THE ACCENT'S ON THE MUSIC PATRICIA LOPEZ KNOWS WHAT HISPANIC AUDIENCES WANT.

Byline: Fred Shuster

Music Writer

WHEN "Mex 2 the Max" tapes, the line outside a West Los Angeles soundstage starts early.

The bubbly, pumped-up crowd of Hispanic youths waits excitedly to be part of the audience for one of the most unusual and lively music shows on local TV.

The idea behind "Mex 2 the Max" is a timely one. So perfectly in tune with current entertainment trends and census data that its home -- the six-year-old bilingual youth culture programmer LATV -- is about to take the show national.

"Mex 2 the Max," hosted by Los Angeles-born ex-model Patricia Lopez in that ubiquitous mix of Spanish and English called Spanglish that's heard around town, delivers the biggest international and national Hispanic music acts (Jaguares, Daddy Yankee, Cafe Tacuba, Pitbull) alongside up-and-coming local bands (Los Abandoned, Go Betty Go, Malverde) for an audience that can't get enough. Especially now that MTV hardly screens videos at all.

"Sometimes we're the very first stop for big-name musicians that come to the U.S. on tour," said Lopez, whose profile was raised higher when she signed on as Rick Dees' radio co-host on the Movin' 93.9 morning show last September. "It's just a fun, fast-paced presentation and it seems to be speaking to a large number of people."

The Lopez-hosted "Mex 2 the Max" and its companion "LATV Live" are part of LATV's menu of shows (such as "LATV en Concierto," "LATV Does Hollywood" and "Rokamole") that deliver bilingual music/entertainment programming with interactive segments utilizing telephone, e-mail, Internet chat and text.

LATV programming is aired on various channels, including KJLA. The target audience is Hispanic Americans 12 to 34, says Rick Najera, head of current programming and development.

"What impressed me about LATV is that, even though until now they could only be seen in Southern California, they had created a national brand," said Najera, an award-winning writer/producer who has worked on "MADtv" and "In Living Color," and written and directed "Latinologues," a compilation of monologues that ran for four months on Broadway. "This is entertaining television with young Hispanics behind and in front of the camera."

LATV's national rollout begins next month with affiliates in Fresno, Las Vegas, Houston, San Antonio, Miami and elsewhere. On recent occasions, "Mex 2 the Max" was No. 1 among viewers 18 to 49 during its time slot as compared to Mun2, VH1, MTV, MTV2 and Fox Sports, according to Nielsen Media Research, the leading provider of television ratings data. The company places LATV in consistently high rankings among Hispanic cable viewers during prime time.

One loyal viewer is Daniela Nuno, 23, of East Los Angeles, who has attended a handful of "M2M" tapings and also watches at home.

Among Hispanic viewers in Los Angeles, "Mex 2 the Max" pulled in 38,000 viewers, more than quadruple the viewers for MTV in English and more than 10 times the viewers for Mun2, a bilingual youth network based on the LATV model.

With its national launch, LATV will reach approximately 8 million cable and broadcast homes in four of the top 10 U.S. Hispanic markets, said LATV president Danny Crowe.

"We're multicasting to today's Latino youth," he said. "It reflects the American experience, and the audience is young and assimilated."

The 6-foot-tall Lopez -- known as Patti Longlegs -- is the ideal reflection of that audience. Born in Venice, Calif., she started her career as a model for the Elite Modeling Agency, later working as an entertainment reporter for the "CBS Evening News" and landing parts in a variety of TV series. With very little experience, she was hired in 2001 by LATV for "M2M."

Lopez and the show were featured in the 2005 PBS series "Do You Speak American?" hosted by Robert MacNeil. In it she talked about Spanglish and about how some immigrants are sometimes hesitant to speak English.

"We have all these Latin people that are coming over to the States," she told MacNeil, "and (they) might not feel comfortable speaking English. They should catch on to it. And we are ... putting it out there for them."

Along with the show and the Dees morning show, Lopez makes time to work with charities involving children and abused women, and hosts benefits, fundraisers and events that target and support the Latino community.

"It's important to be part of the community," said Lopez, who has a strong online presence, as does LATV's programming, on MySpace and other sites. "It means a great deal to me to present a positive influence for kids and show that hard, honest work can lead somewhere. I love what I do."

Besides its popularity, "M2M" is an important place to break new Hispanic acts. In recent years, the show helped kick-start the career of the popular Univision Music duo Akwid, which has since gone on to gold sales. It's for this and other reasons that lines of eager fans wait to enter the LATV studios to meet Lopez and see their favorite show taped for broadcast.

"It's just very down to earth, and I love how it's done in Spanglish, which is how my friends and I talk to each other all the time," Nuno said. "Patti is very sweet and friendly, and she talks to all of us before the cameras start. And you don't hear this music on mainstream radio or anywhere else. It gives a lot of people a chance."

Typical of fan comments on the "M2M" MySpace page was this one from the singular Big Chech from Glendale: "Que onda, M2M. You have one of the greatest shows in TV. Keep up the good work. Just keep on bringing the good guests."

Fred Shuster, [phone]

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MEX 2 THE MAX

What: Current Hispanic regional music with live acts and music videos. Patricia Lopez is VJ.

Where: LATV (found on station KJLA, listed on channels 33 or 57 on most cable lineups).

When: 9 p.m. Tuesdays.

CAPTION(S):

4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) Living la vida local

Patricia Lopez brings music home with LATV's 'Mex 2 the Max'

(2) "Mex 2 the Max" host Patricia Lopez reviews her notes before a taping of "En Concierto" at the LATV studios in West Los Angeles. Along with radio and TV, Lopez works with women's and children's charities and hosts events that support the Latino community. "It's important to be part of the community. It means a great deal to me to present a positive influence for kids and show that hard, honest work can lead somewhere," Lopez said.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer

(3) Lopez interviews the members of Ozomatli during the taping of "En Concierto." LATV companion show "Mex 2 the Max" also features established and up-and-coming bands.

(4) Ozomatli fans cheer as the band plays during the recent taping.