For those following the online debate spurred by a blog posting by Laura Martinez regarding the lack of quality of programming in Spanish-language television, it truly is fascinating, primarily because it is taking place online and it is between individuals in the industry. If you have not followed, here’s a quick recap.
On October 10th, Laura Martinez had a post called “Why Can’t Hispanic TV Be as Good as Hispanic Advertising?” on her blog. Click here to read the posting http://adage.com/bigtent/post?article_id=121032. The Hispanic Association of Advertising Agencies (AHAA) and the CEO of Hispanic Ad both responded quickly, displeased with her comments. The AHAA letter was sent to AdAge editor Scott Donaton and the letter made it to the blogoshpere. Click here for that letter and additional response: http://multicultclassics.blogspot.com/2007/10/essay-4638.html.
Gene Bryan of HispanicAd.com responded with a piece called “¡Ya Basta!” which he posted on the site. Click here for the piece http://www.hispanicad.com/cgi-bin/news/newsarticle.cgi?article_id=22880. Yesterday, Laura responded to AHAA’s letter in AdAge’s Big Tent forum. Click here for that post: http://adage.com/bigtent/post?article_id=121642.
So what do I think? I think both sides make good arguments, but also miss a few points. Laura has to understand that she is not and has never been part of the target audience for Spanish-language television, particularly daytime programming. In all honesty, I also am probably not either, but still watch some shows (I must confess that I call it market research). For the record, in my opinion, general market daytime quality is on par with Spanish-language, but I’m probably not the target for those shows either.
I agree with AHAA regarding the programming and that it is based on what works. Just look at the ratings. I also agree that comparing advertising and programming is not an apples to apples comparison. I do think her comments regarding the creative speak volumes to the quality creative we are seeing on the Hispanic front.
However, I do believe Laura’s voice, and opinions based on her experience, are important. As Maribel posted earlier, we need more voices that talk about Hispanic marketing. The more voices we have, obviously, the more we will disagree. Is this a bad thing? Not at all. Al contrario, que continúe el debate.
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