Latino Power
Big media tune in to the nation's largest minority
Not to be ignored. Similarly, for all the talk about an advertisers' paradise, ad rates in the Hispanic market have not kept pace with audience growth. In many major markets, Spanish shows, particularly news broadcasts, draw more viewers than those of mainstream networks. Yet ad rates remain 20 percent to 50 percent lower than those of English stations. Advertising experts believe the market will eventually catch up for the simple fact the population has been overlooked for years. Only 3 percent of advertising dollars are targeted to Hispanics, although they compose more than 13 percent of the total U.S. population. "They are the New New World," says Adams. "They are too big and growing too fast to be ignored."
But there is no guarantee that they won't be the ones doing the ignoring. "As the younger generations get more acculturated, they may outgrow the Spanish networks," says David Joyce, media analyst for Guzman & Co., a brokerage.
And if they do, the slowpoke mainstream networks, which have been adding Hispanic characters in dribs and drabs, might end up in the money after all. Last season, for example, ABC introduced George Lopez, a comedy about a Hispanic family. It is just the type of show that Telemundo and Univision should be afraid of. Its audience dwarfs that of anything on Spanish TV. Its popularity with young viewers attracts all the right advertisers. And it has even lured the first lady of Spanish talk shows, Cristina Saralegui, for a guest role. The "Spanish Oprah" wants to expand into English TV. Should she fail, she can still be found during prime time--on Univision.
GETTING BIGGER
Latinos are now the fastest-growing U.S. minority, accounting for 13 percent of the population.
YEAR NUMBER
1980 14.6 mil.
1990 22.4 mil.
2001 37.0 mil.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
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