Gays and the Latin TV boom.

The U.S. market for Spanish-language television is exploding, and early signs are that gay content may be an important part of the mix

The Spanish-speaking California family in the sitcom Los Beltran lives in Burbank, the heart of the English-language entertainment industry, with studios for NBC, Warner Bros., Walt Disney, and Universal all jammed into a few square miles. All of those media giants are likely watching Los Beltran and its television network closely: Telemundo is one of two national TV services in the United States producing dozens of hours a week of original programming for the fast-growing Hispanic market. And unlike their counterparts in Latin America, Telemundo and rival network Univision are making moves toward gay-and lesbian-inclusiveness.

Los Beltran, which launched in October 1999 with a gay male neighbor couple as supporting characters, quickly became a success for Telemundo as well as a benchmark for gay images on Spanish-language TV in the United States. "Los Beltran has been very well received, and the fact that [the show has] covered the topic of a gay couple means that our viewers are ready to see this," says Roxanna Brightwell, a Telemundo spokeswoman. "I'm from Mexico, and I don't think you would see this on television in Latin America yet. I don't think they're quite ready."

Univision and Telemundo battle fiercely for viewers, and so far Univision has been trouncing its rival in the ratings game. Telemundo has fought back with more original programming, and in recent months it had begun to eke out a good showing in large metro markets with its talk show Laura en America (no relation to Dr. Laura), which like Los Beltran has included positive portrayals of gay and lesbian lives. Then came the backlash--not from U.S. markets but from south of the border. Laura en America also airs in Mexico, where its progressive content has riled conservative politicians. In February, Televisa, Mexico's top television company, announced its cancellation, responding to a number of Mexican politicians who had demanded that the government force broadcasters to cancel such shows or move them to latenight time slots.

Still, the battle for U.S. Spanish-speaking viewers will rage on. There's too much money at stake: $325 billion in Latino consumer spending, according to data from Miami-based Strategy Research Corp., which tracks Latino buying trends, and $1.4 billion in the Spanish-language TV ad market. In four years, it is estimated, Hispanics will be the largest minority group in the United States, accounting for more than 13% of the population, and will have more people under age 20 than any group. Certainly a segment of that exploding market will be gay and lesbian, but whether the general Hispanic audience is ready for more positive gay and lesbian content depends on how you read the networks' current offerings.

Spanish-speaking U.S. TV audiences watch some pretty over-the-top programs by the standards of the major English-language networks. Univision's and Telemundo's most popular formats are three-hour variety shows, often featuring crazy audience stunts; telenovelas (soap operas) with plotlines focusing on such characters as international thieves and their dysfunctional families, with the occasional cross-dresser; and talk shows like Laura en America and Univision's Cristina--the host of the latter has been dubbed "the Latina Oprah"--with topics ranging from coming out and gay marriage to the full effects of menopause. The talk shows' gay-inclusiveness is a recent development, says Telemundo's Brightwell: "A few years ago I don't think we even would have been ready for something like that."

Indeed, about six years ago, when Cristina decided to hold a gay marriage on her show, the network caught some flak from viewers. Now, says a Univision executive, it's old hat: "I think the Latin people have gotten their eyes opened." (Some hesitance to openly court gay viewers clearly mains: That Univision executive declined to be named, while the network refused permission for another of its reps to talk to The Advocate.)

The next frontier for gay-inclusiveness on Spanish-language television is the newer programming that more resembles English-language prime-time fare, such as Los Beltran and Univision's Estamos Unidos. Both sitcoms--with a dash of slapstick--center on Latino families and their wacky neighbors living in the United States. Set in San Diego, Unidos has reached 1.5 million or more households a week since its first episode in December, according to Nielsen (Will & Grace, by comparison, reaches around 12.2 million households).

Will the wacky transsexual telenovela subplots and sensational discussions of gay and lesbian issues on talk shows translate into inclusion of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered people on these newer shows? Says Carlos Bonavides, who plays a tacky millionaire, Modesto, on Estamos Unidos: "The soap operas and such have touched on homosexual issues before. I believe viewers would totally accept it."

Telemundo's Brightwell agrees. Since English-language television has developed so many more gay characters, she says, "it's not that big of a deal here," and the Spanish-language networks are starting to follow suit.

Starting is the key word. Darnell Hunt, a University of Southern California professor who studies mass media and cultural diversity, says Univision and Telemundo have to move slowly, to balance their gay content with their viewers' more conservative upbringing. "What makes it interesting with Spanish-language television is that you do have a population that tends to skew heavily Catholic, and there are prohibitions against certain types of sexual behavior," he says. "Then again, there's often quite a bit of distance between what the Vatican says and what practicing Catholics feel."

For now, neither Univision nor Telemundo has announced plans to add gay or lesbian characters to their shows. Moreover, the recent economic downturn has both companies putting the brakes on programming expansion: The still-profitable Univision boasts that it reaches 92% of Spanish-speaking U.S. households yet recently announced that it will cancel some programs and make other cutbacks due to a slowing economy. Talk of a recession leaves little time for Hispanic programming executives to ponder gay character development.

For links to Web sites about Los Beltran and other Spanish-language TV shows, go to www.advocate.com

Graham is on staff at The Hollywood Reporter.