University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Theses from the College of Journalism and Mass Journalism and Mass Communications, College of Communications Spring 4-24-2014 EXPLAINING THE TREND TOWARD ENGLISH-LANGUAGE PROGRAMMING IN HISPANIC-AMERICAN TELEVISION: WHY NOW? Elizabeth L. Levine University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/journalismdiss Part of the Broadcast and Video Studies Commons, Journalism Studies Commons, and the Mass Communication Commons Levine, Elizabeth L., "EXPLAINING THE TREND TOWARD ENGLISH-LANGUAGE PROGRAMMING IN HISPANIC- AMERICAN TELEVISION: WHY NOW?" (2014). Theses from the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. 39. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/journalismdiss/39 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journalism and Mass Communications, College of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses from the College of Journalism and Mass Communications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. EXPLAINING THE TREND TOWARD ENGLISH-LANGUAGE PROGRAMMING IN HISPANIC-AMERICAN TELEVISION: WHY NOW? by Elizabeth L. Levine A THESIS Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts Major: Journalism and Mass Communications Under the Supervision of Professor Laurie Thomas Lee Lincoln, Nebraska May, 2014 EXPLAINING THE TREND TOWARD ENGLISH-LANGUAGE PROGRAMMING IN HISPANIC-AMERICAN TELEVISION: WHY NOW? Elizabeth Leah Levine, M.A. University of Nebraska, 2014 Adviser: Laurie Thomas Lee The United States Hispanic population is growing at an exponential rate. There are now more than 100 television networks in the U.S. catering to Hispanic audiences – mostly in Spanish. Now, contrary to logic, more English-language programming for Hispanic-Americans is making its way to television. With immigration from Hispanic countries on the decline, most of the growth among the U.S. Hispanic population comes from Hispanics born in the U.S. Hispanic-Americans growing up in the U.S. are more likely to grow up speaking English and consuming media in English. The U.S. Hispanic audience is expected to reach one-third of the total U.S. population as early 2050, so it is clear that broadcasters cannot ignore this group. It appears the latest trend in attracting this audience, particularly the rapidly growing Hispanic millennial audience, is creating content that caters specifically to U.S. Hispanics, but in English. But why is this trend emerging now? Networks may now be strategizing differently because of the changes in the makeup of the U.S. Hispanic audience – particularly among the millennial audience. After a thorough literature review, this thesis identified a set of factors explaining the trend: an increasing amount of Hispanic- Americans now growing up speaking English, a lack of non-stereotypical English- speaking Hispanic characters on mainstream television, an increase in U.S. Hispanic buying power and subsequent interest from advertisers, business partnerships and opportunities for networks and media moguls and ease of acquiring a cable network at a time when the Spanish-language television market is heavily saturated. To explore and confirm these explanatory factors, personal interviews were conducted with program executives at Hispanic television networks that offer English- language programming. These interviews along with secondary research indicate that an increase in Hispanics born in the U.S., growing use of the English language among Hispanics and the lack of non-stereotypical English-speaking Hispanic characters on television are important driving forces behind this trend toward English-language programming catering to Hispanic-Americans. iv Copyright © 2014, Elizabeth Leah Levine v Acknowledgments Special thanks to my interview participants: James Kanatas, Director of Programming, El Rey Network Johnathan Gwyn, Chief Executive Officer, MiCasa Network Laura Dominguez, Coordinator of Program Scheduling, mun2 Annette Villarreal, Coordinator of Programming & Development, NUVOtv Nando Vila, Vice President of Programming, Fusion Miguel Tamayo, Director of Programming & Development, Fusion Thank you to my thesis committee members, Luis Peón-Casanova, Dr. Larry Walklin and Dr. (Bryan) Ming Wang, for your guidance and feedback. Thank you most of all to my thesis adviser, Dr. Laurie Thomas Lee, for all of your help and patience throughout the research process. Without your help, this research would not have been possible. vi Table of Contents I. Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1 II. Background ............................................................................................................................... 5 State of the Industry ..................................................................................................................... 6 Telemundo ............................................................................................................................... 7 Univision ................................................................................................................................. 8 Galavisión ............................................................................................................................... 9 Azteca América ........................................................................................................................ 9 Estrella TV ............................................................................................................................ 10 ....................................................................................................................................... 10 ESPN Deportes ...................................................................................................................... 11 Mexicanal .............................................................................................................................. 11 MundoFox ............................................................................................................................. 12 LATV Network ....................................................................................................................... 12 mun2 ...................................................................................................................................... 13 NUVOtv ................................................................................................................................. 13 Fusion .................................................................................................................................... 15 El Rey Network ...................................................................................................................... 17 MiCasa Network .................................................................................................................... 18 Bilingual Hispanic-Ame ican ’ elevi ion-Viewing Habits ...................................................... 19 Secondary Audio Programming (SAP) ...................................................................................... 24 Hispanic Television Characters on English-Language Television............................................ 31 Hispanic-Americans and Children‘s Television.................................................................... 38 Hispanic-Ame ican ’ Engagement in Digital Media ................................................................ 43 III. Research Questions ............................................................................................................... 46 IV. Research Justification ........................................................................................................... 48 V. Methodology ............................................................................................................................ 49 VI. Findings .................................................................................................................................. 51 Nature of the U.S. Hispanic Television Audience...................................................................... 54 Hispanic Representation on Television ..................................................................................... 71 Changing Economics and Increased Buying Power Among U.S. Hispanics ............................ 83 Business Opportunities for Media Companies and Moguls ...................................................... 95 Spanish-Language Television Market Saturation ................................................................... 107 VII. Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 113 Thoughts on the Direction of the Trend ................................................................................... 114 Programming Strategy Explanation ........................................................................................ 118 References ................................................................................................................................... 121 Endnotes ....................................................................................................................................