KFWD Format Switch 8/1

[arnoldevns]

MundoFox has made it clear from day 1 they want to go after a bilingual audience and would have some English in their shows/commercials.

 

[fredcantu]

It will be interesting to see how it sells. Having run bilingual radio, sometimes I would be left out of the Spanish advertising buys because of the English content and I didn't have enough ratings for the general market buys.

 

[JHBrandt]

I think bilingual could work better on TV than radio, since on TV you can open-caption the English passages. MTV Tr3s did that, but oddly, MundoFox doesn't.

BTW, I noticed a couple of odd things last night: 1) the EPG still has the old format shows (Dr. Oz, etc.); 2) There was a small bug in the lower right that read "senal de prueba" (test signal) ???

 

[fredcantu]

"Señal de prueba" may be a way to keep initially poor ratings from being counted. Telemundo did the same thing when they launched their SOI subchannel.

 

[arnoldevns]

"Señal de prueba" may be a way to keep initially poor ratings from being counted. Telemundo did the same thing when they launched their SOI subchannel.

That's exactly what's going on. August 1st was a "soft launch" of the network. August 13 is the official debut.

 

[JHBrandt]

BTW, they had the EPG fixed by 8/3. Been busy and haven't had a chance to post.

 

[arnoldevns]

For what its worth: KFWD's rating are nearly zero since the switch. KTXD's ratings have grown nicely and aren't far off what KFWD had before the switch.

 

[newsmark]

I think it's safe to say it'll take the target audience a little while to find the new channel.

 

[JHBrandt]

One thing we know about Rupert Murdoch is that he's quite patient with new ventures. If MundoFox is getting poor ratings several years hence, he'll pull the plug; but I wouldn't bet against him.

 

[easttxtv]

Most hispanics I've talked to where I work didn't even know there was any kind of plans for MundoFox.

"¿52 en español otra ves?" "¿Una otra red?" "¿verdad?" (52 in Spanish again? Another network? Really?)

"sí, verdad" (yes, really)

They were kinda like I hit them with a truck. I guess they're so used to Univision, Telemundo, and maybe a couple of the other ones (and aren't tuned into a source like Radio-Info that has stories regarding the TV industry), that it's a big surprise. I've tried to tell a few of them about it but they have the look on their face like they already have their viewing habits, or may think there are enough choices without any new networks/stations around.

KFWD/52 has been doing quite a bit of side-of-bus advertising, but it looks like they may have to do more promotion in local papers or (non-Univision) radio to get more local viewers to at least try them out. I notice KDFW/4 is still doing a few English promos for MundoFox here and there.

 

[easttxtv]

KTXD's ratings have grown nicely and aren't far off what KFWD had before the switch.

I wondered how KTXD was doing since the flip and all that London had done.