Document details

Latin American Television: A Global View

Oxford: Oxford University Press (1999), 187 pp.

Contains index, bibliogr. pp. 170-172

ISBN 978-0-19-167358-0 (ebook); 978-0-19-815930-8 (print)

Reviewed in: Journal of Communication Winter 2000

Signature commbox: 200:40-General 1999

"This book makes English speakers aware of the dimensions, operation, and significance of the globalisation of television in the Spanish-speaking world. Second only in scale to the market for English-language programming, the Spanish-language market embraces not just most nations of South and Central America but also Spain, and even the United States – the sixth largest Spanish-speaking country in the world. This intercontinental space is connected physically by satellite communication, and culturally by a common language and heritage which binds it as both a ‘geolinguistic region’ and an ‘imagined community’ which certain media corporations, Latin American and North American, seek to exploit. A similar phenomenon with regard to Brazil and the Portuguese-speaking world is also examined, with special attention to its comparable features and points of exchange with the Spanish-speaking world. The book chronicles and analyses the development and structure of the globalisation of these markets as a ‘Latin world’." (Abstract)
1 Introduction, 1
2 The Autumn of the Patriarch: Mexico and Televisa, 33
3 The Latin American Continent: Brazil, Venezuela, and Argentina, 63
4 ‘The Wealthiest Hispanics in the World’: Spanish-Language Television in the United States, 92
5 From Latin America to Latin Europe: Spain and Portugal, 121
6 Non plus ultra: Latin Geolinguistic Markets at their Limits, 147