Estrella TV Launches Two New Summer Programs

Liberman Broadcasting Inc. has taken on the two largest Hispanic television networks in the U.S. with a strategy of adapting mass market shows for Hispanic audiences. The Burbank-based owner of television and radio stations has shirked the telenovelas, or soap operas, found on competing channels in exchange for reality programs, comedies and news magazine shows. The move has made Estrella competitive with ratings giants Univision and Telemundo and has earned it a loyalty among a desired demographic of young adults. New to the Estrella line-up this summer is “Milagros,” a one-hour drama that debuted this month and “En La Mira con Enrique Gratas,” which airs in August. “Milagros,” shot on-location in Mexico and Latin America, is centered on recreating miracles experienced by people who pray to a saint for help. “En La Mira” is an investigative news magazine show. “We offer programming that looks like the general market and the audience is attracted to that,” said Lenard Liberman, co-founder, president and chief executive of Liberman Broadcasting. Estrella is available on 30 television stations covering more than 80 percent of the markets in the country. Liberman owns and operates its own stations in California and four other states, and has affiliate deals with other stations throughout the country. In the 2011 fiscal year, Liberman Broadcasting reported a net loss of $27.5 million on revenue of 117.5 million. For the previous fiscal year, the company had a net loss $9.5 million on revenue of $115.7 million. For the week of June 17, Estrella had an average weekday prime time viewership of 190,000 people. For the week of June 24, the viewership dropped to 160,000 people although the weeks leading to the July 4 holiday are weak for television watching, according The Nielsen Co., the global information and measurement company. The Hispanic market is among the most lucrative – and fast growing – in the U.S. Consumer spending is projected to reach $1.3 trillion by 2015, according to Packaged Facts, a publisher of market research in the food, beverage, consumer packaged goods, and demographic sectors. Hispanic or Latino households with televisions were estimated at nearly 14 million for the 2011-12 season, a 4.6 percent increase from the 2010-11 season, according to Nielsen. To reach potential viewers, Liberman executives say they focus on developing programing that is relevant. “We are the only broadcaster making programs in the U.S. for U.S. Hispanics, as opposed to Univision, who imports from Mexico, and Telemundo, who imports from all over the place,” said Winter Horton, the chief operating officer for Liberman Broadcasting. Shows like “American Idol,” “Dancing With the Stars,” and “America’s Got Talent” are as popular with Hispanic audiences as with non-Hispanics, said Lenard Liberman. So there’s a market for creating those types of shows for a Hispanic audience, he said. Liberman’s “Mi Sueno es Bailar” is a Spanish version of “Dancing with the Stars” that gained a No. 3 ranking in for its finale in November 2011 with viewers 18 to 49. “Alarma TV,” a news magazine show, credits its popularity to its extensive use of correspondents from Mexico and all over Latin America, Liberman said. Liberman developed its formula shortly after the company bought its first television station, KCRA, in 1998. Its first programming was from Mexico with English dubbed in, Horton said. The broadcast company’s first success was with a music video show that became one of the top-rated Hispanic shows in Los Angeles, Horton said. Following that show, Liberman developed a pattern of borrowing ideas from U.S. shows, making them Hispanic-friendly and still using the same production values, he added. Liberman produces all of its own programming from its studios on Empire Avenue in Burbank and does not use outside production companies. It gives the company more control over the format, and if there are changes to be made, it is easier to make them because executives can work directly with the producer and the staff, Liberman said. Plus, he said, there aren’t many production companies making Spanish-language programming. “They have not developed in the U.S,” Liberman said. “There is a need for that. We would welcome that to occur.”