In the third in a series about the efforts of American networks to appeal to a broader Latino audience, NPR profiles ABC News and Univision's joint efforts to reach Hispanic viewers who prefer to get their news in English. It's a move that's taking place in "uncharted territory" in what Univision President Cesar Conde says is "a fascinating point in our country's history."
That there are so many people in America who identify as Latino but speak English may be fascinating, but it's certainly not new. We're surprised this has taken so long. From NPR:
Jorge Ramos has a humbling problem.
He is one of the best-known Hispanics in the U.S. and a respected news anchor for the Univision networks on which millions of Americans routinely rely.
And yet, in Ramos' telling, his 14-year-old son, Nicolas, and his 25-year-old daughter, Paola, don't watch his newscasts.
"They get their information in English," Ramos said. "Their friends don't watch me. Their generation is not watching us in Spanish. So we have to do something."
That something is a new cable news channel, so embryonic that there is no name yet, or a clear sensibility. But it does offer a twist for Univision and Ramos: It's in English.
Univision has been operating for five decades and already commands about three-quarters of the Spanish-speaking television audience in the U.S. across its various broadcast and cable channels, according to Nielsen ratings estimates. On many nights, its ratings beat the major English-language networks. Now it is joining with ABC News to map out an entirely new network to reach Hispanics who prefer English.
Read more at NPR.