COMPANIES GO AFTER A GROWING LATINO AUDIENCE

One key to the home video boom has been the steady plunge in videocassette-recorder prices, which have lately sunk to the $200 range. Now VCRs, once primarily toys for the well-to-do, are accessible to lower-income groups. Renting a cassette, for a dollar or two a night, is cheaper than going to the movies.

Until recently, marketing Spanish-language videocassettes wasn’t a lucrative enterprise since there weren’t that many Latinos with VCRs, but, in the last year or two, several video companies have been established to provide cassettes for this growing market.

“By our rough estimates, there are about 400,000 Hispanic families with VCRs,” noted Tomas Martinez, chairman and co-founder of Vid-Dimension Inc., a new company that markets Spanish-language videos. “In a year or two, 1 million Hispanic households will have VCRs. That’s the market we’re appealing to.”

Vid-Dimension, which operates out of Clovis--a Fresno suburb--is unusual in that it emphasizes original programming rather than movies. That’s a bold move considering that even original programming on English-language cassettes is a hard sell.

“We know the risks involved, but we also think we know the market well enough to provide what the people want,” Martinez insisted.

The company is offering the first Spanish aerobics tape, “Andale Aerobics,” with the workout guided by Amparo De Anda. Though made in Mexico for only $20,000, it’s an impressive production.

Vid-Dimension plans include a workout cassette--again led by De Anda--for pregnant women and entertainment videos featuring mariachi bands and comedians. According to Martinez, the company will market 30 titles by the end of the year.

Vid-Dimension, Martinez said, isn’t restricted to original programming. He also plans to market cassettes of Mexican films, both in Spanish and English.

“These are the kind of movies that haven’t been available to the Hispanics on cassette,” he said.

Finding stores that carry these cassettes won’t be difficult. “There are plenty of video stores in Hispanic areas, more than you would think,” Martinez insisted. “Around the country there are about 1,700 stores that carry Spanish-language cassettes.”

Vid-Dimension prices, Martinez vowed, will be low. “Our cassettes will be mostly $40, which is relatively inexpensive,” Martinez said. “Why price ourselves out of the market?”

Another new company, Video Latino, also is offering Spanish-language cassettes--both original programming and movies. A recent release includes “Mucho Gusto,” a six-volume series of 45-minute cassettes on Spanish cooking, selling for $19.95 each.

There’s even a company, Video Clasico, concentrating on children’s cassettes--”Gulliver’s Travels” and “The Jungle Book”--as well as English films, such as “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “My Man Godfrey,” dubbed into Spanish. Also, USA Video is putting out its first Spanish title, “Survival Spanish,” for $29.95, which teaches Spanish for common situations.

Not only small Latino companies are eyeing the Spanish-language market. On Sept. 4, Embassy, a major American outfit, is putting out a version of “The Cotton Club” with Spanish subtitles. The price is the same as the English-language cassette, $79.95.

MUSIC: “Prince and the Revolution Live” (Warner Music, $29.98) seems to have hit a snag. After an impressive start--particularly on its first few days in the stores last week--it seems to be tailing off. A few retailers confided that, anticipating a flood of buyers, they ordered too many cassettes. Some stores say the cassette is selling well but others report that it’s doing so-so business.

Comparisons to “Purple Rain” are unavoidable, even though “Purple Rain” had the advantage of being a well-advertised hit movie when it debuted on cassette last fall. “Prince Live” simply isn’t doing the blockbuster business “Purple Rain” did. Several retailers, all requesting anonymity, blame Warner Music.

“There just wasn’t enough advance advertising and publicity,” griped one New York store owner. “Not enough of Prince’s fans are aware this cassette exists. If they know it’s there, they’ll buy it. It’s certainly cheap enough.

“It’s not too late. The company can still do advertising and publicity that would increase public awareness. It’s selling OK, but it should be selling great.”

Jim Wagner, marketing manager of Warner Music said the company is getting a bum rap: “We’ve advertised, we’ve done what we could to let music fans know this cassette is available. There’s been TV, print and trade ads. We’ll continue to advertise. We’re not lying down on the job.”

Sony released “Tina Turner Live--Private Dancer Tour” ($29.95) just in time for her “Private Dancer” tour through the United States. On Aug. 27, Sony is putting out a cassette starring Richard Thompson, one of pop music’s most revered cult figures. “Richard Thompson--Across a Crowded Room” will sell for $29.95. “One Night With Blue Note,” two $29.95, one-hour jazz cassettes featuring an all-star cast, will also be released Aug. 27. Both include performances taped at a Feb. 22 concert in New York’s Town Hall.

A 55-minute Carpenters’ cassette, “Yesterday Once More,” is due out soon on RCA/Columbia. It’s a compilation of promo films and videotapes of TV appearances.

MISCELLANEOUS: San Francisco 49er fans who want to relive last year’s glorious season should get a copy of “Masters of the Game” (NFL Films, $39.95), featuring highlights of the 49ers’ victory over the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl XIX. As a bonus, there’s an informative 20-minute summary of the 49ers’ 1984 season. It may be hard to find this exceptional highlights cassette in Los Angeles stores, because all the Rams and Raiders fanatics in the area probably wouldn’t want to see it. But Bay Area stores, naturally, have plenty of copies.

Disney Video has had such spectacular success with cassettes of classic cartoons that Warner Video has been inspired to plunge into the Warner Bros. vaults for marketable gems. They’ve developed a series of nine hourlong cassettes featuring the best cartoons of characters including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and Speedy Gonzales. They’re being released Oct. 7, at an inexpensive $19.98.

NEW AND COMING MOVIES: In the stores this week, two recent movies, “Stick,” with Burt Reynolds, and the stylish, low-budget “Blood Simple”--both on MCA at $79.95. Another MCA release this week is the Marx Brothers’ classic “Monkey Business,” selling for $59.95.

In the stores next week--”King David,” the biblical drama starring Richard Gere. Sometime this month, “Mrs. Soffel,” the unusual Diane Keaton-Mel Gibson love story, will be released. On Aug. 21, “Desperately Seeking Susan,” the comedy starring Madonna and Rosanna Arquette, makes its cassette debut.

The last week of the month will be a renter’s bonanza. “The Killing Fields,” “Paris, Texas,” “The Sure Thing” and “The Purple Rose of Cairo” will all be released that week.

September is shaping up as a great month for new movies. “A Passage to India” and “The Breakfast Club” have already been announced. Now we have word that “Amadeus” is also on the September schedule. Retailers have been eager for this release. They expect this movie, which won the Best Picture Oscar and grossed $52 million, to do terrific business.

The biggest open secret in the business is that “Ghostbusters,” last year’s blockbuster, is going to be available on cassette sometime in the fall on RCA/Columbia. Most likely it will be an October or November release, to ensure that copies will end up gift-wrapped under Christmas trees. The big question is price. Will it be the standard $79.95 or a lower price, say $40, which would be affordable to more Christmas shoppers. But a $40 “Ghostbusters” is probably just wishful thinking.

CHARTS: To no one’s surprise, “Pinocchio” zoomed to the top of the Billboard magazine sales chart is just two weeks, remarkable considering its $80 price tag. Most of the other cassettes in the Top 10 are between $20-$40. The main exception is the phenomenal “Jane Fonda’s Workout,” a perennial Top Five cassette, which sells for $60.

As expected, “A Soldier’s Story” is a big hit rental--No. 5 on the Billboard rental chart, but it’s doing much better than expected on the sales chart--it also costs $80--climbing to No. 10 in just three weeks. . . . “Runaway,” the Tom Selleck thriller, is the other popular new rental, moving up to No. 8 in three weeks. . . . “Prince Live” will show up on the charts next week.

TOP CASSETTES, RENTALS

1--”The Karate Kid” (RCA/Columbia).

2--”Starman” (RCA/Columbia).

3--”The Falcon and the Snowman” (Vestron).

4--”The Flamingo Kid” (Vestron).

5--”A Soldier’s Story” (RCA/Columbia).

6--”A Nightmare on Elm Street” (Media).

7--”The Terminator” (Thorn/EMI/HBO).

8--”Runaway,” (RCA/Columbia).

9--”2010” (MGM/UA).

10--”Places in the Heart” (CBS-Fox).

TOP VIDEOCASSETTES, SALES

1--”Pinocchio” (Disney).

2--”Jane Fonda’s Workout” (Karl).

3--”We Are the World: The Video Event” (MusicVision).

4--”Wrestlemania” (Coliseum).

5--”Singin’ in the Rain” (MGM/UA).

6--”Wham! The Video” (CBS-Fox).

7--”Prime Time” (Karl).

8--”Star Trek III: The Search For Spock” (Paramount).

9--”Madonna” (Warner Music).

10--”A Soldier’s Story” (RCA/Columbia).