New York -- Among the lavish parties and fancy presentations
at the Hispanic upfronts last week, one stood out as hosting a younger,
bilingual crowd in a cozy party at a Manhattan nightclub.
Tr3s: MTV, Musica y Mas took to Lavo in Midtown Manhattan to
present some of its upcoming shows and treat guests to a brief but moving
performance by Latin recording artist Prince Roye, who performed a Spanglish
version of "Stand by Me" and later curated the party's playlist.
Tr3s executive vice president and general manager Jose Tillan
took the stage to announce an extension of the network's "Quiero mi" franchise.
On the heels of the success of Quiero mis
quinces and Quiero mi boda, Tr3s
will launch Quiero mi baby, a reality
show that follows a U.S. family trying to raise a multicultural child. Quiero mi baby is scheduled to premiere
in the second quarter of 2012.
The bilingual, bicultural audience"is fundamental to the
future of this country and they demand to be spoken to in a unique way, and
that is what we do at Tr3s every day through original content," Tillan said at
the event.
A new show whose working title got a few laughs among
attendees was Date My Abuela (Date My Grandma), a reality show in
which a Latino family will play matchmaker in search of the perfect gentleman
to woo the most beloved member of the family.
"The idea is to capture the feeling that our target audience
has towards their grandmother... someone who is often widowed or divorced and
sacrificed everything for the family," Tr3s senior vice president of content and
creative Charlie Singer told Hispanic TV Update. Singer makes it clear the
title is not final and is still being tested with audiences.
"If people say ‘keep it,' well, we will keep it," he said.
Advertisers were also given a sneak peek of a slew of additional
new properties, including Popland, a
70-episode fictional series (in the telenovela format) currently in production
and biography series La Escalera, which
tells the success stories of some of the most famous Latin musicians.
"Overall, we are determined
to portrayed an optimistic point of view of Latinos making it in the U.S.,"
Singer said. "We want to show [Latinos] growing, expanding, succeeding ... that
is the essence of our brand."
