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Sarabia Secured As ‘Telemundo 60’ Leader

Robert Sarabia has been named President and General Manager of Telemundo 60 / KVDA in San Antonio.

In his new role, Sarabia will be responsible for leading all station operations including news/digital, sales, marketing/promotions, human resources, community affairs, and technology/operations.

Sarabia is transferring from the VP/Sales role at Telemundo Houston / KTMD. He had been at KTMD since 2013. He reports to Manuel Martinez, President of the Telemundo Station Group.

“Robert is smart, innovative and a great leader. I’m excited that he’ll be leading our San Antonio station and look forward to seeing the new milestones he and our team will accomplish together,” said Martinez.

Sarabia is an Alamo City native.

“I am honored and excited to return home to San Antonio, where my career in broadcasting began almost 20 years ago,” added Sarabia “As San Antonio experiences many changes, Hispanics’ prominence as the largest demographic group in the market remains unchanged. I look forward to working with my colleagues at Telemundo 60 to continue serving South Texas’ Hispanic communities with the news, information and programming they deserve, and creating even more opportunities with KVDA’s advertisers and clients. I am thankful to my colleagues at Telemundo Houston for a memorable and successful six years.”

Before joining KTMD and NBCUniversal, Sarabia was Vice President and General Manager for Azteca America’s affiliate TV stations KYAZ Houston, KVDF San Antonio, and KADF Austin from 2011 to 2013.

He also held numerous roles with increasing responsibility, including General Sales Manager, at Univision stations KWEX and KNIC from 2002 to 2011.

Sarabia began his career in broadcasting at KSAT-12 the ABC affiliate in Houston in 2000.

Hispanic Radio

Radio Lazer’s National Lineup Set

Lazer Broadcasting’s signature Radio Lazer-branded group of regional Mexican stations recently debuted a “sometimes crazy morning show.”

Now, the full on-air lineup is now set and ready for national launch.

With Tus Mañanas Lazer con La Tequi y Don Hercu kicking off each morning six days a week, and heard in several markets across California, the now nationally syndicated format is being offered through syndicator Envision Networks.

Yolanda “La Tequi” Velázquez and Elias Conde, alias “Don Hercu.” have entertained radio listeners for a combined 40 years and have been a broadcast team for the past six years.

The full on-air lineup is as follows: 

  • Tus Mañanas Lazer con La Tequi y Don Hercu (5 a.m. – 10 a.m.)
  • Beto “El Chocomil” (10 a.m. – 2 p.m.)
  • El Show del Tarzan y sus Jaladas (2 p.m. – 7 p.m.)
  • El “Chacal” Califas (7 p.m. – Midnight)

“The energy that Tequi & Don Hercu bring into the studio every morning is a great addition to the already great lineup in place at Radio Lazer,” said Jesus Garcia, Lazer Broadcasting’s Corporate Director of Programming. “The rest of the day’s lineup of El Chocomil, Tarzan y sus Jaladas, and Chacal combined with the new morning show is a powerful draw for potential affiliates in markets with a strong Hispanic community, wherever they are in America.”

Affiliate managers at Envision Networks can be reached at 216.831.3761 or at radiolazer@envisionnetworks.com.

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Hispanic eSports Digital-Only Channel Launched By Telemundo

Telemundo Deportes has launched the first-ever Spanish-language esports channel in the U.S.

Offering fans more than 2,000 streaming hours of content a year featuring exclusive streamers, short-form content and competitions, the channel isn’t available on an MVPD or digital multicast.

Rather, the “channel” is a digital offering, accessible via livestream on Twitch and YouTube.

The EA Sports FIFA19 Global Series is the first competition to stream on the Telemundo Deportes esports channel, presenting exclusive coverage of the entire tournament, including the upcoming events from the Global Series and the Grand Final. 

Live coverage of the EA Sports FIFA19 Global Series begins with the Global Series’ EA FUT Champions Cup, April 5-7.

The FIFA Global Series will continue through the end of June followed by the exclusive stream of the Grand Final taking place in the summer.

“The launch of Telemundo Deportes esports channel strengthens our leadership position in the esports space and gives us an opportunity to further connect with the Hispanic, multicultural gaming audience,” said Eli Velazquez, executive vice president of sports content, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises. “As the U.S. Spanish-language home of FIFA, we are thrilled to bring back the EA Sports FIFA19 Global Series and enhance our presentation of the event with the launch of the new Telemundo Deportes esports channel.”  

Telemundo Deportes’ esports channel is hosted by streamers Sofia Ornelas of Mexico and Juan “El Patan” Sotullo from Argentina. The two streamers present daily content and short-form video, including at least eight hours of livestreaming as they play some of the most popular video games.

Ornelas’ stream features her playing Overwatch and Fortnite while “El Patan” plays Rocket League and also the EA Sports FIFA 2019 as he competes in the FIFA Global Series.

Telemundo Deportes has streamed esports in the past including the NBC Sports Group and FACEIT’s Universal Open Rocket League tournament.

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A First From Lotus/L.A.: Women’s World Cup Coverage

For the first time in broadcast history, the FIFA Women’s World Cup will be broadcast live on U.S. Radio.

You’ll just have to understand Spanish to follow what’s happening in France.

In a collaborative effort between Lotus Communications’ KWKW-AM “ESPN Deportes Radio” in and right holders Fútbol de Primera, the FIFA Women’s World Cup will air on the Spanish-language Sports Talk station this summer.

The FIFA Women’s World Cup takes place in France between June 7 and July 7, and the U.S. Women’s team enters the tournament as the number one ranked team in the world, according to FIFA’s most recent world rankings — and as the defending champion.

KWKW President Jim Kalmenson first shared details of the pact with Hispanic Market Overview in early February. An official announcement was made February 26.

“It is extra special that Spanish Radio is leading the way with this landmark recognition  of women’s sports and the US Women’s National team,” Kalmenson said. “I thank Andrés Cantor and Alex Gutman of FDP for their commitment to this effort and their forward thinking.  We are pleased to see strong growing interest from both fans and sponsors.”

KWKW holds the rights to the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Rams and the LA Galaxy and is the first full-time Spanish-language radio station to be based in Los Angeles. KWKW has been under the continuous ownership of Lotus Communications since 1962.

FDP’s programming is carried in more than 100 affiliates, and will broadcast its fifth FIFA World Cup in 2022. This summer, FDP will also air CONCACAF’s Gold Cup; it continues to be the exclusive radio partner in Spanish of the Mexican National Team.

Featured

Latino Cinema-Goers: The Big Over-indexing Consumer

Do broadcast and cable media have an opportunity to drive box office growth through the advertising of new movie releases via Spanish-language and Hispanic-targeted media?

New research says yes.

According to MRI-Simmons and E-Poll, Hispanic moviegoers aged 18 and up are 36% more likely to see at least one movie a month.

Furthermore, 41% of Hispanic moviegoers attend one movie a month or more, compared to 30% of all U.S. moviegoers.

Factor in teens, and Hollywood has a Hispanic growth opportunity.

MRI-Simmons and E-Poll also note that 1 out of every 5 Hispanic moviegoers prefer to see a new movie on opening weekend; this makes them 69% more likely to do so compared to the average moviegoer nationwide.

What do Latino theater attendees like to see? The top three genres among Hispanic moviegoers are Action/Adventure, Comedy, and Drama; and in each category, their favorite actors and actresses are sometimes profoundly different from the overall U.S. population. This mirrors conclusions reached in studies conducted by Mintel, with the support of the Adam R Jacobson Consultancy, earlier this decade.

Product preferences differ among Hispanic movie fans

A January 2019 analysis using MRI E-Score Celebrity Fusion shows how the Hispanic fans of today’s leading film stars also differ in their preferences across a host of product categories, from bottled water to candy.

Hispanic moviegoers who are fans of Jennifer Lopez are 32% more likely than the average U.S. population to be Kit Kat consumers in the past 6 months. But, those who like Mila Kunis are two times more likely to be M&M’s Almond consumers.

Lopez, Kunis, and Sofia Vergara are the most-liked film actresses among Hispanic moviegoers.

How this ties in to candy sales is intriguing and could yield marketing strategies that boost concession receipts — a profit driver at such luxury theater chains as iPic and Silverspot Cinema.

The MRI E-Score Celebrity Fusion also identified that Hispanic moviegoers who like Leonardo DiCaprio are 62% more likely to be Fiji bottled water consumers in the past 6 months, compared to the U.S. average.

Interestingly, DiCaprio, Keanu Reeves and Chris Rock are the most-liked film actors among Hispanic moviegoers polled in this research study.

 Product favorites among Hispanic moviegoers
who like film actors and actresses

 

Top bottled water brand

Top candy brand
Mila Kunis

Evian

M&M’s Almond
Sofia Vergara

Perrier

Twix
Jennifer Lopez

Crystal Geyser

Kit Kat
Leonardo DiCaprio

Fiji

Hershey’s Almond
Keanu Reeves

Arrowhead

Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ Creme
Chris Rock

Crystal Geyser

Hershey’s Kisses

 

The findings on Hispanic moviegoers come from the January 2019 MRI E-Score Celebrity Fusion – a fusion of the MRI-Simmons Doublebase 2018 data and data from E-Poll’s E-Score Celebrity study. Doublebase 2018 data represent two waves (roughly 48,000 consumer interviews) of MRI’s Survey of the American Consumer.

The MRI E-Score Celebrity Fusion covers over 4,000 celebrities and 600 product categories, allowing brands, agencies, and media companies to see which celebrities best fit with their brands, sponsorships and media campaigns.

Featured

Publicity Swap: Franklin At Telemundo, Alban At VIMN

Talk about a role reversal.

Claudia Franklin, formerly SVP/Communications and Public Affairs for Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) Americas, has taken the role of VP/Entertainment Publicity at Telemundo.

The move comes as a woman widely known for her 12+ years as VP/Corporate Communications and Public Affairs at the NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises unit settles in to her new role as VP/Communications at VIMN.

That’s Michelle Alban, who took on her new duties in early February.

As the head of entertainment publicity at Telemundo, Franklin will be responsible for all consumer-focused publicity efforts to promote the Hispanic TV network’s entertainment content and talent across earned media platforms and social influencers. “Franklin will spearhead Telemundo’s team of experienced publicists and work closely with Telemundo Global Studios and the network’s programming, talent, research and marketing teams to support, align and elevate the company’s brand and meet viewership goals,” the company said.

“With her extensive background in the marketing communications arena and her experience in both the U.S. and Hispanic markets, Claudia brings a tremendous amount of understanding, perspective and creativity to this role,” said SVP/Corporate Communications Alfredo Richard. “She is the ideal person to lead our entertainment publicity initiatives as Telemundo continues to redefine Hispanic media with innovative, original and premium content that reflects the U.S. Latino experience.”

At VIMN Americas, Franklin led the corporate communications and brand publicity throughout Latin America for Viacom’s portfolio of brands including MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and Telefe, Viacom’s Argentina-based network.  Before that, Franklin was Director of Marketing and Communications for Discovery Kids.

For Alban, her new role sees her taking on all communications for VIMN across Iberoamérica, reporting o Susana Sala, Senior Vice President of Human Resources & Administration for VIMN Americas and to VIMN Communication leads; Matt Baker, Senior Vice President of Communication; and Kate Laverge, Senior Vice President of Communications and Culture.

Alban most recently served as Head of Communication for Lima Charlie Communications, a boutique marketing firm that represented such clients as Combate Américas.

But, she is widely known for her tenure at Telemundo, which stretched from March 2003 — when she was hired as Director of Primary Research — through September 2017, when she exited the Comcast-owned operation.

Earlier in her career, she served as a Dunedin, Fla.-based account executive at Nielsen.

She will be based in the newly consolidated downtown Miami office.

 

Hispanic Radio

Fox Deportes Play-By-Play Man Gets A Syndicated AM Show

A Spanish-language radio host presently serving as a baseball play-by-play announcer for Fox Deportes has joined MLC Media Services to helm a new syndicated general-interest morning show being offered to Hispanic radio stations across the U.S.

Starting Jan. 14, Carlos Alvarez takes on hosting duties for the newly launched “El Cotorreo con Carlos Alvarez.”

A general-interest program, El Cotorreo will feature Los Angeles-based co-host Taly Taly Elizondo for news and banter.

Celebrity interviews, along with the latest news “on what is happening in immigration, entertainment, sports, wellness, motivation and more” is being promised to listeners.

Alvarez’s resume includes roles at Entravision, Univision and now-defunct TV network MundoFox.

“I am very excited to be joining the MLC family and their amazing team,” Alvarez said. “I know this new chapter will bring a lot of excitement. They have a top-notch roaster of syndicated programs and their experience will help me to grow in network radio.”

Carlos Moncada, MLC Media Services’ CEO, commented, “We are very happy to have a professional such as Carlos Alvarez join our team. Carlos has what our audiences love to hear and he has such great relationships with artists to give his listeners great content.”

MLC Media Services produces and distributes Spanish-language programming across the  U.S. and Mexico.

Signature programs include El Show de Alex ‘El Genio’ Lucas, Armida y La Flaka, El Show de Chiquibaby, El Show de Compa Mike, El Show de Toño, and Ana Lisa y Julieta.

Armida y La Flaka and Lucas, respectively, were just added to KSSE-FM “José”,  simulcasting KLYY-FM 97.5 in Los Angeles.

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No Translation Needed: Noticias Telemundo ‘En Inglés’ On OTT

How important is reaching today’s English-preferred, youth-driven Latino audience?

NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises has given the green light to the development of its first-ever Noticias Telemundo English-language daily newscast.

Just don’t expect to find it on a Telemundo broadcast TV station in the near future.

The planned newscast will be distributed exclusively via YouTube, also becoming the first Noticias Telemundo production to live outside a Telemundo-owned platform. The Noticias Telemundo project obtained a Google News Innovation (GNI) YouTube grant, which is awarded to ventures that “elevate quality journalism, evolve business models to drive sustainable growth, and empower news organizations through technological innovation.”

“In today’s fast-paced world you need to reach out to your audience where it is, not where you want it to be, and US Hispanics over-index in YouTube,” said Romina Rosado, Senior Vice President of Digital Media & Emerging Business for NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises. “Our goal here is for Noticias Telemundo to reinvent the ‘traditional’ broadcast news for the LatinX generation– the multicultural, multiracial, mobile, millennials in the United States.”

The median age for U.S. Hispanic YouTube users is 27 compared to 42 for non-Hispanic Whites, according to Nielsen. In addition, Hispanics aged 18-49 over-index in YouTube, making it an ideal platform to reach young Latinos.

 

Hispanic Radio

Radio Lazer Gets A National Rollout

Like the “Radio Lazer” regional Mexican presentation heard on Lazer Broadcasting Corp. stations across the Golden State?

Now you can place it on your radio station, thanks to a joint syndication effort forged by Oxnard, Calif.-based Lazer, headed by Alfredo Plascencia, and Houston-based SuiteRadio LLC.

The 24/7 local affiliation service will be represented exclusively on a national level by Envision Networks.

This makes “Radio Lazer” a component of Envision 24/7 Network offerings with sales handled by the Cleveland-based company.

Lazer Broadcasting describes “Radio Lazer” as” a modern Regional Mexican format playing today’s most popular songs in a Top 40 environment. “

The format targets Hispanics aged 18-49, and is female-friendly.

Lazer Broadcasting COO Josh Mednick said, “For a while now, Lazer Broadcasting has been looking for the proper outlet to make our programming available to broadcasters across the U.S. We believe that SuiteRadio is the perfect partner. Pat and his team are terrific to work with and their technology and flexible delivery system make it so easy for both the content creator and the end-user.”

SuiteRadio COO Pat Fant, a radio industry veteran, added, “Our SuiteRadio crew is thrilled to be working with such a successful broadcaster in this highly sought-after market segment. No one executes Regional Mexican better than Lazer Broadcasting.”

The “Radio Lazer” format is the first of three Spanish language music formats that Lazer Broadcasting plans to make available through SuiteRadio.

Further details were not disclosed by Lazer.