Janet Stilson

What's Cool About No. 2?

The first time I interviewed Don Browne, pictured here, I was reporting on a story about an ace NBC News investigative team, Ira Silverman and Brian Ross. Don headed NBC News, and he gave me some insights into the dangerous and fascinating ocean of sharks in which the duo swam.

Don and I tend to wax nostalgic about Brian and Ira when we speak, but Browne is clearly obsessed with his latest assignment at NBC Universal. He's now president of the Hispanic media unit Telemundo Communications Group. And that was the topic at hand when I interviewed him for a TVNewsday Q&A, which just published today.

Telemundo has always been a bit of a brain teaser. Over the decades, its various owners have struggled to figure out a way to best No. 1 Hispanic broadcaster Univision, which has a deep library Mexican programming that is of such appeal to the majority of Latinos in this country.

Well guess what? Browne and NBC U have decided that No. 2 is not so bad a place to be -- if you play your cards right. Does that sound fishy to you? Well, take a look at my story below. You might come to some new conclusions.

You can view it on the TVNewsday site here: http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2007/11/27/daily.3/ 

Or download it with the following link: 

Download tvnewsday_browne_1107.doc.pdf

Passion, Chocolate and Funny-Looking Pens

When I started out life in journalism at Variety newspaper many years ago, I was assigned to write about Hispanic television.

I was the pup reporter, and therefore getting the subject matter no one else on staff really cared to write about.

I loved it. And I still do. The reason? Because so many of the executives that I interview are so passionate about what they were trying to achieve. Sometimes they have done so in ways they don't fully appreciate. I'll never forget sitting in the office of a Telemundo owned-and-operated TV station executive as he railed against cable operators who were dropping Hispanic signals in favor of adult programming. As he expounded on the injustice and the impropriety of pornography my eyes strayed to his pencil holder, where a pen in the shape of a naked woman was prominently displayed. I just had to laugh. What mattered to me, in the end, was the emotional zeal of an underdog bent on winning.

Telemundo is now in another space and time, far removed from those days. And while it still can't best powerful Univision in the ratings, it's playing a winning hand with advertisers by integrating products in almost every one of its telenovelas -- something that Univision is hard-pressed to do, as its novelas are imports from Mexico. Among Telemundo's more recent confections with product placements is Dame Chocolate (Give Me Chocolate), which stars the actor singer/songwriter Carlos Ponce, pictured here.

Integrated placements -- and more elaborate branded entertainment productions -- are concepts that have caught fire in the Hispanic space, most particularly in the last year. I had a great deal of fun writing about the trend for Adweek's Marketing y Medios recently. And I followed it up with a short story on Dame Chocolate a few days later. You can read all about them here:

Download mym_branded_031907.pdf

Download mym_chocolate_ratings_032207.pdf

Remember San Antonio

"Remember the Alamo" may be the words most Americans think of, when San Antonio springs to mind. But for those in the television business, "Remember San Antonio" may be the refrain. That's made clear in my story just published in Marketing Y Medios magazine about the extremely competitive market there, and how that situation could spread across the States in the years to come.

You can access it here:

Download mym_cable_satellite_1106.pdf

That piece is one of the first articles I've written over the last few (very busy and interesting) months that has emerged in print. Many others will follow, ranging from travelogues to a look at the sex business.

And now for something completely different: I'm off to Taipei this weekend to cover some TV and film events there for The Hollywood Reporter. Stay tuned.

I Heard the News Today, Oh Boy

One of the publications I like to write for the most made an abrupt turn this week. Marketing y Medios is to become a monthly supplement, and will be tucked inside its corporate siblings Adweek and Mediaweek. The editor of MyM, Laura Martinez, and her crack team have been so smashing to me. They've given me terrific assignments, and I love how they push writers to give really granular and insightful information about the topic at hand. While Laura's moving on, Adweek and Mediaweek are very lucky that the other editors are sticking around. I've been working on a feature for what is likely to be their swan song as a standalone publication, the November/December issue. And I also wrote a big feature for their September/October edition on the vibrant Hispanic radio industry, which is growing like wildfire. You can access it here:

Download mym_radio_growing_slowly_090106.pdf

Latino Jungle Beat

A couple of days ago, as I was riding New York's subway system to a business meeting, a panhandler made his plea for money in English -- and then in Spanish. It wasn't the first time that I've experienced that in the recent past. And to me, it is a striking indicator of how our world is changing, from the bottom levels to the glitziest realms.

On the high end, we find the beauties pictured here (photo credit below). They're members of RBD, a Mexican group that I wrote about in a cover story for Marketing y Medio's May 2006 issue. You can read it here: Download mym_hispanic_multiplatforms_may_1_2006.pdf .

RBD is attracting a fan base that rivals mainstream pop stars, and they're capitalizing on that with all kinds of opportunistic sideline businesses. As the article details, that expansion mode is also very much in play at many of the Hispanic TV networks.

The health of the Hispanic media business just gets stronger and stronger -- albeit with a bit of turbulence. Here's a story on the subject, which I wrote for Marketing y Medios' July 2006 issue, on first-quarter advertising growth: Download mym_ad_growth_july_1_2006.pdf 

Photo Credit

Title: Photoshot To Album Cover Live In Hollywood
Artist: RBD
Photographer: Luis Luisillo Miguel
Date: 21 Jan 2006
Copyright: 2006 EMI Music Mexico