Essay #4 Will Long The Global Flows of Sabado Gigante

Essay #4 - Will Long - The Global Flows of Sabado Gigante

Many scholars agree that place should be seen as the sum of different flows. Appadurai lists a series of ?-scapes? that account for these flows. Ethnoscapes, the movement of people; technoscapes, the movement and access of technology; finanscapes, the movement of money; mediascapes, the movement of information; and ideoscapes, the movement of ideologies, all affect a place?s identity (Appadurai, 1990, p. 296). A circle of flows and counter-flows contruct the Spanish-language television in the United States and Latin America. These flows and counter-flows are exemplified by the television variety show Sabado Gigante.

The show began on Canal 13 (UCTV) in 1962 in Chile?s capital city, Santiago. Kreutzbergerwas influenced by American television while studying in New York in the late 1950s.  When he returned to Chile, television was in its beginnings. He soon created a show that was a combination of all the shows he had seen and the host of what was to become the longest-running variety television show in history (Hall, 2004, ¶ 3). For twenty-four years, Don Francisco was seen every week all over Chile.

The show gained popularity in Chile and in 1986 the show started being produced in Miami, Florida when Univision picked it up. At the time ?there was no Spanish-language television produced in the [United States], the Spanish shows there were imported from Mexico and Puerto Rico.? (Hill, 2005, ¶ 7). For three years the show was produced in Miami, for the international audience, and in Santiago, for Chile.  The constant traveling became too much for Kreutzberger and he decided to base the show only in Miami, immediately making the United States ?one of the prime exporters of Spanish-language television.? (Hill, 2005, ¶ 8).

Now the ?Miami-based production?is projected regionally to a Spanish-speaking population throughout the Americas,? as well as Europe (Wiley, 2004, p. 92). In fact, it is ?available to 99 percent of Spanish-speaking people worldwide.? (Hill, 2005, ¶ 2). Morris and Waisbord say ?constant flows of media materials between home countries and diasporic communities feed long-distance nationalities.? (Morris & Waisbord, 2001, p. xiii).  Kreutzberger feels ?his broadcasts from Miami have helped create a sense of Hispanic community that links U.S. immigrants with people in their home countries of Latin America,? (Brennan, 2002, ¶ 5).

Sabado Gigante is a perfect example of the flows and counter-flows that influence place. First, North American television compelled Kreutzberger to create the show. Second, the show made an impact in Latin America and the Latino community in North America. Lastly, the show is now produced in North America and distributed to the Latino community into Latin America, including Chile ? its country of origin.

SOURCES:

Appadurai, A. (1990). Disjuncture and difference in the global economy. Public Culture, 2(2), 295-310.

Brennan, B. (2002). Don Francisco gives back. Perspectives in Health Magazine, 7(3),.

Hall, L. (2004). Star of ?Sabado? reigns on Univision. Television Week, 23(13), 12-14.

Hill, L. (2005). Giant of spanish tv first in U.S. production. Television Week, 24(22), 26-28.

Morris, N. & Waisbord, S. (2001). Media and Globalization: Why the state matters. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

Wiley, S. (2004). Rethinking nationality in the context of globalization. Communication Theory, 14, 78-96.

Posted at 11:19PM Jun 14, 2007 by William Long in General  |  Comments[3]