Ovidio Rodriguez: TV show producer/director to be honored at Cadillac Bar

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SAN ANTONIO -- Longtime TV producer/director Ovidio Rodriguez will be honored at the Cadillac Bar on Aug. 28 for his 20 years of producing his long-running entertainment shows.

Rodriguez produced the TV show "Tu Onda Internacional" which aired on several networks including Univision, Telemundo and throughout Mexico. The weekly shows featured performances by the top stars in the U.S. and Mexico including Conjunto Primavera, Jose Jose, Yolanda Del Rio, Menudo, Veronica Castro, Antonio Aguilar, Luis Miguel, Los Temerarios, Tigres Del Norte, Ramon Ayala, Bronco, Emilio Navaira, Intocable, Bobby Pulido, Marcos Orozco, and Los Palominos.

Rodriguez, born Ovidio Rodriguez Cavazos, in Allende, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, began producing in the mid-1980s in San Antonio. His first TV program was called "Video Estelar," which aired twice a week. The show would later be known as ''Tu Onda Internacional."

Rodriguez was also in demand as a producer and director, working on other video productions, religious programs and commercials. His credits include working on other popular programs such as "En Caliente TV Show" and the "Oscar Zamora y Don Chema" TV show.

"The important work that people like Ovidio do, in helping showcase the talents in the community are usually underappreciated," said Cadillac Bar owner Jesse Medina. "Ovidio deserves a lot of credit for his hard work that through the years helped enrich our comunidad."

In a recent interview, Rodriguez looked back on a solid career and offered upcoming TV show producers a few nuggets of advice. He said the hardest part of keeping a weekly TV show going for so many years was "Coming up with a fresh and unique show every week that would please audiences of all ages."

And yet, if it was such hard work, why did he keep doing it for so many years? "I made it my mission and the response of the viewers made it worth well. In reality it wasn't that hard when there is so much Hispanic talent to work with. I guess you could say I was on a roll."

And so now, looking back, what was the most enjoyable aspect of having produced such an influential show? "The ratings were always good."