The Hispanic Television Giant Makes Sizable Investment to Put Down Deep Roots
By Roberto Hugo Gonzalez
As originally published by Texas Border Business newsprint edition November 2016.
Telemundo TV40/ KTLM, the Hispanic broadcast organization made a sizeable investment in their studios that is without precedent in the last ten years.
For years, the television station had been broadcasting from the BBVA Compass Bank building on Nolana and 10th Street. Just last year, corporate officials started to draw up plans to move the station from a 17,000 Sq Ft space to a 23,000 Sq Ft space with brand new television studios at the Chase Bank-McAllen Neuhaus Tower.
In an invitation made by Jose Flores, the president and general manager of Telemundo, Texas Border Business was honored with a one-on-one tour of the new studios prior to the ribbon cutting ceremony. We were able to corroborate that Telemundo 40 / KTLM had designed and built a facility with the latest broadcast technologies making it one of the most advanced broadcast centers in the Rio Grande Valley.
But how do you design a television studio that will be loved by everyone? “Simple,” said Flores. “We asked our staff their opinion and based on their comments, what you see is the conclusion.”
Flores said the results are a very open concept that invites collaboration “We wanted to make sure we can see each other, talk, and collaborate; that’s the big difference you’ll see here in this facility,” he told Texas Border Business.
Among many of the featured technologies, the entire 2nd floor has Wi-Fi service; according to Flores, which is very convenient for everyone with a laptop. He said, “If they want to work over here, they can. If they want to work in the kitchen while they’re there, they can. If they want to disconnect and go to a private room, they can work anywhere they want.”
The importance of taking into consideration employee’s comments, generated the idea to have additional space in the first floor. Flores said that they opted to lease 500 Sq Ft in the same tower and near where television crews park company vehicles. “Television crews come in, they unload their equipment there, then they come up to the 2nd floor to do their show.” He said, “The input of our staff was important in designing the studios.”
Flores said that there has been a lot of work from the day they conceived the idea to move to a bigger location. In a way, it happened pretty fast, taking about eighteen months from idea, design, construction and bang a brand new television studio.
“To put things in perspective, when we first arrived, the 2nd floor of Chase Tower was a big empty space.” He stated, “There were still a few standing offices and we immediately started tearing them down.”
Laying out the infrastructure for state-of-the-art television studios could be compared to putting together a technology puzzle.
Flores pointed out that the wiring that connects everything was a work of art. “There are miles of cable and wiring installed as well as a microwave dish on top of the roof of the 17th floor.”
They added a big generator that keeps the station on air in case the tower building loses power for days. If you drive by the Chase Tower on the 12th Street side, you’ll see four enormous satellite dishes that can record multiple feeds from several sites at the same time.
After all the new technology was in place, management proceeded to train the staff in order to move seamlessly from the old used technology to the new state-of-the-art technology. It took about six months from beginning of construction to the first broadcast that took place on June 25, 2016.
“Our staff did very well, I’m extremely proud of that because that’s very, very quick to keep that going.” He said, “I want to say that it’s a great testament to the passion and the commitment that you find with the Telemundo family. We have this beautiful state-of-the-art facility, but really the most valued resource we have is our employees, and I want to applaud our employees.” The company has invested in new technology, however that has put a special emphasis on investing in people by almost doubling the number of employees in this new chapter.
Flores stated that the growth they have experienced is amazing. “I never thought it was going to happen fast. We had the vision and goal, but no idea it was going to happen within two years.”
Flores said that they now have the technology to be live from anywhere in the world. The concentration of their efforts is always to look for relevant content for their viewers.
Telemundo is known for having great programming and complete news coverage, be it in Washington, D.C., Mexico, or the Valley. They feature content for every age depending on the day and time. “For reporting, we focus more on adults 18-49,” he said. They have Telenovelas, Acceso Total, and Don Francisco Invita; just to name a few of their great programs.
One of their many attributes is the dedication to the local market. “Like I said, our corporate has been wonderful in recognizing that we need to make sure that we’re doing the very best to service our community.” In addition, he said that the staff is passionate when it comes to local coverage and participation, because in their mind, they understand that they want to be the station of choice.
Flores is a seasoned broadcaster; he has been with Telemundo for approximately sixteen years. His experience has been in much larger markets like Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles, and Houston. But like he says, “In the end, in this business everything boils down to the love of what you do”. His dedication, passion, and a will to work to serve the community where he lives, “that’s what makes the difference”.
Talking about being service oriented, Telemundo 40 partnered with the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) on what they call a Super Saturday to help kids file applications for grants and scholarships. “There’s a lot of money that goes unclaimed because they don’t do the filing for fund request,” he said. This was a successful two-month campaign, working together with all the schools and universities.
Their work with nonprofits is also commendable in the way that they attend to their events and provide Public Service Announcements (PSA) to promote their cause. “That’s how Telemundo 40 connects,” Flores stated.
But it goes beyond serving, in May of this year Telemundo launched South Texas’ first-ever, dedicated consumer investigative team under the name Telemundo Responde. The team is responsible of answering inquiries from local residents who fear they may have been wronged in some way.
To give you an idea of the success of the “Telemundo Responde” team, Flores said that not too long ago, 30 workers were not getting paid. He stated, “We kept on talking to the district attorney and finally the workers got their wages,” he stated. At the time this article was being written, ‘Telemundo Responde’ has helped to collect about $14,000 for citizens of the area.
On July 28, 2016, Telemundo unveiled its brand new state-of-the-art news center, Telemundo 40 Studios. The same day, they celebrated the official ribbon-cutting ceremony with distinguished guests from the throughout Valley and Miami, Florida. McAllen Mayor Jim Darling took part in the celebration in the company of Manuel Martinez, President of Telemundo Station Group.
Jose Flores said that he and everyone at Telemundo TV 40/KTLM are committed to serving the communities of the Valley and South Texas with great programming and complete news coverage. TBB
Related Article:
https://texasborderbusiness.com/telemundo-network-president-talks-texas-border-business/
