The Change Mariner

New Asian-American TV Targets Youth and Rapidly Growing Minority Youth

Miami.com:
... Stir, a 30-minute magazine-style show, is scheduled for broadcast nationally by the International Channel early next year.

Shot in a bright, zippy style, the aim is to provide entertaining, Asian-American spins on topics like sports, the gender

divide and the meaning of cool.

For the show's co-producers - the International Channel and KTSF, a San Francisco-area station that devotes most of its

programming to Asian-language shows - it marks the first foray into original, English-language programming targeted at 18

to 25-year-old Asian-Americans.

And "Stir" is just one example of how broadcasters are trying to entice young, second- and third-generation audiences.

Spanish-language network Telemundo recently added closed-caption English subtitles to two of its popular soap operas.

Telemundo cable network Mun2 features music videos, game shows, extreme sports and other programs in Spanglish, a

blend of Spanish and English - and in English alone. And Si TV, an English-language network for young Hispanic and

multicultural audiences, plans to start up early next year.

Together, the efforts represent a rush by broadcasters and advertisers to appeal to rapidly growing groups of minority youth.

For example, there are about 12.5 million Asians in the United States, and more than a third are under 25, according to

census data.

... Sherman said Asian-language programming will always be the station's main focus. But "Stir" is "part of our effort to stay ahead of the demographic tidal wave," he said. "The one piece of the puzzle we always felt we were missing was the English-language show."

Noting NBC's acquisition of Telemundo in 2001, Sherman said it's all part of the same trend, "ethnic media becoming kind of mainstream in the U.S. just because of the demographic changes."