As Mayela Rosales and her production staff planned the 100th airing of their Spanish-language news and variety show, D'Latinos, they outlined a lively celebration filled with leaders and entertainers from Southwest Florida's Hispanic community, all sharing in the groundbreaking program's run of success.

But along came Hurricane Charley, slamming the region with 150 mph winds just days before the show was scheduled to air.

"We were ready to celebrate, but then everything changed," says Rosales, D'Latinos creator, general producer and enthusiastic on-air host. "We were running to Fort Myers, Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda to show what was happening. Instead of our special guests, we brought in people from the Red Cross and FEMA. But there was a feeling I could never forget; we were informing a community that is sometimes underserved, and helping a lot of people. I thought, 'This is our real celebration.'"

Rosales' company, Media Vista TV and Multimedia Productions, has been serving Southwest Florida's Hispanic community for more than three years now. In that time, D'Latinos first expanded from its original half-hour Saturday afternoon format to 90 minutes. Last March, D'Latinos jumped to its present live weekday morning format, running from 7 to 7:30 a.m. on UPN 8. The burgeoning media company also operates a Web site and publishes D'Latinos Magazine.

Media Vista's success doesn't surprise those who know Rosales and her husband, Orlando, who is the company's president and CEO. Since moving to Naples in 1996 from their native Venezuela, they've become leading figures in Southwest Florida's Hispanic and business communities. Although the Hispanic population was smaller and less visible in Southwest Florida nine years ago, Rosales always saw untapped potential in its growth. An experienced television producer and the former creative director for a large advertising agency, she almost immediately began to look for a medium that would allow her to mine the new market.

"Mayela and her husband were able to see a demographic shift taking place in Southwest Florida before just about anybody else," says Leonardo Garcia, who, as an administrator for the NCH Healthcare System, started buying commercial spots during the show about three years ago. He is also an occasional on-air guest who discusses everything from healthcare to Venezuelan politics. "To her credit, Mayela saw early on that Hispanics were moving from Florida's east coast to the west," says Garcia. "She has been ahead of the curve all along."

There are currently more than 150,000 Hispanic residents in the D'Latinos viewing area, and the show reaches 89,000 Spanish-speaking households, says Rosales. "We don't have competition," she notes. "As far as ratings, we don't have to keep track of how our show is doing against Today or Good Morning America because we know we have that specific audience and that it is specifically watching our show."

D'Latinos is the second local television show Rosales has produced. She and a local businessman developed Que Pasa Southwest Florida? for UPN 8, but the show lasted just 13 episodes. The television station then asked Rosales to develop her own program. In partnership with Comcast Cable, she conceptualized the present format and flavor of D'Latinos.

"The Hispanic community in this country is not the same as anywhere else," she explains. "Everyone is from a different culture, whether Mexican, Cuban, Guatemalan or Puerto Rican. We needed something we could use to inform that wide variety of people about what was happening in the community. We also wanted to make it fun and to give some entertainment, so we conceived the variety-show format."

Growing with the Hispanic community has meant a hectic workload. Typically, Rosales rises each weekday morning at 5 a.m., then reports to the Comcast building for makeup and script rehearsal. When D'Latinos ends at 7:30 a.m., Rosales' day is just beginning.

"It's a crazy day. There are lots of phone calls to make and appearances. It's marketing business and public relations work for the shows and the magazine," she says. "People think that after the show I go home to relax, but my days often end at 7 p.m."

For a time, she and Orlando were the company's only staff and she was the show's writer, reporter and advertising salesperson, as well as host and producer. Today, the company is careful to hire employees dedicated to learning all facets of the business, from editing and producing to marketing and on-air reporting.

Staff flexibility allows the company to grow, says Rosales, and gives her time to concentrate on her most visible roles on the air and in the community.

"Some days, I don't feel like a celebrity at all, though sometimes I do," she says. "It's a good feeling because you not only get the recognition of the community and your sponsors, you know that they're recognizing that our media exists and the Hispanic community is an important part of advertising." GB