if you are latino and from Miami, then you know very well that this man has been a staple in your household or at your tia’s house or your grandparents’ house.
Don Francisco, now 72, and who’s real name is Mario Luis Kreutzberger Blumenfeld (yeah, he’s from Chile/German decent) has been at the helm of Sabado Gigante for the last 50 years. And while he has said that he hasn’t planned on retiring anytime soon. It seems that his reign may be drawing to a near as he and Univision have just unveiled a format change to test the possibility of a future replacement.
This past Saturday, Sabado Gigante added two new hosts to measure how viewers react to changes and possible future changes. The new hosts include Chiquinquirá Delgado, host of Univision’s morning show, “Despierta America,” and telenovela host Julián Gil.
With the show largely centered on Don Francisco, finding a replacement for the larger-than-life figure has been a difficult one for Univision, especially since the show is so popular in the Latino community.
The entertainment publication says that for this season, Don Francisco, Delgado and Gil will be hosting the show together, in an effort to measure how the audience reacts to the changes.
Back in October, when “Sabado Gigante” celebrated its 50th anniversary of being on air, Don Francisco voiced his interest in giving the show a makeover and redesigning the old format to attract a younger demographic.
“After this celebration I have to reinvent myself and the program needs to be reinvented,” Don Francisco told People en español in Spanish at the time. “We are looking for the younger audience, in between ages 18 and 49,” he added. “But, we don’t want to lose the audience that we currently have either,” he said.
“Sabado Gigante” earned a Guinness record for being the longest-running program in the world.
Source: Fox Latino
