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Telemundo

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Telemundo
TypeSpanish-language broadcast television network
Country
United States,
Puerto Rico
AvailabilityNational
South America
HeadquartersHialeah, Florida
Broadcast area
United States, including Puerto Rico
OwnerNBCUniversal
(Comcast Corporation)
Key people
Emilio Romano
(President)
Jacqueline Hernández
(COO, Telemundo Communications Group)
Launch date
1954 (1954) (as WKAQ-TV in San Juan, Puerto Rico)
1984 (in the continental United States)
Official website
www.telemundo.com

Telemundo (Spanish pronunciation: [teleˈmundo]) is an American Spanish-language broadcast television network that is owned by the NBCUniversal Television Group division of NBCUniversal. The network broadcasts programs, much of them produced by Telemundo, aimed at Hispanic and Latino Americans in the U.S., and audiences around the world; its programming features a mix of telenovelas, sports, reality television series, news programming, and feature films (both Spanish-dubbed versions of American films and imported films produced in Spanish-speaking countries).

In addition to the broadcast network, Telemundo's other platforms include mun2, a cable and satellite channel specializing in programming geared towards a young Hispanic audience;[1] Telemundo Digital Media, which distributes original programming content across digital and mobile networks, and the telemundo.com and mun2.tv websites; Puerto Rico television station WKAQ-TV, whose signal reaches 99% of all television households in the U.S. territory; and Telemundo Internacional, the international distribution arm. Telemundo is the second-largest provider of Spanish-language content worldwide, with its content syndicated to more than 100 countries in over 35 languages.

Telemundo is headquartered in the Miami suburb of Hialeah, Florida, and has 1,900 employees worldwide.[2][3] The majority of Telemundo shows and programs are filmed at a studio facility operated by the network in Miami. In 2011, 85% of Telemundo's telenovelas were filmed in Miami.[4] The average hour of prime time drama costs $70,000 to produce.[5]

History

1954–1987

WKAQ-TV launched the Telemundo brand on March 28, 1954. The station was founded by Ángel Ramos, owner of El Mundo, Puerto Rico's main newspaper at the time, and of Puerto Rico's first radio station, WKAQ, also known as "Radio El Mundo". Ramos wanted to maintain a consistent branding for his properties using the mundo theme (Spanish for "world"), and chose to name WKAQ-TV Telemundo (in effect, "Teleworld" or "World TV"). Ramos had tried to obtain a television license as early as the mid-1940s, but due to a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) licensing freeze for all new American television stations due to World War II, he had to wait until 1954 to obtain the license.[6]

In the beginning, Ramos maintained continuity between his radio and television stations by signing an exclusive deal with the most famous and influential actor/comedian/producer in Puerto Rico, Ramón Rivero, better known as Diplo, whose El Tremendo Hotel, broadcast through WKAQ radio, was the most popular radio show ever in Puerto Rico. It was Rivero who produced the first comedy/variety television shows for WKAQ Telemundo, La Taberna India, and then La Farándula Corona, shows that catapulted WKAQ to the top of the ratings.

During the 1970s and 1980s, WKAQ-TV, then branded as "Telemundo Canal 2", was a major producer of soap operas. The channel was also known by its “fingers” logo – a bold number “2” with the silhouette of two upright fingers inside the number - and called itself “El canal de los dedos” ("the channel of the fingers").

1984–1987

Historic Telemundo logos.

In 1984, WNJU in Linden, New Jersey (serving the New York metropolitan area) and KSTS in San Jose, California formed NetSpan, the second Spanish-language television network in the continental United States. These stations were joined in 1985 by KVEA in Los Angeles. The next year, KVEA's part-owner, Reliance Group Holdings, acquired the Telemundo brand when it purchased Blair Broadcasting. The purchase included WSCV in Ft. Lauderdale/Miami and Puerto Rico's WKAQ-TV (known for decades as "Telemundo Canal 2"). In late 1986, Reliance purchased WNJU.

In 1987, Saul Steinberg and Henry Silverman of Reliance Capital Group merged all these stations into the Telemundo Group.[7] The new corporation quickly went public, and in 1987 changed NetSpan's name to Telemundo. Later that year, it purchased additional stations in San Francisco, Houston and San Antonio.

Expansion

Between 1988 and 1991, Telemundo acquired stations in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Washington, D.C. The network decided to outsource its news division in 1988; CNN produced two newscasts, branded Noticiero Telemundo CNN (lit. "Telemundo CNN News"). Produced in Atlanta, Noticiero Telemundo CNN was anchored by Jorge Gestoso and María Elvira Salazar. Lana Montalbán, who anchored the show known then as Telemundo HBC, returned to New York City, where she anchored newscasts for Telemundo O&O WNJU for four years. When Salazar decided to take a reporter's position at Noticiero Univision back in Miami, Chilean former Miss Universe Cecilia Bolocco joined Gestoso. The final incarnation produced in Atlanta was co-anchored by Patricia Janiot.

In 1994, Telemundo decided to enter into the world of 24-hour news; the network launched Telenoticias partnering with Argentina's Artear Network, Antena 3 of Spain, and Reuters. The venture was not successful and the service was sold to CBS. Rebranded as "CBS Telenoticias", the network began to be carried all over the Americas. CBS Telenoticias was sold back to Telemundo and the network branded it as Telemundo Internacional.

1992–1998

In 1992, Telemundo went through another management change, as it appointed former Univision president Joaquin Blaya, who left Univison with four other executives. The next year, Telemundo branded itself with the campaign "Arriba, Telemundo, Arriba" (lit. "Upwards, Telemundo, Upwards"). Around the same time, Telemundo's framed "T" letter logo was introduced.

In 1993, the network began to produce its own original telenovelas. The first soaps were Angélica, mi vida, Marielena, Guadalupe, Señora Tentación and Tres Destinos. International markets and syndicaton distributors soon courted these shows. Telemundo's effort faced an initial setback when Mexico's industry leader, Televisa, bought Capitalvision, the production house that had been making the new soap operas.

In 1995, under the direction of Harry Abraham Castillo, the network's executive vice president of programming, Telemundo opened its first network studio on the West Coast. On the Raleigh Studios lot in Hollywood, three shows began daily production: La Hora Lunática, hosted by L.A. radio personality Humberto Luna and produced by Jackie Torres; El y Ella, a daily talkshow created, hosted and produced by Gigi Graciette and Dando y Dando, a game show hosted by Rafael Sigler and produced by Gaspar Díaz.

1998–2001

In 2009 Las Comadres con Gloria B" Telemundo New York, The show became the #1 local t.v show in the tri-state area, reaching 1.5 million, with Gloria B Host, Frank Guzman Co Host, Carlos E La Cruz ExecutiveCite error: There are <ref> tags on this page without content in them (see the help page). Chef, Fabila Blonde Model and Zeitline Perez Co Host, producer, Chuy Sanchez,"Las Comadres con Gloria B" and a Senior Media Strategist at GLAAD and Executive Producer Mapi [8] [9] [10] [11]In 1998, Telemundo was bought by a partnership between media company Liberty Media, and film and television company Sony Pictures Entertainment. Helmed by yet another management team under the leadership of former CBS executive Peter Tortoricci, hopes of attracting the bilingual market were explored. The "Lo mejor de los dos Mundos" ("The Best of Both Worlds") campaign was launched. Several billboards went up in cities such as Miami and San Francisco heralding a "new era" for Telemundo. Former CBS News Vice President Joe Peyronnin founded Telemundo's network news division in 1999 and served as its executive vice president until 2006.

After Tortoricci's resignation, Telemundo was led by CEO Jim McNamara and COO Alan Sokol. Their programming strategy followed a more traditional approach to Spanish-language television than their predecessors, since the new team incorporated several telenovelas from Colombia and Brazil, and entertainment programs. It was under McNamara that Telemundo incorporated Laura en América, a "conflict talk" show hosted by Peruvian lawyer Laura Bozzo; Betty La Fea ("Ugly Betty"; lit. "Betty The Ugly"), starring Ana Maria Orozco; A Oscuras Pero Encendidos, hosted by Paul Bouche; Xica, starring Tais Araujo; the Spanish game show Números Rojos; and the Argentine children's program Agrandaditos.[12]2009

2001–2009

Telemundo's former logo used from 1999 to December 7, 2012.

On April 12, 2002, Telemundo was purchased by NBC (which itself was acquired by Vivendi Universal the following year to become the present-day NBCUniversal) for $2.7 billion.[2] Jim McNamara remained at the helm of the network. Local Telemundo stations began producing early morning newscasts to become more competitive in their respective markets; the Telemundo "T" logo received an overhaul. Telemundo's main competitor, Univision, continued to beat the network in the ratings, although not in all time slots.

News programs were created in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks: Hoy en el Mundo ("Today in the World"), anchored by Marian de la Fuente and Jose Diaz-Balart, debuted to inform viewers of national and international events. This program and its companion show En la Madrugada ("In Early Morning") were cancelled due to the much heralded arrival of Maria Antonieta Collins from Univision. Cada Dia with Maria Antonieta ("Every Day with Maria Antonieta") replaced these shows in October 2005; Collins continued to host the program along with the much recycled Diaz-Balart as co-host. Diaz-Balart was anchor of Telemundo's morning news program called Noticiero Telemundo: Madrugada ("Telemundo Newscast: Early Morning"), later to be anchored by Ana Patricia Candiani. Cada Dia was cancelled two years later in May 2008, after Collins announced that year that she would leave Telemundo when her contract expired that August return to news anchoring and due to low ratings for the program;[13] it was replaced by a new morning show called ¡Levántate! ("Get Up"), another hybrid of news, lifestyles and information, which aired live from the studios of WKAQ-TV, and was produced by Telemundo of Puerto Rico when it debuted. The hybrid program included local participation of Telemundo O&O station WSCV in the Miami suburb of Miramar, Florida, and bureaus located in New York City, Los Angeles and Mexico City. The show was later revamped, dropped the local cut-ins and relocated production to the Telemundo headquarters in Hialeah, Florida.

In 2004, Telemundo launched Telemundo Television Studios in Miami. The network also began providing English language closed captioning for many of its telenovelas. Under NBC, Telemundo gave greater emphasis to original programming and product placement. The network spent $100 million a year producing its own shows around the middle part of the decade.[2] After it was purchased by NBCUniversal, Telemundo decided to stop importing telenovelas from Latin America and start producing its own. To that end, Telemundo partnered with Colombian production company RTI Colombia and Mexican production company Argos Comunicación. Telemundo's telenovelas follow the Mexican model. To have its telenovelas recognized by the audiences of the U.S. and Latin America, Telemundo hired famous actors and actresses from Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina and Puerto Rico; Telemundo now also hires American-born Hispanic actors and actresses who fluently speak Spanish. McNamara retired from his position as CEO and was replaced by Don Browne, who had been head of Miami's NBC owned-and-operated station WTVJ, in 2005.

In March 2007, NBC Universal announced that it had restructured Telemundo's entertainment division in an effort to narrow Univision's ratings dominance.[14] NBC also announced the intention to sell the original Telemundo station in Puerto Rico (WKAQ-TV) and Los Angeles' KWHY to finance the acquisition of Oxygen Media. On December 21, 2007, NBCUniversal announced that WKAQ-TV was no longer for sale, indicating that Telemundo Puerto Rico would stay within the NBC family.[15]

On March 18, 2008 Grupo Televisa and NBC Universal announced a 10-year multiplatform agreement that would allow 1000 hours of Telemundo programming, including news, entertainment, specials and sports, to be broadcast over not only Televisa's free-to-air channels, but also Televisa's SKY México and cable system starting in April of that year, as well as a planned Telemundo pay channel to be launched later in the year.

On April 23, 2009, Telemundo became the first U.S.-based Spanish-language network to begin airing its prime time programming in high definition (broadcasting in the 1080i resolution format). Initially, Telemundo O&Os in nine markets (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Francisco, Houston, Miami, Las Vegas, and Puerto Rico) were to begin airing Telemundo programming in HD. The remaining O&Os were to switch to HD over the next twelve months. The network's affiliates would eventually follow suit. Telemundo and Televisa launched a jointly owned cable and satellite network in Mexico in August 2009.

2011–present

On January 28, 2011, Comcast completed its $6.5 billion acquisition of a 51% majority stake in NBC Universal, acquiring control of Telemundo as part of the deal.[16][17][18] Emilio Romano was named president of Telemundo in October 2011.[19]

Telemundo Stations begin broadcasting Exitos TV network on their subchannels in first quarter 2012.[20] On May 14, Telemundo announced that it would launch a new branding campaign that will include a new slogan and on-air identity, including the replacement of its 1999 logo design with a new logo with two partial red spheres forming the "T", described to "capture the duality of Telemundo’s audience, balancing the strong connection to their Latin roots with their contemporary mindset of living in the U.S." The new logo and graphics debuted on-air on December 8, 2012.[21]

In 2012, Telemundo achieved ratings success with the original novela productions Rosa Diamante and Pablo Escobar. Continuing the momentum in 2013 were the novelas La Patrona and El Señor de los Cielos, and the musical competition for children La Voz Kids (adapted from The Voice franchise), hosted by Daisy Fuentes and Jorge Bernal, featuring musical coaches Paulina Rubio, Prince Royce and Roberto Tapia.

Also in 2012, Telemunco started the "social novela" Secreteando on Facebook, with comments made on other social media sites. A second season is planned.[22]

Programming

Main article: List of programs broadcast by Telemundo

The majority of Telemundo's programming consists of first-run telenovelas and series, much of which are produced by the network itself, although some shows are produced by outside companies. Situation comedies are not part of Telemundo's schedule, although some comedy series have aired on the network in the past, particularly during the 1990s and early 2000s. Variety shows also have a limited presence on Telemundo's lineup (La Voz Kids being the only such show appearing on the network as of July 2013). Daytime programming on weekdays features a mix of telenovelas (airing only during the late morning and early afternoon hours), with reality and court series (such as Caso Cerrado and 12 Corazones) making up its afternoon programming. Since 2010, Telemundo has used an off-time scheduling format for its primetime programming (similar to the "Turner Time" format used by TBS from 1981 to 2000), in which programs that air weeknights from 8 to 11 p.m. ET/PT start on a three-minute delay – resulting from overruns of the network's 7 p.m. program (currently Caso Cerrado: Edićion Especial) into the 8 p.m. timeslot. As a result, conventional "top-and-bottom" start times are not restored until the final primetime program of the evening at 10 p.m. ET/PT, allowing late local newscasts seen on some Telemundo stations to start at 11 p.m. ET and PT/10 p.m. CT and MT.

The network operates a news division, Noticiero Telemundo, which produces a half-hour early evening flagship newscast of the same name that airs Monday through Fridays (a secondary newscast called Noticiero Telemundo Internacional aired until 2011, which aired in place of late local newscasts on Telemundo affiliates that did not operate their own news department or preempted); it also produces the morning news and lifestyle program Un Nuevo Día, the late afternoon newsmagazine series Al Rojo Vivo con Maria Celeste and the Sunday morning talk show Enfoque (the network previously produced weekend editions of Al Rojo Vivo and Noticiero Telemundo until 2007, which were replaced with feature films and reality-based series).

The network also maintains a sports division called Deportes Telemundo, which broadcasts association football and boxing matches, and produces three weekly sports related programs: the male-oriented Sunday sports and lifestyle program Ritmo Deportivo, the weekend evening sports wrap-up program Titulares Telemundo and Thursday and Friday late night show Titulares y Mas.

Telemundo also broadcasts a morning children's program block called "Mi Telemundo", consisting of Spanish-dubbed versions of American children's programs (including some seen on sister broadcast network NBC's children's block NBC Kids) that comply with the FCC's E/I guidelines. The network regularly airs films, generally in late night and weekend timeslots, featuring a mix of Spanish-dubbed English-language films and imported films natively produced in Spanish. While Telemundo largely programs the schedules of its owned-and-operated stations and affiliates in a sense since these stations air the large majority of its programming, some Telemundo affiliates do produce locally-produced programs such as local evening newscasts and public affairs programs; many affiliates that do produce newscasts generally air them on Monday through Friday evenings only.

English subtitles

Screen bug

Telemundo provides English subtitles of its weekday prime-time programming, appearing as closed captions on CC3 in standard definition and digital service 2 in high definition. The network produces the translations in-house and intends them to attract Hispanic viewers who may not be fluent in Spanish.[23] Programs appear with a special digital on-screen graphic at the start of each episode (see right).

Telemundo was the first Spanish-language network in the United States to incorporate English captions during its programming, beginning with the premieres of La Cenicienta and Amor Descarado on September 8, 2003;[23] this generated a small, loyal fan base among English-speaking viewers.[24] Subtitles briefly disappeared without notice starting October 14, 2008, amid budget cuts and the change from analog to digital at Telemundo; the network cited the need to concentrate resources on its core Spanish-speaking audience, but soon reversed its decision due to popular demand.[24] The English captions returned on March 30, 2009. The network's primary competitor Univision has since joined Telemundo in utilizing English subtitles on its evening programming (primarily with its weeknight telenovelas, along with select weekend primetime series) on January 30, 2012; in the same manner as Telemundo, Univision transmits the English subtitling as closed captions on CC3.[23]

Programs which had English captions during their original broadcast will also have them in repeats airing outside of the primetime schedule. Some programs (notably the long-running erotic anthology Decisiones), have translations in some episodes but not others, depending on when they were produced. The programs that use the English captions are primarily telenovelas, though a few shows outside the genre (such as primetime court show Caso Cerrado: Edićion Especial) are also transcribed in both languages. Availability of English subtitles is limited to the technical capacity of the local station, cable or satellite provider, or other outlet to pass them on.

See also

References

  1. ^ Breaking News - In Landmark Move, Nbc Universal Television Group Signs Development Deal With Galan Entertainment For Production Of Telenovelas In English Across Its Many Networks | Thefutoncritic.Com
  2. ^ a b c James, Meg. NBC tacks on Telemundo oversight to Gaspin's tasks. Los Angeles Times, July 26, 2007. Retrieved on May 14, 2010.
  3. ^ "Legal corporate english." Telemundo. Retrieved on February 3, 2009.
  4. ^ http://miamitodaynews.com/news/110623/story4.shtml
  5. ^ http://variety.com/2013/tv/news/how-to-build-a-better-telenovela-1200569561/
  6. ^ "Corporate Information." Telemundo. Retrieved on February 3, 2009.
  7. ^ "TELEMUNDO - The Museum of Broadcast Communications". Museum.tv. Retrieved 2010-04-27.
  8. ^ Steel, Pigeon. "Show las Comadres with Gloria B". Retrieved 15 November 2009.
  9. ^ wikipedia. "Carlos La Cruz".
  10. ^ opportunityagenda.com. http://opportunityagenda.org/person/chuy_sanchez. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. ^ Wioldon dance. http://www.wilsondancefitness.com/press.html. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. ^ Sutter, Mary. Telemundo sets fall sked. Variety, May 16, 2000. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
  13. ^ In an interview in "People En Espanol".
  14. ^ "Telemundo divisions to be revamped". Variety. March 21, 2007.
  15. ^ WKAQ-TV "Telenoticias a las 5:00 P.M." in a short message by Don Browne (NBC/Telemundo Network president).
  16. ^ Comcast, NBC U Merger a Done Deal, Variety, January 29, 2011
  17. ^ Comcast-NBCU Deal Done: $30B Later, Comcast Is Proud Owner of the Peacock, The Wrap, January 29, 2011
  18. ^ Comcast Takes Over NBC Universal After Long Review, ABC News, January 29, 2011
  19. ^ http://telemundomediakit.com/2011/10/25/telemundos-president-emilio-romano/
  20. ^ Exitos TV Independent Programming 1st Quarter Report. Comcast. Accessed on October 28, 2013.
  21. ^ Telemundo unveils new logo, rebrands network, Media Moves, May 14, 2012.
  22. ^ "Telemunco Pitches Power of Homegrown Programming," Broadcasting & Cable, May 6, 2013, p. 14.
  23. ^ a b c "Commentary: Telemundo will use English captions". Quickstart.clari.net. 2003-09-07. Retrieved 2010-04-27.
  24. ^ a b "Telenovelas: Doña Barbara And "The Picture In My Head"". Telenovelas-carolina.blogspot.com. 2008-08-05. Retrieved 2010-04-27.

External links

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