Mary,” he says. She agrees: “It was love at first
sight.” They married two years later.
During the early 2000s, Mary left the network
to raise their three children while Cisco launched
Univision’s Premios Juventud (Youth Awards) and
began producing the network’s live shows. When
Mary returned to production, she went back to Tele-
mundo, initially to produce Premios Billboard de la
Música Mexicana, and then in 2015, the Latin AMAs.
Suddenly, the couple were competitors again.
In early 2019, after nearly two decades at
Univision, Cisco joined Telemundo as executive
vp primetime non-scripted realities and specials.
He oversees all reality programming, live events,
specials and music tentpoles — including Mary’s
Mary Black Suárez
and Cisco Suárez
photographed Sept. 20 at
Telemundo in Miami.
longtime project, the Latin AMAs. So for the first
time ever, the Latin TV power duo will be on the
same team: working the fifth annual Latin AMAs,
featuring Marc Anthony, Anuel AA and Pitbull, on
Oct. 17.
The partnership comes at a pivotal time in live
TV: Viewership is shifting to nonlinear program-
ming, and networks are placing an emphasis on
enticing younger viewers through digital channels,
like social media, to offset the decline in traditional
viewers. (In 2018, the Grammys drew their smallest
audience in a decade, at 19.8 million viewers; in
2019, the audience remained static.)
But paradoxically, viewership for the Latin AMAs
has been growing. Between 2017 and 2018, viewers
for the event jumped from 4.39 million to 4.8 mil-
lion, according to Nielsen. Based on Mary’s track
record, Cisco is joining a winning team.
So: When you’re producing
competing shows, what’s the pillow
talk like?
CISCO SUÁREZ A very simple rule
that has kept our marriage healthy
is never, ever, ever talk about busi-
ness at home.
MARY BLACK SUÁREZ Before we
got married, Ángela Carrasco [a
Dominican singer who was hugely
popular in the late 1980s] was
friends with both of us and didn’t
know we were dating. He was try-
ing to book her for Carnaval Miami,
and I for Calle Ocho. When she
found out we were together, she
wanted to kill us.
How do your business styles differ, as executives
and producers?
MBS I’m obsessive- compulsive: I make lists of
everything, I’m very meticulous, I’m a Virgo. Cisco
is super creative. So we each compensate for what
the other lacks.
CS I love the music part of it, the creation, the
effects, the flying crap. I’m always thinking about
how to take things to the next level. When you put
our strengths together, it really becomes a very
solid production.
At a time of declining ratings, how has your
approach to viewer engagement changed?
CS Digital is powerful. The secret is figuring
out how to hype the show through social media.
That’s why all the nominations and winners are
announced online — because these are the people
who are voting.
MBS When you know your audience, you know
what they’re looking for. But then you need to be
consistent with what you give them. This particu-
lar show [Latin AMAs] is seen by what we call the
200% audience: 100% Latin and 100% American.
Can you explain the 200% concept?
CS Who is listening to Bad Bunny and Ozuna? The
Latinos born in the U.S. speak English and don’t
necessarily watch Telemundo. But when we have
events with artists, they’ll watch. The next day, they
go online and you see the boom. We need to cater to
this new generation.
Has the average viewership age for the Latin AMAs
gone down?
CS Yes, and not just for this show. For the third
year in a row, we’re the No. 1 Hispanic network in
the U.S. in the 18-34 demo [on weekday primetime].
These are the people watching Exatlón, La Voz.
This has been Telemundo’s biggest success.
How has catering to both traditional TV viewers and
smartphone viewers affected music programming?
CS The U.S. is a melting pot. You have your hard-
core audience, and then you have these kids who
are bringing new viewers. How do you format this
show so the lady who watches you every day gets
something and doesn’t say, “This
reggaeton is driving me crazy”?
You have to balance genres,
nationalities and youth.
MBS It’s like being a DJ. You
balance the show according to the
time, audience and guests.
Nielsen recently found that the ma-
jority of Hispanic households in the
U.S. speak Spanish at home — they
view the language as a way of main-
taining a strong cultural identity
and connecting with older genera-
tions. As a result, younger Hispanics
born in the U.S. aren’t losing their
Spanish. Do you think that’s having
an impact on Latin music?
CS We are finally seeing Latin
artists on the late-night [mainstream] shows. The
resistance to the language is changing incredibly
fast. I think you’ll see that in the LAMAs this year.
MBS The music is also in English and Spanish.
That’s why we chose “music has no one language”
as the theme of the show this year. Music is emo-
tion — you don’t have to speak the words to get it.
What advice do you give each other?
CS I don’t know about advice. I do have a one-liner
— “Stay within budget” — which applies both at
home and at work.
MBS My advice to him is “smile.” He’s a very seri-
ous man. Breathe.
What’s the best way to build business relationships in
the Latin music industry?
CS When you are in a position where you have the
means and opportunity to allow others to grow,
give artists a chance. When you give managers that
break and say, “I’ll put your little act on the show,”
and that small act becomes a beast, you create
relationships — with the artist, with the label, with
the manager.
MBS Create trust. When you are affectionate, when
you deliver, people trust you 100%. The same thing
happens with the audience. When you gain their
trust, they stay with you because they know what
they’ll find on your shows.
The Prince estate named ALAN SEIFFERT executive director of Paisley Park. BMG France promoted SYLVAIN GAZAIGNES to GM, succeeding STÉPHANE BERLOW.
“ RESISTANCE
TO THE
[SPANISH]
LANGUAGE
IS CHANGING
INCREDIBLY
FAST.”
—CISCO SUÁREZ
OCTOBER 12, 2019 • WWW.BILLBOARD.COM 29