The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • 313

In an age of tarnished heroes, John Lennon remained remarkably true to his ideals. Underneath the hoopla surrounding the Beatles and his supers tardom, he was unusually unaffected. Today, in memory of the musician and poet, Calendar devotes a section to the impact of Lennon and the Beatles, starting on Page 82. LOS ANGELES TIMESU -L DECEMBER 14, 1980 BATTLE FOR I THE EAR OF fLv and embroidered rebozos, merchants If mmMmu Yl -'VR whJ, hunched around a tiny TV set to watch the 1 fV heroine of the hour confront a feckless lover pride and dignity setting the tilt of jT I Some months later, thousands of miles sjJSKmts away, the same confrontation in "Una Mu- 11 I 7' jer Marcada" flashed upon East Los An- "12X4 i iV geles TV screens, and once again the I 1 mff I -V Wm0 young woman was seen to bear her an- Fw I 'if i guish in a culturally approved fashion. In vi mp I jf JlSI homes throughout the barrio, chores were GT jffO.

set aside as friends and family gathered tS around the set. Except for the change of Wi Jj jgh SPECIAL REPORT I irSS TV is starting to go after the Latino I "'S population of the United States, estimated to I 'ir JS represent $40 billion a year worth of spend- 1 ing. And with the Latino popuhtion grow- 1111 MiiiSSSLBM mff (01 the jear 2000 iie majority of people 1 ftinna in Los Angeles are expected to be 1 rv 1 Spanish surnamed), the competition is JtsJ I growing more fierce. 1 3" 4 This speciaZ report on Spanish-language '4 f) 4ML I media was compiled by three Times writers: rX Af mAjj A I Mercedes Lynn deUriarte, an assistant edi- jfy.JtZ, iTr, JtM tor of the Opinion section who is writing a -jf ff JT" jfatl; 4 PC doctoral thesis on cross-cultural communi- 4 fi fl I cations; Lee Margulies, a TV reporter, and I I I f) 'I l4w James Brown, who covers radio. A.

I Cjt agencies already are sharpening their Spanish skills to penetrate a newly recognized market estimated at $40 billion. But problems exist. Though Spanish -speaking audiences welcome the increase Not only does that have major implications for the cultural esteem of the fast-growing U.S. Hispanic population-to finally "exist" in the TV eye -the economic ramifications are awesome. Advertising plot and cast, such coincidental scenes are repeated daily.

If the viewers from southern Mexico met those from the United States, however, often all they would share in common, besides their language, would be their TV shows. Within the framework of this telenovela, actress Sasha Montenegro, the protagonist, suffered amid luxury that most of her audience will never know. In fact, except to audiences in cosmopolitan markets like Mexico City and Los Angeles, the dilemmas of an upper-middle-class urban woman must seem very remote. Nevertheless, this archetypal soap opera has had a faithful following all along the route of the rapidly expanding and increasingly controversial imported Spanish-language television. Across cultural and international borders, Hispanics are being united by TV in numbers never dreamed possible by Spanish-language programmers even a few years ago.

In the United States alone, it now reaches more than 20 million Latinos. A wide range of choice is increasingly available on local Spanish-language TV Top left, Silvina Rada and Jorge Mayorano in a soap opera that begins Monday, "El Corage de top right, children's fare with "El Duende left, comedian Pole Ortin and a guest on "El Show de Eduardo IT'; above, singer Yuri on the variety show, "Noche a Noche." in TV programs available in their own language, the burgeoning relationship between U.S. television stations and the foreign producers causing some legal tangles. Please Turn to Page 4 SPOTLIGHT L.A. Ballet's John Clifford hits New German Expressionism: Probing, dis-York.

By Martin Bernheimer. Page 75. turbing. By William Wilson. Page 111.

The rock writers rate the Top 40 pop Book Review is printed with the picks for Christmas. Page 92. Business section in today's Times..