Clemenseando

Univision's Online Video Shortcomings

Two sins of omission cloud the coverage of Univision's expanded online video offerings (here, here and here). No one mentioned what's missing - namely, telenovelas. And no one mentioned Univision is outgunned in terms of online video by competing Spanish-language network Telemundo. (In fairness, you'd have to follow Hispanic media pretty closely to be aware of these two issues.)

Univision cannot post clips online of its popular primetime novelas, which are produced by Mexican broadcaster Televisa. The two networks are embroiled in a legal dispute scheduled to begin trial this Halloween. One of the key issues is whether or not Televisa can transmit its telenovelas online for an audience in the United States. In 1993, the two networks signed a 25 year long program licensing agreement providing Univision with exclusive access to Televisa programming for the U.S. Hispanic audience. Not surprisingly, the agreement doesn't spell out online transmission rights. Unless a settlement is reached beforehand, a federal jury will be deciding who gets to put novelas online in what country later this year.

Televisa also provides a host of other programming to Univision and sister broadcast network Telefutura as well as cable network Galavision. None of that programming is available online at Univision.com. In contrast, Telemundo faces no such restrictions. Telemundo produces the vast majority of its own programming (see here for a notable exception) and puts highlights of its novelas online. Telemundo remains a distant second in terms of broadcast ratings and revenue. But, its online video offerings trump Univision.

Unless, that is, you are looking for bikini-clad Latinas. In that case, the nod goes to Univision.

Too Many Telenovela Remakes?

All three of Univision's primetime telenovelas are remakes. "La Fea Más Bella" is a Televisa remake of Fernando Gaitán's "Yo soy Betty, la fea."  "Destilando Amor" is the Mexicanization of another Gaitán novela "Café, con aroma de mujer". In the new Televisa-produced version, Colombian coffee has been replaced with Mexican tequila. (The original setting of a coffee plantation has been replaced with an agave plantation and agave is the basic ingredient of tequila). "Duelo de Pasiones" is yet another Televisa remake. This novela is a remake of "Flor de las Nieves", which first aired in Cuba in the late 1950s (I can't pinpoint the exact date.)

Telemundo also has a remake in the mix with the Brazilian telenovela "La Esclava Isaura" (see here for background on Telemundo and Brazilian telenovelas)

"On the business side the same telenovela format can be a hit again and again" says University of Georgia Associate Professor Carolina Acosta-Alzuru who is an academic specialist in telenovelas and newbie blogger. Televisa, which supplies Univision's primetime telenovelas, has been particularly reticent in the past few years to experiment with new storylines preferring to stick with the tried and true.

"I am not against the remake but I am against remakes becoming the only kind of telenovela" says Acosta-Alzuru.

Given the high financial stakes in both Mexico and the United States, creative risk-taking and the production of original telenovelas are not likely in coming years to be high on the agenda of Televisa executives. After all, they might reasonably ask - why take a new risk when you have an old and proven ratings-winner ready to go? (Consider Univision's "expensive lesson" with the original production of "Te  Amaré En Silencio")

Telemundo has taken many more creative risks than Televisa and Univision in the past few years. And at great expense by, for the most part, producing its own novelas. Yet, the NBCU-owned network still remains a distant second in ratings to Univision, which airs a steady supply of Televisa's telenovela remakes.

Go figure.

Ratings For "La Esclava Isaura" On Telemundo

The Brazilian telenovela "La Esclava Isaura" is racking up strong ratings for Telemundo. Not a massive audience but the show is being watched by a good-sized and growing number of viewers. Certainly, it is doing far better than the show it replaced "Sin Vergüenza", which lasted only a few weeks in primetime before being bumped to the afternoon (See here for more about Telemundo and Brazilian Telenovelas).

According to Nielsen Media Research, the first half hour of "La Esclava Isaura" on May 23rd was seen by an estimated 1,083,000 viewers. That number is equivalent to a 0.7 rating on the Nielsen Television Index.

By way of comparison, "Don Francisco Presenta" had more than 3.2 million viewers and a 1.8 NTI rating on Univision during the same time slot. 

"La Esclava Isaura" ratings tend to fall during the second half hour. On Wednesday night, the number fell modestly to 1,049,000 viewers. On previous nights, the drop has been quite sharp. I don't know why.

I also don't know why Telemundo's online forum for "La Esclava" is so thinly populated given the large number of viewers. By the way, this novela is a remake of the original and hugely successful Globo production from 1976. Ironically, I found this synopsis of the original at rival network Univision's Web site.

The remake of "La Esclava" pulled in huge ratings in Chile. There must be something viscerally attractive about the storyline. Or maybe it is the coffee plantation setting, which also worked for the Fernando Gaitán novela "Café, con aroma de mujer".

You can see some clips from the show here and decide for yourself.

Te Amaré en Silencio - "An Expensive Lesson"

Miami Ad Guy's mention reminded me of "Te Amaré en Silencio", which was a failed attempt by Univision at producing telenovelas in-house. I wrote about the novela in the May, 2005 cover story of Marketing y Medios.

Below is an excerpt:

"In an apparent attempt to regain control and following an earlier spat with Televisa, Univision experimented with in-house production.

Te Amaré en Silencio was a telenovela that premiered on Univision in December 2003. It was shot in Los Angeles and produced by Paloma Productions, which is owned by a Perenchio holding company. It reportedly cost $6 million and lasted all of two months in prime time before being bumped to a daytime slot. According to a Univision SEC filing, in 2003 Paloma Productions received $1 million upfront to produce the novela and expected to receive an additional $4 million based on ratings performance. But the 2004 SEC 10-K filing revealed Univision's actual payout to Paloma Productions for the novela totaled $2.6 million (including the $1 million from the prior year), far less than initially projected because ratings were weaker than expected.

None of those familiar with the unsuccessful venture who were contacted for this article would comment on the record. A source tried to explain why Te Amaré en Silencio failed, at least, compared to the Televisa-produced telenovelas. "My wife said, 'This is a man's idea of a novela because of the fact this guy gets to run around sleeping with anybody he wants. He's an adulterer. Even though the wife was a psychotic bitch, they were married,' " he recalls, his wife saying. "You laugh, but Televisa would never make that kind of mistake. [Perenchio] just missed that core cultural cue. Everybody learned their lesson, an expensive lesson."

Final Episode Of La Madrastra

Call me Eeyore.

Earlier tonight La Madrastra sputtered to a foregone conclusion with the blistering pace of a runaway snail.

Televisa decided almost at the last minute to extend the telenovela by another ten episodes. Now the sudden increase or decrease in the number of telenovela installments depending on the ratings is nothing new. In this case, though, the late decision seems to have caught the writers off guard and out of gas. Two weeks have passed since we learned the identity of the telenovela's secret assassin. Since then the show has been deflated of much of its dramatic tension. 

Of course, everyone expected La Madrastra to have a happy ending. That is well and good. But no one who saw a lightning-paced mid-season episode of La Madrastra could have foreseen such a sloooooooooow finale.

Before I go any further I should warn you the following paragraphs contain explicit details of the final episode. If you don't want to know how it ends, then stop reading right now. Before you go any further, ask yourself do you really want to know the ending. Well, do you?

Are you sure?

Okay, if you insist. The only tense moment takes place at the very beginning of the show.  Demetrio (whose identity as the real murderer was revealed two weeks ago) lurks in the office with gun in hand waiting for María's arrival. Demetrio is dressed in drag and sporting some impressively long red fingernails. María enters the office and Demetrio jumps out from the shadows. He points a gun at her and then locks the door. María tells Demetrio **You are ill. You need help.** Cut to the hallway where Angel, Demetrio's son, just happens to be passing by and hears the commotion. Angel believes María is inside and knocks on the door. María screams and Demetrio yells at her to shut up. Angel instantly catches on. He pleads with his father to open the door. Others arrive. Dramatic tension increases. A shot is fired.

Break for commercials.

Thankfully, Esteban arrives just in time to break down the door, wrestle the gun away from Demetrio and punch his lights out. The police take Demetrio to jail, but not before he curses Esteban's entire family.

Shortly afterwards, the entire cast troops over for the obligatory visit to the Basilica of the Our Lady of Guadalupe. No problem. Your life was just saved so you and your family go thank the Virgin. Makes sense. But, it does not need to be so dreadfully drawn out. No less than eleven members of the cast proceed to say 'thank you, Virgin Mary' in every conceivable way. One after another after another after another. I don't mean to begrudge the Virgin her prayers of thanks, but a slightly more creative approach is definitely in order.

No other surprises until everyone starts popping the question. Greco, the agronomist, asks Estrella to marry him. She says yes. Leonel asks Lupita, Greco's sister, to marry him. She, too, says yes. Hector decides he wants a church wedding for him and his pregnant fiancee, Vivian. The young and timid Angel decides he wants to wed his soulmate Alma. So the show ends with a quintuple wedding (Esteban says what-the-heck and decides to exchange vows with María) in Xochimilco, a sort-of Mexican Venice with sort-of Mexican gondolas. But before we see Fin on the screen we are given a quick peek at Demetrio in jail. **I will have my revenge**, he says. **Someday I will be set free and have my revenge.**

Cut back to the wedding party, blah, blah, blah followed by aerial shots of the Mexican gondolas and then The End.

Except that tomorrow night, Televisa will air "La Madrastra - Años Despues." A one-hour show set sometime in the future.

Talk about milking a cash cow.

PS I use asterisks rather than quotation marks because the dialogue I cite is an approximation and not a literal transcription. Maybe Bob Woodward should consider a similar approach for his books.

PPS If you are interested in learning more about the marketing of telenovelas to the Latino audience in the States, then consider reading the cover story I wrote for the May issue of Marketing y Medios.