HBO Is Giving Mexico Its First Late Night Satirical News Show, But Will Mexicans Laugh? Rafa Fernandez De Castro - Fusion
go to original July 22, 2016

Meet Chumel Torres, Mexico's Jon Stewart (BBC Trending)

HBO Latin America has tapped one of Mexico’s most famous YouTubers to star in the country’s first late night satirical news show which premiered this Friday.

The cable entertainment giant is betting that Chumel Torres, a former blogger turned Mexican social media celebrity who’s best known for co-writing and hosting the YouTube show El Pulso de la República (The Pulse of the Republic), can become the next John Oliver with his own brand of humor satirizing Mexico and Latin America’s current events and many foibles.

Torres’ skits have earned him hundreds of thousands of viewers in a country that’s increasingly mistrustful of the cozy relationship that mainstream media conglomerates have with the government. That atmosphere has given birth to a new generation of internet stars whose growing niche has not gone unnoticed in the boardrooms of traditional networks.

Media giant Televisa recently reshuffled its programming talent, and for the first time in history appointed a woman with a reputation as an “independent” journalist to host its most important nightly newscast.

And now HBO is going big with Torres, who’s happy to make the leap from internet to cable.

He says the American company upholds free speech. “I feel they focus more on the content instead of getting along with sponsors and people,” Torres says about his decision to join HBO in an internet promo (below). “And third, because they have Game of Thrones, guey,” he concludes with a signature punchline.

Torres has been successful at borrowing cues from U.S. satirical news stars Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, John Oliver and Trevor Noah.

But his style is not just an homage to Comedy Central’s successful formula. Torres has also incorporated his own brand of nerdiness and irreverence, with an undeniable dose of Mexicanness.

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