They say things like "Antes de la break" and "Mira que cute." One is a clownish, Puerto Rican-born 28-year-old who ditched studying engineering to pursue a career in entertainment, another is an outspoken SoCal native who once had a penchant for crashing cars. The Spanglish? It just comes naturally.
They're a new generation of Latino television personalities: attractive, plugged in and conversant not only in Spanglish argot but in a complex, shifting culture. Their employers believe they are offering young viewers a cool, and marketable, connection to this culture. Don Francisco, cuidado.
With U.S.-born Latinos accounting for more than 60% of all Latinos in the country, according to recent census data, a group of bilingual networks has arisen in the last few years to tap into an audience interested in bicultural programming.
In a fragmented media environment in which young viewers can watch mainstream and Spanish-language media, channels MTV Tr3s, mun2, SiTV and LATV aim to bridge the gap between American culture and the roots of their youthful -- and sometimes out-of-touch -- viewers. In August, mun2 achieved its best numbers since it was launched eight years ago with the broadcast of the U.S.A. versus Mexico qualifying soccer match for the World Cup; the game averaged 322,000 viewers, according to Nielsen. With the help of teen telenovela "Isa TKM," MTV Tr3s ranked No. 2 among Hispanic females ages 12-17 for a week in August, second only to Disney Channel at the 5-6 p.m. time slot.
From telenovelas and in- vestigative documentaries to sports programming and shows highlighting the latest in American and Latin music, the networks offer a variety of programming to compete with all networks, not just with one another and not just Spanish-language programming, says Jose Tillan, general manager of New York-based MTV Tr3s.
"Our audience is a hybrid of all markets," agrees Alex Pels, general manager of mun2in Universal City. "They're people who live in both worlds and are comfortable in both worlds. They can tune in to a telenovela one hour and 'Family Guy' the next. Networks like ours are a one-stop destination for the bicultural viewer."
The multicultural approach is appealing to advertisers hoping to tap into the expanding Hispanic market. LATV counts Honda, McDonald's, T-Mobile, Wrigley and the U.S. Army among its advertisers, while MTV Tr3s features Toyota, Target and Verizon Wireless. "It is unrealistic to expect a single-language strategy to work successfully for the entire Hispanic consumer market," says Laura Sonderup, director of Heinrich Hispanidad, an ad agency in Denver.
