Televisa seasons with U.S. flavor

Mexico
By MICHAEL SCOTT O'BOYLE
MEXICO CITY -- After years of toying with the idea of producing U.S.-style series, Mexican media conglom Televisa will be showing off its first efforts this year at Mip.
Televisa is preparing to air four of its new series on different weeknights at 10 p.m., including "S.O.S." (a Mexican "Sex and the City"), "Thirteen Fears" (a suspense-horror series produced by indie shingle Lemon Films and shot on film) and "RBD: The Family" (a series based on hit telenovela "Rebelde" and starring teen music group phenom RBD).
"This is our big bet this year," says Televisa programming veep Alberto Ciurana. "The series have very high production values."
Move is part of web's efforts to boost ratings among 18-to-34-year-olds, who are often left cold by the telenovela and variety show programming on its flagship Channel 2.
As of January, Televisa completely revamped the grid of Channel 5, its main channel for imported product, replacing two hours of U.S. series per night with a block of U.S. skeins running from 4 p.m. until midnight. Ciurana says the new block boosted ratings more than 18%.
Ciurana says the success of the new U.S. series would give a boost to its own skeins when it bows them within the block in May.
Having steady output deals with major Hollywood studios, Ciurana isn't prowling for much new product at Mip. Televisa will tout its latest hit telenovelas as it marks 50 years producing the format.
Meanwhile, Televisa's smaller rival, TV Azteca, expects its foreign sales to double this year, says VP of international sales Marcel Vinay. Azteca holds the international rights to double the hours of telenovelas this year, after relying on scripts from Argentina and Colombia during 2006.
But Vinay warns the market for finished telenovelas is getting tighter. More territories that were once telenovela dumping grounds, like Russia and the former Eastern bloc, produce more of their own content.