| Alt Name: |
|
| Genre: | Political News Opinion Program |
| Creator: | Ferdinand Perez |
| Director: | Jose "Cheo" Perez |
| Presenter: | Ferdinand Perez Margarita Aponte Cyd Marie Flemming Kimberly Santiago |
| Country: | Puerto Rico |
| Language: | Spanish |
| Executive Producer: | Ferdinand Perez |
| Producer: | Andrea Pagán Kiana Perelló |
| Camera: | Multi-camera |
| Runtime: | 60 Minutes (2017-2023) 90 Minutes (Extra Inning/Pre-Game) (2024-present) 120 Minutes (Puerto Rico Habla) |
| Company: | Liberman Media Group Práctico Events |
| Network: | WMTJ (2012-2017) Univision Puerto Rico (2017-2021) TeleOnce (2021-present) |
| Last Aired: | present |
Jugando Pelota Dura is a Puerto Rican television talk show hosted by Ferdinand Pérez. The program initially premiered on Sistema TV network in 2012 before moving on to Univision Puerto Rico (later, Teleonce) in 2017 after the passing of Hurricane Maria left WMTJ unable to broadcast the show.[1] The show shares its name from Perez's radio show Pelota Dura (Hard Ball) that airs on WUNO. The program primarily features coverage of political issues and headlines, along with discussion from a panel of analysts and political figures.
After serving 2 terms as a legislator for the PPD and a failed candidacy for the mayoral seat of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Ferdinand Perez launched Jugando Pelota Dura (Playing Hard Ball) on WMTJ (Sistema TV). The show focused on providing a platform to highlight issues that are affecting the people of Puerto Rico and allowed Perez to use his knowledge and connections to invite local politicians and discuss ways to address this issues. The original version of the show featured Perez alongside a panel of journalists and political analysts which included Yolanda Velez Arcelay, Alex Delgado, Millie Mendez and Zoe Laboy.[2]
In 2017, after Hurricane Maria damaged the facilities of WMTJ, Jugando Pelota Dura was forced to find a new home and the show moved to WLII-DT which at the time was branded as Univision Puerto Rico. Jugando Pelota Dura premiered on Univision in December 2017 airing at the coveted 5:55pm time-slot, however, during the show's time in Univision the show was shuffled around the scheduled and moved time-slots several times which hurt it chances to hold an audience, 4 months after its premiere in April 2018 the show was moved to 9:00pm and two months later in June 2018 the show was moved to 7:00pm where it has remained since.[1] [3] [4]
The show features Ferdinand Perez alongside a panel of journalist and a panel of guests who are related to the topics discussed on that day's episode. The original panel featured Zoe Laboy, Yolanda Velez Acerlay, Leo Aldridge and Denise Perez. In 2020, Alex Delgado (a journalist from WUNO) rejoined the cast and so did Margarita Aponte a journalist who previously had worked as anchor of Las Noticias before its initial closure in 2014. Laboy, Arcelay and Aldridge all left in 2022 to join WKAQ-TV in the show Rayos X after their exit JPD added to the panel Victor Hernandez and Cyd Marie Flemming, a long anchor of Las Noticias who returned to WLII-DT after an 8-year absence. Aponte and Flemming also perform hosting duties on occasions where Perez can not make it to the show.[5] [6] [7]
Additionally, the show added Jailenne Rivera as a co-host. Rivera would be in charge of commercial break lead-ins and producing reports from the field. Rivera would eventually leave the show in 2023 with her role being filled by Kimberly Santiago moving forward.[8]
On November 29, 2022, after speculation began that the show would move networks once again, Ferdinand Perez announced on his Instagram that he had renewed his contract with Liberman Media Group (owner of WLII-DT and its repeater). The contract would run for three more years which would renew Jugando Pelota Dura to stay on TeleOnce until, at least, 2025.[9] [10] [11] [12]
On August 28, 2022, the show premiered its new special Sunday edition called Jugando Pelota Dura: Puerto Rico Habla (Puerto Rico Speaks