Spanish-Language TV Reels In Viewers : Ethnic programming: Subscriptions climb at KBUENAvision, county’s only locally produced, Spanish-language television channel.

County Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez cleared his throat, looked into the television monitor and greeted his audience with a hearty “Hola.”

Welcome to KBUENAvision, Orange County’s only locally produced, Spanish-language television channel. The Fullerton-based cable channel began broadcasting in September to 25,000 subscribers in Santa Ana, where about half the population is Latino.

And beginning Feb. 5, the station’s coverage area will expand to include another 35,000 subscribers in Fullerton, Placentia and Buena Park, where Latinos make up about 20% of the population.

Besides coverage of local Latino events, the channel offers boxing, soccer and educational programming in English and Spanish.

Latino activists praised the new channel as filling a communications void.

“It just makes you think we’ve come a long way,” said Rueben Martinez, 49, a Santa Ana businessman and longtime activist. “Who would have thought we would have had this 20 years ago, especially in Orange County?”

The new Channel 35 competes for viewers with KMEX Channel 34, a Univision station based in Los Angeles; KVEA Channel 52, a Telemundo station in Los Angeles, and three smaller stations that either simulcast programs in Spanish or offer limited Spanish-language programming.

“The significant thing I see about KBUENAvision is that it will be able to concentrate on Orange County events and activities, as opposed to a station like Channel 34, which is more about L.A. and the greater L.A. basin,” said Chris Arce, director of a student outreach program at Rancho Santiago College in Santa Ana.

Last fall, KBUENAvision scored a programming coup when it landed an interview with Panamanian boxer Roberto Duran and obtained permission from his managers to follow him around Las Vegas before the championship bout he lost to Sugar Ray Leonard.

The ensuing one-hour special, all in Spanish, proved so popular that Comcast syndicated it on cable stations throughout Southern California, according to Mike Ewing, director of programming for Comcast Cable Communications Inc., which produces KBUENAvision.

The bulk of KBUENAvision’s format, however, is similar to that of other Latino television stations: sports programs, soap operas, comedy shows and movies--all produced in Mexico City.

“We can’t give ‘em enough boxing,” said Maria Rubalcava, director of programming and host of the channel’s “Asi Es” talk show.

A former reporter for the Telemundo and Univision networks, Rubalcava most recently served as an executive assistant to Vasquez. The supervisor was among a number of prominent Latinos invited to tape promotional spots for a telethon scheduled Feb. 4 to raise money for Latino scholarships.

The “Campeones Para la Educacion” (Champions for Education) telethon is to begin at noon at the Santa Ana Transportation Center, from which KBUENAvision’s signal is transmitted. The telethon is open to the public and is to include live music and appearances by Latino celebrities, including Mexican movie star Mike Gomez.

Speaking in English and then Spanish, Vasquez, the son of migrant workers, implored television viewers to send money so that young Latinos might be as successful as he.

“I urge you to be a part of our future,” Vasquez said. “Your commitment to support outstanding Hispanic students can help give these kids a chance to reach their dreams.”

A Spanish-language cable channel gives educators a means to reach the community, said Bob Jensen, chancellor of Rancho Santiago, for which some of the scholarships are being provided. For example, he said, colleges can broadcast information about student registrations, amnesty and financial aid.

“They can understand in their native language what is happening to their children,” Jensen said.

No surveys have been done to gauge the popularity of KBUENAvision, but Comcast Cable officials say subscriptions are climbing at the rate of five per day after remaining relatively flat.

Rubalcava said the channel hopes to emulate the success of a Miami, Fla., cable station that doubled its viewers after adding a Spanish-language channel for that city’s large Cuban-American population.

“It’s ethnic programming,” Rubalcava said. “Every week we have someone call in and ask for more Spanish programming.”

Although production costs for the channel’s six hours of daily programming still exceed revenues, the cable company plans to stick with it in anticipation of long-term profits, said Comcast programming director Ewing. Market studies show that Southern California’s 5 million Latinos spend about $9.5 billion annually.

“The potential market is enormous,” Ewing said. “We would be crazy not to stick with it.”