A Novela for the Web

Univision today began airing Vidas Cruzadas, its newest novela—except this one is not to be seen on the ‘traditional’ home screen, but rather on a computer one.  There have been previous attempts and series intended for Latino audiences made available exclusively online.  What is different this time, is that the leads are well-known, bonafide stars Kate del Castillo and Guy Ecker and that the story has all the makings of a modern love dilemma: a successful career woman’s biological clock is running out, and just as she decides to be a single mom through in-vitro, she meets the man of her dreams.

For those with pre-conceived notions about the Latino market, this is decidedly not a story for the demo, and audiences are likely to be limited. And this is not the type of viewer Univision attracts.  See, the dynamic of the market is constantly in flux and searching for these viewers is not a new thing for Univision and the advertisers supporting this project, mainly L’Oreal and State Farm.

Univision has heavily promoted this new story on TV and on its site. Fans of this novela also can follow it on Twitter, and Facebook (with 610 fans) and Univision’s own Mi Pagina (stating more than 30,000 friends).

Now different to the daily novela format, this only will “air” 3 times per week, which has some viewers confused judging from the comments left on the pages.  Wonder if Univision will release viewer data, but from the makings of it, this is a bold vote for Spanish-language dominant Latinas online and a move directed at getting their eyeballs through programming they know well.  We'll stay tuned to results and welcome projects that continue to prove the demo has a strong voice when it comes to the web.