Argentine TV host flipping channels
Tinelli leaves Telefe
Tinelli's production company, Ideas del Sur Producciones, will provide primetime (9-11 p.m.) and weekend programming. This includes the second season of "Los Roldan" (The Roldans), a quirky soap opera that led ratings on Telefe -- and all of TV -- in 2004, with an audience share of up to 70%.
Tinelli also will host a format similar to "El show de videomatch" (The Videomatch Show), a popular variety show of the past 15 years, and supply entertainment, fiction and news programming.
Tinelli said he made the move to help expand output of his production company, as it will have more opportunity for timeslots on Canal 9 than it did on Telefe.
Should boost ratings
Tinelli's programs are expected to propel Canal 9 higher in ratings, possibly breaking the decadelong dominance of Telefonica's Telefe and Grupo Clarin's Artear-Canal 13, which is second.
In turn, the higher ratings are expected to generate more ad coin for the broadcaster, enabling it to spend more on program development and purchases -- possibly on imports, too.
Programming move is the biggest by Canal 9 since Daniel Hadad acquired it in 2002 from Telefonica and U.S. bank JPMorgan Chase. Until now, the journo-lawyer and recent partner Raul Moneta, a banker and media businessman, have emphasized cutting costs, mainly by replacing pricier fiction programming with cheaper formats like newsmagazines and talkers. A main focus has been to emerge from bankruptcy protection by paying back an estimated $21 million in debt, most of it owed to studios.
