Special niche for Hispanic TV indies.

Although U.S. viewership for Spanish-language TV shows continues to grow, there is only a small demand for Spanish programming produced by independent networks. There are about 20 unaffiliated Hispanic stations, which usually buy their programming, including music and variety bartered shows, from syndicators and local producers. In addition, there are also 71 Hispanic network-affiliated stations with more than 800 cable affiliates across the U.S.

"Many of the non-network programs are received on a barter basis, and our station only uses variety shows," said Suzel Mendieta, program director for KORO-TV Channel 28 in Corpus Christi, Texas, an independent station that also carries Univision Network programs. Univision feeds its affiliate stations 90 percent of their schedule, with most programs coming from Venevision and Televisa.

"We don't have a budget to buy many shows and there are limited time slots available. However, we have time periods for public affairs shows and programs like Tejano music. Unless the program is really unique and different from the networks' shows, it's useless," added Mendieta. Like most Spanish U.S. stations, KORO produces its own local news shows, public affairs programs and specials. According to Medieta, some of the Texas stations closer to the Mexican border, such as KHVO in McAllen, also try to compete with Mexican shows.

Harry Abraham-Castillo, executive vp of Programming and Production at the Telemundo Network, found it "very healthy that there are independent Spanish-language TV stations"; he will be on the lookout for independent programming for Telemundo at NATPE.

"We are looking for new Spanish-language shows by U.S. and Latin American independent producers, especially shows geared to female viewers, like beauty pageants as well as movie packages and reality-based shows such as police dramas," said Abraham-Castillo. Several U.S. independent producers like Capital Productions and Luca Bentiglio Productions in Miami supply various stations with programming. TV stations pay producers an estimated $5,000 for each of the 30-minute programs, most of which are telenovelas and game shows.

Time slots are few, since most local U.S. Spanish stations fill non-network time with their own newscasts and public affairs programs. Telemundo affiliate WNJU Channel 47 produces its own news but has bought children's show El Gran Juego de La Boca from Peru and game show Colitas and telenovela Amorcito Corazon from Mexico's Antenna 3.

One of the main reasons for such purchases is cost. It's always more expensive to produce your own shows. We do about six to eight specials a year, but it is really a matter of budget," commented Manuel Martinez, WNJU's general manager. "We are leaning toward making more local programming for the New York Tri-State Area, where there is a larger demand for such Spanish programming."

In the same market, New York's WXTV Channel 41, a Univision affiliate station, locally produces at its own local facilities a Saturday variety program, Sabado Media Dia; a Sunday public affairs program, Encuentro; and Noticias 41, its two daily newscasts. For most stations, the decision to produce their own shows is influenced by the availability of technical facilities. Javier Colmenero, KORO's news director, acknowledged that the one local program the station produces every Saturday is a "handful."

WCIU-TV Channel 26 in Chicago - a Univision affiliate until this January produced an award-winning public affairs program called Ayuda for years. But WCIU's assistant director, Bertha Acosa, said that the independent station is now all English-language; its ethnic and Spanish programming is beamed on its low-powered station, Channel 23. "There are not a lot of independent Spanish-language TV stations that we barter time for programs because many are too low-powered," commented Jaime Daher, president of Los Angeles-based Lexicon, producer of the "soapmercial" La Vida Real, which is aired on Spanish TV across the U.S. on a time-buying basis. "Independent Hispanic stations such as Channel WYH 22 in Los Angeles and Houston's Channel 14 may have a wide reach, but our surveys show that similar Spanish-language religious independent stations are not very popular with Hispanic viewers."

Spanish-language independent Sainte Broadcasting, headed by Chester Smith, has four stations across California and one in Reno, Nevada, that mix independent Spanish-language shows, Univision feeds and religious programming for their viewers. Arthur Emerson of San Antonio, Texas-based KVDA Channel 60 observed that many U.S. towns have a growing Spanish population, and that local programming has been reflecting these changes.

KVDA went on the air in 1989 to serve San Antonio's 57 percent Hispanic population, 95 percent of which are of Mexican origin. "We are thinking about producing more local shows. Although we carry the Telemundo feed, we would like to serve the local audience with our own 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. local newscasts. Additionally, we provide coverage of local elections," said Emerson.

The newest Telemundo Group Spanish-language station, K40DX Channel 40 in Abilene, Texas, launched last year, providing further proof that the growing U.S. Hispanic population results in a growing number of Hispanic TV stations. According to Emerson, since "entertainment sells," there is a great demand for local music programs featuring Tejano, a Tex-Mex music blend, which he buys from syndicators on a barter basis. He also said that his station uses some four hours a day of block programming of infomercials.

"Barter is the way of the future with our independent programming. We started the Latino Unwired Network Affiliates (LUNA) one year ago because we saw the need to provide programming to those who can't get it from Telemundo and Univision and to offer outlets to producers who don't want to sail station to station," commented John Perez, LUNA sales and distribution manager. Perez noted that stations are looking for programming that appeals to all Hispanics, such as those offered by new stations like Miami's Channel 41 and New York's Channel 66.

Spanish-language station WKAQ TV in Puerto Rico, a Telemundo affiliate, recently celebrated 40 years of producing independent programming. "One can see a trend for the Hispanic independent market that could translate into special programming, including public service programs," said Jose Cancela, director of WKAQ TV and Telemundo's Miami station WSCTV 51.

"We air 25 hours a week of our own programs, mostly from local Puerto Rican producers we contract. Out of the 10 most popular shows on the island, eight are our locally-produced [programs]. In Miami, local programming is made for the predominantly Cuban community," Cancela concluded.