as a result of the storm. Throughout his broadcast career in Mexico and the United States, Sámano has prepared special reports for the “Hechos” news show in Mexico and has covered Cuban balsero refugee issues. He also covered the United States invasion of Haiti, an earthquake in El Salvador, Mexican immigrants in Alaska and other migrant border issues.
Sámano anchors the evening and nightly newscasts alongside other award winning news staff. At 6:30 p.m. he co-anchors with six-time Golden Mike Award winner Nancy Agosto, a veteran of Univision’s local Los Angeles newscast. He co-anchors the nightly newscast at 11 p.m. with Jackeline Cacho, a former anchor of local Univision newscasts in San Antonio and recipient of the 2003 Hispanic Woman Award from Yellow Rose of Texas.
Azteca America is a wholly-owned subsidiary of TV Azteca S.A. de C.V, one of the largest producers of Spanish language television content in the U.S. Azteca America added two more stations in March, raising the number of markets that have presence with the network to 43. Azteca America moved its entire news operations to California earlier this year and is the only network that produces its broadcast news from Los Angeles. Sergio Carmona
Click here to sponsor a HispanicMPR.com podcast
Posted by Elena del Valle on April 19, 2006
Click here to sponsor a HispanicMPR.com podcast
Cristina Godoy, producer and host, “El 63 Para Ti”
Photo: Cristina Godoy
Los Angeles, California – Spanish-language television station, KBEH-TV Channel 63, Los Angeles debuted its second season of interactive interviews with Spanish-speaking political, business, education, legal and community on “El 63 Para Ti,” a public service program designed to integrate the growing Latino community with local, political and community resources.
“El 63 Para Ti’s goal is to give Latinos in Los Angeles access to the local, political and community resources that they need to have a greater voice in this market,” said Eduardo Suarez, director, Programming and Production. “Through interviews with our guests we seek to be a catalyst for positive change in this community.”
The show covers topics such as immigration law, finances, politics, education and health. Previous interviews have included: representatives from the California Highway Patrol; attorneys discussing Orange County’s proposal to enable the police department to act as immigration officers; financial experts speaking about taxes; government representatives from the cities of Santa Ana, Garden Grove, South Pasadena; and experts and counselors working against gangs. During the program, viewers can also call in to a toll-free number with questions or to make comments.
“We are also always interested in speaking with political leaders and experts who can assist us in explaining new proposals to the Hispanic community such as initiatives on providing drivers licenses for undocumented people, the pros and cons of using credit or information on tax preparation,” said Cristina Godoy, producer and host, “El 63 Para Ti.”
The program, which airs on Saturdays and Sundays at 4 p.m. with encore presentations Monday through Friday at 6 a.m., plans a monthly leadership section to recognize accomplishments by individuals in the Hispanic community.
“We are seeking recommendations for Latinos who are making important contributions in our community and who we can acknowledge on our show as role models,” said Godoy.
KBEH-TV Channel 63 Los Angeles airs 24-hours of Spanish-language programming and is targeting the elusive 18-34 generation of Latinos. The independent local broadcast station reaches more than 5.4 million households, including 3.8 million pay-TV households, in the Los Angeles and Santa Barbara DMAs. KBEH-TV is owned and operated by Bela Broadcasting, LLC; a privately held company based in Miami, Florida. For more information online visit Canal63.com.
Click here to sponsor a HispanicMPR.com podcast
