SAP use among Latinos revealed

Screen Actors Guild Releases New Report Detailing Use of SAP by Spanish-Speaking Television Audiences
The Latino Journal E-News Weekly, Vol. 2, Issue 3

(October 28, 2009) – More Hispanics would watch English-language programming dubbed into Spanish if more were available and easier to find, according to the 2009 Hispanic Consumer Survey on SAP commissioned by Screen Actors Guild, which reveals the viewing habits of Spanish-speaking audiences in the United States and the use of Secondary Audio Programming (SAP).

According to the survey results:
•80% of the respondents had used SAP (59% within the past week and another 15% within the past month)
•88% would watch more SAP enhanced programs if they were easier to find
•82% are watching an individual show more often if it is in SAP •69% say they can better understand the story when it is via SAP •64% would watch more English-language TV if more TV shows offered SAP
•48% watch shows, that they normally would not watch, because they offer SAP
•91% of the 2008-2009 network primetime shows that offered SAP were renewed for the 2009-2010 season.

“This report shows that there are Spanish-speaking consumers eager to watch English-language programs if they are dubbed with Spanish audio,” said Carlina Rodriguez, SAG’s Director of Spanish Language Organizing. “At a time when Spanish Language television networks dominate the ratings, the U.S. English language networks and advertisers may be missing out on a lucrative opportunity to expand their audience nationwide.”

When respondents were asked which network primetime shows they had watched in the past three months via SAP, the top five results were as follows:
•35% The Simpsons (FOX)
•23% Ugly Betty (ABC) *
•22% CSI Miami (CBS) *
•16% Desperate Housewives (ABC) *
•16% Dancing with the Stars (ABC)

Three of the top five shows on primetime TV available via SAP are dubbed by Screen Actors Guild members.

The Nielsen Company estimates a 2.3% increase of Hispanic TV homes this season, making the Hispanic television audience in the U.S. approximately 44.3 million. This is faster growth than the total U.S. television audience or any other major ethnic market. The report also highlighted some hurdles that must be overcome. For example, very little marketing has ever been done to promote SAP and when there has been, the promotion is in English neglecting the Spanish-speaking audiences.

The 2009 Hispanic Consumer Survey on SAP was conducted by the Latino Print Network, which surveyed 633 readers from 39 Spanish language newspapers in 17 markets around the U.S. who are considered Spanish-dominate and Spanish-preferred readers; the respondents have an average household of 4.1.

“The main purpose of this study is to raise the awareness of this growing market and to promote our qualified dubbing SAG members who are ready to do this work in the United States,” said Hernán de Béky, chair of SAG’s National Spanish Language Media Task Force.

To read the Screen Actors Guild report, visit the “Resources” section of: http://www.sag.org/organizing/spanishlanguageorganizing

Latino crooner sets attendance record

Marc Anthony sets new milestone at Miami's American Airlines Arena
CMN.com

CMN announced that its concert Saturday night, featuring salsa sensation Marc Anthony at Miami’s American Airlines Arena, drew a standing-room only crowd of 15,000 and garnered gross box office receipts of $1.2 million, becoming the single highest grossing Hispanic act ever at the renowned venue.

As a way to recognize this impressive achievement, American Airlines Arena will be presenting Anthony with a special award after the artist helped bring more than 125,000 fans at the arena through 10 shows during the last three years. The combined shows generated a total gross of $9.3 million.

A fixture in the fast-growing Latin pop culture, Anthony’s seemingly tireless energy was confirmed yet again Saturday night, as the 41-year-old crooner offered another electrifying performance during the two-hour star-studded show. The New York native belted out some of his greatest hits including “Hasta Ayer,” “Hasta Que Te Conoci,” and “Te Conozco Bien” in his usual seductive, powerful voice.

One of the highlights of the evening included a surprise visit on-stage by Miami Heat and NBA stars Dwyane Wade and Carlos Arroyo, who presented Anthony with a personalized “# 1” Heat jersey. “You know Marc, this is usually my house, but tonight, mi casa es tu casa,” said the 2006 NBA Champion before a thunder of applauses.

In a more romantic encounter, Anthony was joined by wife Jennifer Lopez as the couple performed the popular ballad, “No Me Ames.”

Saturday night’s concert also marked CMN’s second straight sold-out show following Mexican ranchera artist Vicente Fernandez’s Oct. 18 show at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, where Marc Anthony is scheduled to perform early next year. Details of that show will be announced soon.

Hispanic holiday play includes Aztec version

A Los Angeles Holiday Tradition: 'La Virgen De Guadalupe, Dios Inantzin'
PRESS RELEASE

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- For years now, the Latino Theater Company has presented a holiday gift to the community, its production of "La Virgen De Guadulupe, Dios Inantzin." Adapted for the stage by company member and playwright Evelina Fernandez from the mid- Sixteenth Century text The Nican Mopohua, it relates the story of how the Virgin Mary appeared on four occasions to the lowly peasant Juan Diego in the mountains of Tepeyac near Mexico City in 1531. Miracles attributed to her intercession included the blooming of roses during a time of frost, and the recovery of Juan's uncle from the deadly plague. Juan's devotion to the Virgin was a catalyst for a spiritual renewal in the area. Perhaps two decades after the events occurred, they were recorded on paper in an Aztec language by the Indian scholar Antonio Valeriano.

Ms. Fernandez has transformed the story into a work for the stage whose themes of faith, hope and perseverance can speak to people of all backgrounds.

The show is presented in Spanish with English subtitles.

V.I.P. seating is available for $35 and can be acquired online at www.thelatc.org, or by calling (213) 489-0994 ext. 107.

Preferred seating is available for subscribers to the Face of the World season of Los Angeles Theatre Center and holders of its Flexible Pass.

General admission is free to the public (all are welcome to attend) at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, 555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, CA 90012, on Thursday and Friday, December 10 and 11, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. A goodwill donation of $5 is suggested. No one is turned away for lack of funds.

Renowned opera singer Suzanna Guzman stars as the Virgin, and Sal Lopez plays Juan Diego, in a cast of over 100 professional actors, singers and dancers that also includes children and seniors from the community.

The production is directed by Latino Theater Company's Artistic Director, Jose Luis Valenzuela. Original music composed by Alfredo Lopez Mondragon.

The famed show has been the subject of feature articles in The New York Times and Los Angeles Times.

You have an alternative when you want a choice besides "A Christmas Carol" or "The Nutcracker" for enjoyable, moving, uplifting holiday entertainment. That alternative is "La Virgen de Guadalupe, Dios Inantzin."

Time Warner Launches First Hispanic On-Demand Channel

Time Warner Launches First Hispanic On-Demand Channel
by Erik Sass, Media Post

Univision and Time Warner Cable are partnering to launch a new video-on-demand service for Spanish-language content, called Lo Mejor On Demand ("The Best On Demand").

Lo Mejor offers Time Warner Digital Cable customers a range of free programming drawn from Univision and its sister cable networks TeleFutura and Galavision. The launch of LMOD comes six months after Time Warner and Univision announced the renewal of their partnership.

The new free video-on-demand service was launched with some fanfare in Times Square with live public broadcasts of popular Univision shows, including Despierta America ("Wake-Up America"), Escandalo TV ("Scandal TV," which Univision translates as "Showbiz TV") and El Gordo y La Flaca ("The Fat Guy and the Skinny Girl," which Univision translates as "The Scoop and the Skinny").

Time Warner Digital Cable subscribers will also be able to get popular telenovelas, talk shows, news and sports programming, including "Cristina," "Sabado Gigante," "Republica Deportiva" and "Nuestra Belleza Latina."

Lo Mejor on Demand is available to Time Warner Digital Cable customers in a number of big cities with large Latino populations including New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, San Antonio and San Diego. More launches are planned for the near future.

TWC and Univision also announced they would collaborate on new products like Spanish-language VOD as well as StartOver, which allows viewers to restart a show already in progress, and LookBack, which lets them see a show after it has aired.

Hispanic civil rights leader honored

Albert Armendariz, Hispanic civil rights leader, honored with federal courthouse
Dallas Morning News, Oct 21, 2009

Rep. Silvestre Reyes is a busy guy. This morning alone, as chairman of the House intelligence committee, he's presiding over closed-door hearings on Mexico and the Patriot Act.

But, like other mortals in Congress, every now and again Reyes tries to get a post office or federal courthouse named. On Monday, President Barack Obama signed a Reyes bill naming El Paso's new federal courthouse after Albert Armendariz Sr., a local judge and civil rights leader.

Armendariz, who died two years ago at age 88, served as national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens and of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

In 1954, during his tenure as LULAC president, he helped argue Hernandez vs. the State of Texas, a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that established Latinos as a distinct class entitled to protection under the 14th Amendment.

"This is a proud moment for the El Paso community and for Hispanics around the nation," Reyes said Tuesday. "Judge Armendariz's contributions to the advancement of civil rights helped change the landscape for Hispanics throughout America.... I hope future generations of El Pasoans will not only appreciate his important contributions to our country but also be inspired by his life story and achievements."

Calle 13 and Ruben Blades Set to Perform Together for the First Time on Television at the 10th Annual Latin Grammy(R) Awards

Calle 13 and Ruben Blades Set to Perform Together for the First Time on Television at the 10th Annual Latin Grammy(R) Awards
The Latino Journal E-News, Vol. 2, Issue 2

Calle 13 and Ruben Blades, David Bisbal, Alejandro Sanz, Shaila Durcal and Luz Rios are the first performers announced for the 10th Annual Latin Grammy(R) Awards telecast, it was announced last week by The Latin Recording Academy(R). The milestone celebration is set for November 5 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, NV and will be broadcast live on the Univision Network from 8 - 11 p.m. ET/PT (7 p.m. Central).

Five-time Latin Grammy-winning duo and this year's leading nominee, Calle 13's five nods include: Album Of The Year and Best Urban Music Album for Los De Atras Vienen Conmigo, Record Of The Year and Best Alternative Song for "No Hay Nadie Como Tu" (with Cafe Tacvba), and Best Short Form Music Video for "La Perla" (with Ruben Blades). Singer/songwriter Luz Rios has two nods for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Album (Aire). David Bisbal, Ruben Blades, and Shaila Durcal each have one nomination: Bisbal for Record Of The Year ("Aqui Estoy Yo" with Luis Fonsi, Aleks Syntek, and Noel Schajris); Blades for Best Short Form Music Video ("La Perla" with Calle 13); and Durcal for Best Ranchero Album (Corazón Ranchero).

As part of the milestone 10th Latin Grammys, 14-time Latin Grammy winner Alejandro Sanz will perform. The Latin Recording Academy and Univision are offering music fans the opportunity to get involved in this year's celebration and decide which song he will sing on the telecast. To participate, fans should visit the "Tu decides qué canta Alejandro Sanz" promotion at www.univision.com and vote for one of his Latin Grammy-winning songs: "El Alma Al Aire", "Y Solo Se Me Ocurre Amarte", "No Es Lo Mismo" and "Tu No Tienes Alma".

Once again, Univision.com is the official Spanish-language Web site for the 10th Annual Latin Grammy Awards. Find exclusive coverage of this year's performers at www.latingrammy.univision.com, including video interviews and photos, an extensive archive of past shows, and dedicated forums for fans to share their excitement leading up to the live broadcast. For access to the latest Latin GRAMMY scoop and photos on-the-go, visit Univision.com on any web-enabled mobile device.

Preceding the Awards show telecast, Univision will present exclusive "Noche de Estrellas" (Night of the Stars) coverage of the celebrity arrivals direct from the Latin Grammy Awards Green Carpet starting at 7 p.m. ET/PT (6 p.m. Central). Presented by "Primer Impacto" co-anchor Barbara Bermudo and host of "Nuestra Belleza Latina" Giselle Blondet, "Noche de Estrellas" will feature live interviews and commentary on the stars and their fashions, and provide viewers an intimate and up close look at Latin music's most glamorous gala event.

A limited number of tickets to the 10th Annual Latin Grammy Awards are available to the public and may be purchased at the Mandalay Bay Events Center box office phone number (877) 632.7400, website www.mandalaybay.com) or through Ticketmaster, website www.ticketmaster.com.

The Latin Recording Academy is an international, membership-based organization comprised of Spanish and Portuguese-speaking recording artists, musicians, songwriters, producers and other creative and technical recording professionals. The organization is dedicated to improving the quality of life and cultural condition for Latin music and its makers. In addition to producing the Latin Grammy Awards to honor excellence in the recorded arts and sciences, the Latin Recording Academy provides educational and outreach programs for the Latin music community.

"Latino in America" to show on CNN

CNN's O'Brien is extraordinary in Latino documentary
"Latino in America"
By David Zurawik | Baltimore Sun, October 18, 2009

One of the great joys of TV journalism is seeing first-rate correspondents matched up with subject matter that they are passionate about. Think of the late Ed Bradley sitting down to interview a pop culture pioneer whom he admired like Lena Horne, or NBC's Richard Engel in the line of fire covering a war.

CNN's Soledad O'Brien achieves that kind of stature with "Latino in America," a four-hour, two-night documentary series on the experiences of the nation's largest and fastest-growing minority, beginning Wednesday night at 9.

Some might argue that the 43-year-old journalist had already arrived in that elite company with "Black in America" in 2008 and "Black in America 2" this year. But while I think her work was first-rate in those shows, there is something extraordinary about O'Brien's performance and presence in the new Latino documentary.

She is in total command of the subject matter and seems so finely tuned to the nuances of assimilation, multiculturalism and changing notions of identity that you can't help but trust her after just a few minutes of watching. And she forges that same kind of bond with the people she is interviewing and reporting on in the film, getting sullen-looking teenage boys to confess their ethnic insecurities and clinically depressed adolescent girls to talk openly about the pain they feel in being caught between two cultures.

Conversations about race and identity do not come easily in this country, and members of the media do not achieve the kind of rapport O'Brien does by hot-dogging in for on-camera interviews after all the documentary grunt work has been done by producers and other reporters.

"I traveled for a lot of this year six days a week to do this documentary, which is really hard," O'Brien says. "I mean, I love to travel. It's one of the things I love about being a journalist. But six days a week is an insane travel schedule. A lot of the travel was to the West Coast, and I was doing three red-eyes a week."

But there was no other way to get beneath the safe and superficial way the media and minority members often talk about race when the cameras are on except to put in the time to build credibility and trust.

"I don't know how else to do these kind of stories unless you're personally there and totally engaged," says O'Brien who describes her own identity as "black and Cuban, Australian and Irish."

"How do you do a conversation about race?" she asks rhetorically. "It's not a court case. You don't jump in, read the transcript of the trial, and we're all caught up. It's about getting people to sit down and talk very honestly about perceptions and things that are so intangible."

The first two hours of the documentary find O'Brien chronicling the journeys of people named Garcia, now the eighth most popular surname in the United States - ahead of Wilson and Taylor, and gaining on the most popular, Smith.

The stories O'Brien tracks range from that of Lorena Garcia, a star TV chef on Univision looking for a crossover audience, to Bill and Betty Garcia, a professional baby boomer couple who moved from a Dominican neighborhood in New York City to Charlotte, N.C., decades ago, and are now wondering about the price they paid in loss of roots identity for mainstream success and assimilation. She's from the Dominican Republic, and he's Puerto Rican, and one of their teenage sons just flunked high school Spanish.

Perhaps, the most compelling saga is that of Cindy Garcia, a high school senior of Guatemalan descent who is struggling to graduate from high school in the underfunded Los Angeles public school district while working long hours in her single mother's clothing store.

No spoilers here, but just when you think you know where Cindy's life is headed, it suddenly swings in another direction - as only true life can. And O'Brien is there every step of the way, listening to and deftly questioning the girl as she tries to make sense of the place where her dreams and reality collide.

"I think that especially because of my background in a way I have a lot of personal interest, but also a lot of credibility in these questions about race and ethnicity and identity. You know, I relate to a lot of the stories in this documentary personally," says O'Brien, whose black, Cuban-born mother was brought to Baltimore as a girl in 1947 by the Oblate Sisters who ran a mission in Cuba.

Her father, who did his undergraduate studies in his native Australia, came to Baltimore in the late 1950s to earn a doctorate in engineering at the Johns Hopkins University.

"I sat down with the boys in the Bill and Betty Garcia story and I said to one of them, 'You know, your mom thinks you're embarrassed by her [ethnicity],' " O'Brien recalled. "And he said, 'No, you don't get it. I'm embarrassed that I don't speak Spanish well enough. I'm embarrassed of me.' "

O'Brien, herself a mother of four, says she had the same kind of issues related to her mother that the teenage Garcia boy did with his.

"You know what, I'm embarrassed of me that I don't speak Spanish well enough," says the veteran CNN correspondent and anchor. "And here I am talking to a 16-year-old boy, and he and I are saying exactly the same thing. We are both this sort of first-generation, born-in-this-country, don't-speak-the-language, trying-to-figure-out-what-it-means-to-be-Latino among parents who see themselves as very Latino in a community that's not really sure what you are because you kind of look different and they don't know what that means."

If that sounds complicated, that's because American identity has become so in these multicultural times. And in the end, thanks in large part to O'Brien's own fearlessness, the triumph of "Latino in America" is that it honestly faces, engages and ultimately embraces that complexity in its contradictions, energy and glory.

On TV
"Latino in America" airs at 9 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday on CNN.