President Obama in one speech displayed why only the angriest of furies that could be goaded into action by a Newt Gingrich can defeat him. As important as the State of the Union speech last night was, so was the announcement by News Corporation – read that Fox – that it is creating a Spanish-language network to begin telecasting this coming fall. It was only a matter of time before Fox plunged into the continuously expanding HispanicLatino market.
But what does it mean? Does another network only splinter the market with more base offerings or does it advance the standing of and serve the HispanicLatino population in any meaningful way? Does Fox have a new strategy not foreseen or not adopted consciously by either Univision or Telemundo? Something revolutionary? Will Fox unleash the potent conservative strain that runs deeply within the HispanicLatino community and develop parts of it to give Republicans hope for the future?
No one outside Fox knows, but if his track record is prologue, Rupert Murdoch likely will be a force soon enough in the HispanicLatino market. And if its perception of the community and the market is more nuanced than Unvision’s or Telemundo’s, Fox might well take away share from the two more-established networks but also lure some HispanicLatinos from English-language television.
What would happen if in its partnership with the Colombian production company RCN Fox also programs part of its schedule in English? What does Fox know about this aspect of the market that the other networks might not? The number of people who pooh-poohed the inauguration of the Fox network more than two decades ago should not underestimate the Foxistas.
A target of Fox must also be that vast new population of young Americans of whatever cultural background for which fútbol, not football, is their favored sport. Already, Fox’s soccer-dedicated channels are an integral part in the lives of the sport’s enthusiasts. Perhaps Fox will offer a new NFL component of some sort.
What would happen if Fox takes on an unabashedly and unapologetic pro-HispanicLatino stance? Could Fox do as much to coalesce HispanicLatino identity as it did to help disassemble American politics with its no-holds conservative rhetoric? With Iranian TV now broadcasting in Latin America to balance what the mullahs in Tehran think is pro-American influence in the hemisphere, nothing should surprise anyone.
On another front:
Has there been more telling film footage recently than of the comedian Stephen Colbert and Herman Cain at The College of the Charleston last week? While Cain with microphone in hand acted as the charlatan and opportunist that fooled most of the Republican Party for a couple of months last year, he was framed in the background by an unsmiling mostly black choir.
The members of the choir were heartily unhappy to be propping up someone who during his thankfully short-lived campaign denigrated the favorite of an overwhelming number of black Americans of college age: President Barack Obama. Campaign strategists who anticipate a significant shortfall of African American support for the incumbent President ought to look at the film closely. Not one – not one – of those young men and women ever cracked even the barest of smiles.
Feel free to forward these blogs that deal with business topics on Mondays, politics on Wednesdays and social and personal and professional development on Fridays. Additional thoughts are published invariably on Tuesdays or Thursdays.