And now, people are beginning to see the telenovela as a tool for social change.
Assimilating Latinos craved something more than its staple of telenovela soap operas and Mexican movies, we said.
's (nyse: DIS - news - people ) ABC, which was adapted from a Colombian telenovela.
"The telenovela has managed to create a very loyal market, " Ms Estrada explained.
As well as bring social issues to the fore, there is also evidence suggesting telenovela's may influence viewer's behavior.
Acosta-Alzuru is currently analyzing the reaction to a new Venezuelan telenovela "La Mujer Perfecta" ("The Perfect Woman") whose female protagonist has Asperger's Syndrome.
In 1998 the government privatized broadcasting, and he started RCN TV, the prominent Colombia television station that produced the hit telenovela "Betty La Fea" (Ugly Betty).
In 2009, Brazil's award-winning telenovela, "Caminho das Indias" ("India: A Love Story") featured a character Tarso Cadore, played by rising star, Bruno Gagliasso, who suffered from schizophrenia.
"It's about risk aversion, " says Kevin Falls, the Emmy-winning writer-producer behind Sports Night, The West Wing and Journeyman, who is currently adapting Argentina's telenovela Lalola for potential series pickup at News Corp.
But if you had to look to a nonagenarian for direction, you could do much worse than Harman, a technology pioneer and lover of the arts whose life has taken as many twists as a telenovela.
Despite a challenging couple of years at Univision, care of a weakened advertising market and a recently resolved battle with Mexican telenovela provider Grupo Televisa, the growth opportunity for an established player in the US Hispanic market is vast.
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