thebajarunner - 8-16-2006 at 07:03 PM
Not bad work for a funny little roly-poly guy, with a lisp, from Chile, 95% of his studio guests are Cuban, and all of Mexico adores him.
Mario..... my hero!
(we turn him on every Sat. nite for a few minutes just for laffs)
<from AOL>
Sabado Gigante Keeps on Rolling
(Aug. 16) Surf the waves that make up cable television and chances are you will see your share of Spanish language stations. But if you haven't seen
Sabado Gigante ? you haven't seen Spanish TV.
Sabado Gigante ? that's 'Giant Saturday' ? is the longest running weekly entertainment program on television, in any country, any language: 44 years
so far, with not even one rerun.
The show can best be described as combination of Carol Burnett and The Price Is Right (a champion in its own right, as the longest running game show
on television, but still ten years younger than Sabado Gigante). It is light fare to be sure, you'd be wrong to think that means the show is without
influence.
Produced in Miami and broadcast on Univision - the variety show reaches more than 40 countries and 100 million viewers. In the U.S. ratings, it often
wins its Saturday night time slot.
It's a moneymaker, Carl Kravetz, chairman of the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies tells CBS News correspondent Lee Cowan. "It has been the
Saturday powerhouse in the U.S. now for the last 20 years." Kravetz is one of many U.S. advertisers taking notice.
Hispanics are both the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population and the youngest demographic.
Sabado Gigante courts them all.
"You'd be very hard put," says Kravetz, "to identify a general market or English language program that attracts quite as broad a demographic."
The man behind it all ? show creator and host Don Francisco ? understands that demographic better than most.
His real name is Mario Kreutzberger, the son of German Jews who fled to Chile during World War II. He immigrated to New York to become a tailor but
caught the TV bug instead and is now living the American dream.
"This is something that I have to do," says Francisco of the job he loves. "I have to bring the memories, and I have to give them information, and I
have to make them happy."
He's both ringmaster and power broker.
During the last presidential campaign, presidential candidate John Kerry jumped at the chance to appear with Don Francisco - only to be outdone by
President Bush, who while putting on his microphone, gleefully exclaimed: "Sabado Gigante is gigante!"
Asked by CBS News correspondent Lee Cowan whether he feels that he does have a big influence, that what he says echoes pretty loudly, Don Francisco is
a bit humble.
"I'm interested in having a big influence in entertaining people," says Sabado Gigante's biggest presence, on and off-camera, adding that this is all
he really wants.
But in the process, he has created a following with influence and purchasing power that is