I’m pretty sure that most everyone, if not everyone, who reads Remezcla knows all about El Chavo Del Ocho. I bet you’re quoting one of the many memorable catchphrases right now. My grandparents watch it, my parents watch it, I watch it and kids younger than me watch it. Yes, the show is incredibly famous…but just how famous?
According to an article by Anderson Antunes in Forbes Magazine, El Chavo Del Ocho pulls in more than 111 million viewers everyday. That’s the same amount of viewers that Super Bowl XLV pulled in last year. Let me repeat that so it sinks in: El Chavo Del Ocho hits Super Bowl-level ratings on a daily basis.
The show, featuring Chespirito a.k.a. Roberto Gómez Bolaños, María Antonieta de las Nieves, Carlos Villagrán, Florinda Meza, and others, premiered on Televisa in 1971 and follows the exploits of the titular character, an orphan living in a barrel, and his friends. The show remained in production until 1992 via the hour-long Chespirito comedy show. El Chavo continues to be run in syndication all over Latin America, which explains the massive ratings.
From the article:
The finances of El Chavo are equally astonishing. Since it ceased production in 1992, the show earned an estimated $1.7 billion in syndication fees for Televisa, which owns the audiovisual rights to the series, with reruns on regular TV accounting for $1.5 billion of that amount, while the remaining revenue came from cable. El Chavo made 1,300 episodes during its 24-year run, which means that each half-hour episode has earned more than $1.3 million so far.
That’s what happens when a popular, well-written comedy show is watched by more than three generations of Spanish speakers. We’re looking at you, Rob.