After TV stations were forced to transmit their signals digitally, many Latino TV stations were forced off the air temporarily. They could not afford the high price of changing their analog (and often times obsolete equipment) into a digital format.
On the days before the switch, Latinos rushed to Wal Mart and Sears where they could get their flat screen TVs. Many payed the expected markup priced. “We cannot miss Don Francisco”…the brown people would say. “Mis novelas!...yo quiero mi novela en high def” Abuelas (grandmothers) would often demand!
But, when those TV’s made their ways to all of those Latino homes something happened. In some places the Spanish channel was off the air, while in others Spanish TV the programming was missing something.
There were no novelas or shows with young latinas with very little clothing.
Stations had decided, for their preservation, to cut costs and cutting off the production costs of the novelas would help them achieve this goal. The models were missing because the stations were cutting back on the model and agent fees usually payed to them.
On the days before the switch, Latinos rushed to Wal Mart and Sears where they could get their flat screen TVs. Many payed the expected markup priced. “We cannot miss Don Francisco”…the brown people would say. “Mis novelas!...yo quiero mi novela en high def” Abuelas (grandmothers) would often demand!
But, when those TV’s made their ways to all of those Latino homes something happened. In some places the Spanish channel was off the air, while in others Spanish TV the programming was missing something.
There were no novelas or shows with young latinas with very little clothing.
Stations had decided, for their preservation, to cut costs and cutting off the production costs of the novelas would help them achieve this goal. The models were missing because the stations were cutting back on the model and agent fees usually payed to them.
Reruns of Friends and The Simpsons appeared. Dubbed in Spanish. Ay Caramba!
This went on for months, since the US economy was taking a long time to recover from the ugly 2008-2009 economic downturn, companies were not advertising and latinos were not buying. It became what seemed a cycle of hopeplessness.
Yet, slowly something started happening.
Slowly, libraries started getting an increase in DVD and book checkouts. This was slow at first. But as time went by, the increase on checkouts increased exponentially. Latinos were checking out DVD movies and with their trip to the library one or two books. It snowballed from there.
In two years, Latino literacy rates increased 50% for all age demographics at the same time, the dropout rate of 50 something percent dropped to 2%. School districts were getting 100% attendance rates and dramatic increases in test scores for Latino students. No one could figure it out. Some thought it was the educational initiatives of President Obama, but there wasn’t enough data. Latino college admissions tripled and kept climbing. Protests started happening because the federal government couldn’t provide enough scholarship money for talented students. Mexico and Venezuela, because of their influx of petrodollars (oil was at $210 a barrel)that stimulated their economies, started recruiting Latinos in the US.
By the time TV stations wanted to resume the novelas and introducing half naked women to their programming…
People got mad…
America had changed…
