Although not very common in Tijuana, there have been TV shows and media that have been very relevant for cross-border cultural issues that have left a mark in people’s opinion. One of these was “Tijuana: Window to the South” hosted by Mrs. Jan (Juanita) Wood, produced and directed by Mr. Manuel Cruces, which aired for more than three decades in Canal 6 (Channel 6).

Canal 6 was located in Mount San Antonio, in Colonia Juárez, in Tijuana, Baja California and the show there produced, “Tijuana: Window to the South” had a peculiar characteristic: it showed people of the US, especially those living in California, a positive image of Tijuana.

This all happened 50 years ago, in the 70s and 80s, and many have considered this channel a valuable landmark in the city of Tijuana. The host, Juanita Wood, was an editor at “Hoy en San Diego”, a publication that provided information about several relevant issues of both San Diego and Tijuana.

The origin of Tijuana: Window to the South

The content, objectives, and scope of “Tijuana: Window to the South” were to show “a window” to northern and southern residents of California, letting them know that Tijuana did not have only negative things, but that it was a city with wonderful things to offer to anyone who visited.

This cross-border show defined itself as a showcase of the city, the state, and even the country, for its main goal was to promote Tijuana as a trip destination. This is why, for Juanita, it was very important that San Diegans and Californians discovered this positive image of Tijuana. She always highlighted the best contributions that the city could offer its visitors such as its attractions, its fun healthy spaces, its restaurants, its hotels, its souvenir shops, and, of course, its cultural and touristic events.

It should be noted that, since the early XX century in the 1920s, Tijuana began to be defined by its “black legend”, especially by the media. They spoke of Tijuana as a city bound to gambling, prostitution, vice, and debauchery in all aspects. Even decades after, there were media campaigns in Southern California telling American citizens not to cross the Mexican border by describing Tijuana with the above characteristics.

Because of this, Mrs. Juanita wanted to show Americans what she had discovered after years of hanging out with people living in Tijuana. She wanted to show the warmth, friendship, and generosity that Mexican people had showed her all the times she had traveled to Mexico.

Given this situation, “Tijuana: Window to the South” was an 180 degree turn against the “black legend” label that had been given to the city. The show spoke about Tijuana’s human, cultural, economic, social, gastronomic, folklore, and tourism richness in the 70s and the following decades.

An article by The San Diego Union-Tribute dated October 13, 1974 stated the following regarding the program:

The show is a medley of entertainment and information about Mexico. It is a show about the border. The objective is to help the audience understand and enjoy the differences between both of our countries and see how some of the phases in our environmental, educational, and cultural life intermingle.

This show managed to add Manuel Cruces to its crew. Don Manuel had extensive professional experience using cameras, television equipment, and lots of stage creativity. He also knew a lot of places, institutions, and people in Tijuana and, thanks to his skillful management, he managed to get economic and institutional support from the Tourism and Convention Committee of Tijuana (COTUCO), which was part of Tijuana’s Municipal Town Hall.

The show was so relevant that it was featured in the official report by the VI Constitutional Town Hall of the Municipality of Tijuana (1970-1971), presented by Tijuana native and mayor, José Manuel González Ramírez. He used the show “Tijuana: Window to the South” as reference in the following passage:

Knowing that tourism is one of the most important activities when it comes to this city’s economic development, the government that I am honored to preside over has always done its best to improve things so as to increase the number of visitors, both national and foreign, to our city. We highlight, among these activities, the coordination of the Tourism and Convention Committee when it comes to carrying out promotions of touristic interest such as the creation of a television show that is aired every Saturday at 9 AM in Canal 6.

Juanita Wood and her history with Baja California

Although a lot of officials, merchants, restaurant owners, hotel owners, journalists, and promoters knew her as Juanita Wood, her true name was Janet B. Wood, born in Forth Mitchel, Kentucky, October 13, 1921. Her father was Arthur Buxton and her mother died when she was a baby. She studied as a child in St. Margaret’s School, a boarding school where her father had sent her in Waterbury, Connecticut.

After studying theater, acting, and singing, she went to the Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, which allowed her to be part of musical groups as well as Civic Operas in LA and Phoenix. By the mid-50s , she was married to Dr. MacDonald Wood and she had five children: MacDonald, Blair, Ross, Barbara, and Alison. They lived initially in Phoenix, but after divorcing her husband, Mrs. Jan moved to San Diego, California, with her children in 1960.

Juanita Wood used to live in Mission Hills, where she spent over four decades and was head of a public relations, press, and advertising company called “Conquistador Firm.” Due to this, Mrs. Wood became a travel agent for the southern border with Mexico.

At the same time, she also worked with the government of both sides of the border, promoting binational regional tourism. She was even a spokesperson of several concerns and collaborated in improving relations between Baja California and California.

In fact, San Diego Union-Tribune has written about Juanita Wood several times. The first time they did so was in 1964 when they classified her as “a representative of public relations for the Tijuana municipality” when she organized the International Press Club of the Californias summit in the city.

More recently, in 2007, an article was published in this newspaper where they stated that the “Tijuana: Window to the South” show had been on air for 32 years until Mrs. Wood’s health physically prevented her from continuing.

Producer and Director Manuel Cruces

Although the audience easily identified Mrs. Jan Wood as the face of the “Tijuana: Window to the South” show, the fact is that there was a high-quality technical crew that handled all television related matters. The key to this success was Mr. Manuel Cruces Cuéllar, who worked full-time in Canal 6.

In autobiographical writings written with his own handwriting and preserved by his relatives, Don Manuel wrote:

I started working in Canal 6 in 1953 when this TV station was starting its first airings. I started as a Stage Designer, then I was Chief of the Studio, and then Production Director. I worked there for 29 years. When I started, all the programs were in English and, later and according to the law, we started to air several programming hours in Spanish where several renowned presenters participated such as Manuel Gastélum Millán, Juan Luis Curiel, Luis Franco Prado, and Alejandro Nervo.

Immediately, Don Manuel was restless as he wanted to create projects that were about Tijuana or Baja California, so he joined Mrs. Wood’s project, adding all of his experience as a producer and program director. Cruces Cuéllar managed the TV equipment, coordinated the cameramen, designed the presentation spaces, looked for ideal locations, got in touch with interviewees, and invited artists.

Plenty of the visual approaches and composition of the show were due to Mr. Manuel’s creativity, imagination, and resources, all of which made him one of the major television pioneers in Tijuana.

Mr. Cruces' testimony regarding this is clear and absolute:

I had to direct TV shows such as “The Flying Samaritans”, “Coffee Break” (later called “Day Break”), “Western Theater”, “The Uncle Russ Show”, “Johnny Jet”, “The Johnny Downs Show”, “The Lynn Taylor Show” and “Tijuana: Window to the South”, with presenter Jan Wood. This last program was a tourist program and, besides directing it, I also produced a lot of its segments. Sometimes I had to pay with my own money the camera rolls and printing, as well as the trips to Baja California. I also paid for the film equipment that we used to film a documentary of an expedition from Tijuana to La Paz, when the transpeninsular highway didn’t exist yet. We had to use a WWII commando vehicle to get there. There we filmed old farms, desert plants, missions, and rupestrian paintings.

Baja Window to the South revives this binational border show

Due to the importance of this medium, we are not surprised to find out that this classic tourism 80s show is back, updated to fit modern standards and now focused on the entire state of Baja California.

“Baja Window to the South” is produced by Fabiola Camarena, renowned for her work at TV Azteca and ZONA MX. This will be a weekly, half hour show hosted by Olga Sánchez de la Vega and co-hosted by Scott Koenig. The first episode of this show will air this Friday, February 25, on its YouTube channel.

Moreover, this new edition of Baja Window to the South will be in English, for its objective is to reach a US audience so that they find out how they can travel in and through Mexico. The show will cover a variety of topics such as:

Baja California, culinary treasures, medical tourism, entertainment, cultural, sport and recreational gems, hospitality, businesses, and more. Additionally, several attractive areas of the region will be visited such as Tijuana, Ensenada, Valle de Guadalupe, Rosarito, Mexicali, Tecate, and many more.

To find out more about this show, you can follow their social media accounts!

Facebook: BajaWTS
Instagram: bajawindowtothesouth
Twitter: BajaWindowToTheSouth
Tik Tok: bajawindowtothesouth
Youtube: Baja Window to the South

VIDEO: Intro Baja Window The South