Mexican Television Programs

Surprisingly, Mexican television programming for children represents another weakness, with its lack of playful creativity and a heavy reliance on imported programming, especially from the United States. Moreover, Mexican television has seemingly steered away from factually based dramas or controversial issues, except for the occasional and usually patriotic historical epic. Although advertisements for contraceptive devices have appeared on Mexican television (consistent with the government's efforts to lower Mexico's historically high birthrate) in general the medium has carefully avoided controversial issues. And to its credit, Televisa has experimented with socially beneficial programs, such as the encouragement of adult education through a soap opera series. Yet, such efforts have been surrounded with skepticism over their didactic, relatively safe character and criticism for their contrast with the crassness of Televisa's more commercial offerings. Irreverent situation comedies (or sitcoms) of the American sort, or humor in the British style of "Monty Python," for example, rarely make their way onto the television screens of Mexico.

Furthermore, the pattern in programming established by Televisa has extended beyond Mexico. Since the 1960s, the Azcarraga empire had entered the United States in the form of the Spanish International Network (SIN), providing shows produced by Televisa to reach the large and expanding Spanish-language population in cities such as Miami, San Antonio, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. The extent of Azcarraga's control over SIN eventually was found in violation of U.S. government regulations regarding foreign ownership of television stations, forcing Azcarraga Milmo to divest himself from SIN in late 1987. In an ironic twist, Televisa reentered the U.S. market through Univision, a company based on the original SIN, although without a controlling interest in keeping with U.S. federal communications law.

Televisa's foray into the United States paralleled its penetration into Latin America (where it has interests in stations in Chile and Venezuela, for instance); its reach has incorporated the Spanish-speaking populations of the Pacific, such as Guam and the Philippines, and Europe, where its telenovelas have been seen from Madrid to Moscow (in the latter case via translation). In this sense, Mexican television and its characteristic features have become truly global.

It is apparent that the television market in Mexico will continue to move away from its narrowly conceived, conservative origins. This process of change, however, likely will be gradual, as producers will be slow to act boldly in the face of the tenacious influence of the past. If access to alternative programming remains tied to income, mainstream Mexican television will tend toward reworking old formulas and taking few innovative directions. This conservative character of television is, of course, not unique to Mexico, as indicated by the derivative character of much of television in the United States, for instance. As in most countries, the federal government in Mexico will continue to possess wide authority over television, but how it will exercise that authority in the future is unclear.