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Plaza Sesamo - Mexico

Countries

Mexico, Puerto Rico, United States

Regions

Global, Africa, Latin America, North America

Programme Summary

Plaza Sésamo is a Spanish-langugage television series for preschool children that premiered in Mexico and Latin America in 1972. The series depicts a colourful neighbourhood, the Plaza, which is home to a mix of families, children, and Muppets. Like its counterpart, Sesame Street, the show intertwines animation, live action films, studio segments, and original music videos that teach basic literacy and numeracy and share basic health information in an effort to help children gain a better understanding of the world around them. Over the years, other media has been developed, including; books, videos, toys, and a Plaza Sésamo theme park in Monterrey, Mexico.

Communication Strategies

Plaza Sésamo uses mass media to entertain children while seeking to educate them. It is produced in Mexico with most of the content specifically tailored to Latin America conditions. Organisers researched the audience to be addressed before the programming was developed. A strong curriculum is at the centre of every episode, with attractive animated characters designed to increase engagement on the part of young viewers. For instance, Pancho Contreras (Pancho) is a furry blue character with yellow eyes and big brown eyebrows who enjoys being different, who knows how to read and write, and who has a strong sense of self-esteem. The emphasis of the programming featuring Pancho and other characters is knowledge, skills, and dialogue.

The television programme is 30 minutes long and runs 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year. In 2005, the first of 3 new seasons of Plaza Sésamo
aired on Televisa, Discovery Kids Latin America, Univision Puerto Rico, and TeleFutura in the United States. In addition, Sesame Workshop plans to
distribute show-related merchandise throughout the Latin American marketplace and the United States Hispanic Latino marketplace. Regional live action films, produced by local producers from throughout Latin America, will highlight the rich cultural diversity of the region. In addition, 10 new 60-minute Plaza Sésamo home video titles, including one about playing fútbol with Elmo, Lola and the entire Plaza Sésamo team and another focused on the variety of holidays celebrated across Latin America, will be
produced along with seasons 9, 10 and 11 in conjunction with the current and upcoming new seasons.

Development Issues

Early Childhood Development, Education, Health.

Partners

Sesame Workshop, Televisa, Discovery Kids, TeleFutura, HIP TV, UNICEF
Mexico, and the Radio and Television Services Unit in UNICEF headquarters.

Contact

Sesame Workshop
1 Lincoln Plaza
New York, NY 10023 USA
Tel: (212) 595-3456
O por medio del formato de contacto en la página web de Sesame Workshop.

Source

Draft Health Communication Materials UNICEF: 1996; Sesame Workshop website; and emails from June Lee to The Communication Initiative on January 6 and August 21 2006.


Placed on the Communication Initiative site June 08 2001
Last Updated August 21 2006



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