Univision Fresno closes the curtains on a popular morning show after 35 years | Opinion
Chalk up the popular Spanish-language morning show “Despierta Valle Central” (Wake Up Central Valley) to the challenging media landscape. Friday morning marked the finale of KFTV Channel 21’s hourlong program that began 35 years ago to provide news, information and entertainment to the Central Valley’s Latino community.
The Fresno-produced program, which at one time was broadcast live from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m., will be replaced by the Sacramento-based “Noticias Univision California” starting Tuesday, Jan. 21.
Last month, UnivisionTelevisa announced structural changes and layoffs throughout the company “aimed at strengthening our position for 2025 and beyond.” Univision merged with the Mexican-based Grupo Televisa in 2022.
The network announced that the Sacramento programming that provides local news from Sacramento, Stockton and Modesto will fill the 6 a.m. hour, followed by the nationally syndicated “Despierta America.”
Friday’s episode — in which Lupita Lomelí spoke with head consul Nuria Paulina Zúñiga Alaniz of the Mexican Consulate about immigration issues — closed the curtain on a show that has nourished the appetite of generations of viewers wanting to know how to navigate life in the Central Valley.
Lomelí has long been the face of the program as her co-hosts have rotated through the years. However, the substance has remained the same: Provide viewers with news, entertainment, and information.
Viewers have known to tune in for updates on earthquakes and other natural disasters that may have hit their homeland, information about changes in immigration laws, how to access health care, or how to make sure their children get into college.
Elected officials from Congress members to school board members have used “Despierta Valle Central” to reach the Spanish-speaking community. One of them was Assemblymember Joaquín Arámbula.
“This is disheartening news,” Arámbula posted on Facebook upon reading the news. “So many Spanish speakers depend on this trusted morning program for reliable information and — more importantly — local issues that impact them.”
Chris Scheider, longtime director of the California Legal Services Foundation and former regional director for the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, appeared on the show many times to talk about legal issues impacting low-income, immigrant, renters, farm workers and other communities.
“They will be greatly missed,” he said.
The show’s entertainment lineup through the years ranged from Selena to José José, Lupillo Rivera and everyone in-between. Local folkloric groups promoted upcoming shows. The CHP’s El Protector officers were regulars on the program to alert viewers about safe driving.
The show — which was named “Arriba Valle Central” (Get Up Central Valley) from the beginning — once held a local competition of the international song competition OTI Festival when the program was still broadcast live and singers showed up at 5 a.m. to prepare.
The morning show made an impact
Lomelí, in a 2007 interview with Vida en el Valle, said it was nice to meet internationally-known entertainers on the show. However, she remembered getting a telephone call from Francisco Ramírez, an immigrant farmworker from Pénjamo, Guanajuato, México. He suffered from depression after being paralyzed from the waist down when the van he was riding in on his way to work in the field collided with another vehicle.
The father of three, then 33 years old, couldn’t work to support his family. He depended on his brothers for food. He left empty-handed after visiting various lawyers for help.
He was thinking of suicide when he contacted Lomelí for advice. She recommended he contact a Fresno attorney who had used worker’s compensation law to win settlements.
“His family was back in México, and he didn’t have money. He couldn’t work, and they couldn’t send him any money,” said Lomelí.
Ramírez ended up winning a $1.1 million settlement thanks to the help Lomelí gave him.
The morning show was like family; Lomelí, who remains Univision Fresno’s director of community engagement, is often treated like a celebrity in public. She knows where to send folks if they have a problem with a utility bill or a work issue.
“Despierta Valle Central” will be missed.
This story was originally published January 17, 2025 at 3:56 PM.