Reinventing the Latino Television Viewer: Language, Ideology, and Practice examines how the relationship between language, power, and industry practice is reshaping the very concept of Hispanic television. Chávez argues that as established mainstream networks enter the Hispanic television space, they are redefining the Latino audience in ways that more closely resemble the mainstream population, leading to auspicious forms of erasure that challenge the legitimacy of Spanish altogether. This book presents the integration of English into the Hispanic television space not as an entirely new phenomenon, but rather as an extension of two ongoing practices within the television industry—the exploitation of consumer markets and the suppression of Latino forms of speech.

"Chávez provides a provocative examination of a central element in the contemporary US culture industry: the audience. And he zeroes in on an increasingly influential social, cultural, and political demographic: Latinos. Through his incisive analysis, the author puts the spotlight on the current media landscape and the rapidly changing cultural landscape. Chávez musters evidence that points to an unsettling discovery: rapacious capitalist markets, represented by the modern television industry, include maximizing profits through expansion and maintaining mainstream America’s linguistic dominance through the reinvention of Hispanic television. This last outcome includes the 'erasure' of 'Latino forms of speech' by English-language television practices, such as using English subtitles in Spanish-language broadcasts and creating bilingual television networks (e.g., Fusion). Chávez’s investigation is troubling but is required reading for anyone interested in understanding the insidious nature of power maintenance, the role of social institutions such as the mass media in shaping ideology through language, and how people in positions of power rely on sophisticated mechanisms to keep that power at the expense of the less powerful. This book is a must read for anyone in communication, media studies, Latino/a studies, cultural studies, or sociology. Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty." - CHOICE

"Chávez’s unique position gained him access to a diverse range of interview subjects who provide insight into the production practices of the Hispanic media market. Ultimately, he is able to weave together the development of Spanish language media and the emergence of a bilingual media space while explaining the market forces that imagine a Latino audience that ultimately fits into the larger corporate logic of commercial media in the United States. The promise of new media platforms and distribution channels may provide an avenue where a range of stories that appeal to the diversity of the Latino experience can find a home and recapture the civic function of media meant to serve the community." - Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly