Alberto Santini of Azteca: Social media will be integral to La Academia 10 Años

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the reality show La Academia, Azteca introduced its newly renovated format where social media drives the communication between viewers and students.Alberto Santini, general director of Azteca Novelas and Azteca 13, said to PRODU that the inclusion of social media in the broadcast is a result of many people using it. “In this day and age these tools are fundamental in establishing relationships with our viewers. Each student will have official Twitter and Facebook accounts to communicate with relatives and users. Through social networks, we will invite people to vote, they will be able to offer advice to contestants and express their opinions,” he added.Santini said they are working to resolve issues with cable operators so that, “in the next few weeks everything is fixed and we can come back to cable, because people are demanding it and would be beneficial for all.”La Academia 10 Años will have as judges Martha Sánchez, Yahir, Julio Preciado and Cruz Martínez, and Chacho Gaytán will be its new director. Alumni of the first generation will mentor the new contestants, who were selected from a massive audition of over 300 thousand hopefuls. Only 26 (20 Mexican contestants and six from countries such as Argentina, Cuba, El Salvador and Paraguay), will fight for the top spot.