ABSTRACT
Flows of media contents and cultural products play a significant role in shaping cultural and regional identities. The identities created by the exchange of television and media products do not coalesce in a vacuum or spontaneously, and they are the outcome of complex negotiations involving national and international media producers, broadcasters, audiences, and political institutions. Variety shows have not received the same attention, despite being an extremely popular and enduring genre that occupies their central place in the schedules of Latin American television stations and has strongly influenced the creation of a pan-Latin American popular culture and star system. The discovery of Hispanic television audiences in the United States (US) as potential markets preceded the arrival of Mario Kreutzberger and his programme to US Spanish-language television. Don Francisco’s journey to Spanish-language US television is probably one of the most successful processes of transnationalization in Latin American television industries.
