California
dreaming
Hoping to reach a broader audience,
Telemundo's youth-targeted network is leaving Hialeah and heading
to L.A.
BY ELAINE WALKER
Miami Herald
Published:
June 21, 2005
ewalker@herald.com
Telemundo announced Monday that South Florida
will no longer be home to mun2, its cable network aimed at young,
bilingual youths.
Over the next few months, the creative, marketing
and production operations will relocate from Hialeah to Los Angeles.
The move is part of an effort to revamp the Latino youth network
and connect with the Mexican population, which represents the
largest segment of the rapidly growing U.S. Hispanic market.
As the largest Hispanic market and the entertainment
capital, Los Angeles still remains the place where trends are
launched more than Miami, experts said.
''This is about expanding our options and really
being relevant to a key segment of our audience,'' said Antoinette
Zel, senior vice president of network strategy for Telemundo.
``It puts us in a position to speak to a lot of talent that has
Latino sensibilities.''
Since she was hired in September, Zel has been
focused on retooling the image and programming for mun2, which
is pronounced mundos, the Spanish word for two worlds. The relocation
is just a piece of that puzzle.
''Mun2 has been a bit two narrow in it's scope,''
said Zel, the former president of MTV Networks Latin America.
``We're going to reflect a lot of different voices that are out
there to be heard.''
By relocating to California, the network also
is in a better position to capitalize on the resources of NBC
Universal, Telemundo's parent company.
The move, which is expected to be completed
by Oct. 1, will affect 28 jobs currently located in Hialeah. Zel
and the network's technical and operations employees will continue
to be based out of Telemundo's Hialeah office.
Decisions haven't been made on exactly how
many existing mun2 employees will be relocating, Zel said. The
affected employees will receive severance packages and be encouraged
to apply for other jobs with the parent company NBC Universal.
Industry experts agree that the move may bolster
the fortunes of mun2, which since its launch has yet to have a
major splash in the marketplace.
''To take better advantage of the demographics
in the U.S., perhaps an L.A. base makes more sense,'' said Phil
Remek, senior equity analyst with Guzman & Co., who follows
the Hispanic media industry.
Teleumundo understands that its success with
reaching the 18-to-34 market will be key in the future. These
youth, who speak a mix of Spanish and English and live largely
in urban markets, are also being targeted by other networks. More
than two million of the 17 million young Hispanic adults that
mun2 is hoping to reach live in Los Angeles, the network said.
''Living and breathing that new Latino youth
is essential for mun2 to be successful and find its own identity,''
said Carlos Santiago, chief executive of Santiago Solutions, a
consulting firm specializing in Hispanic business strategy. ``Mun2
needs to be out from under the roof of its older brother Telemundo.''
