Hispanics prefer media "Latino style"

Latino Leaders: The National Magazine of the Successful American Latino, August-Sept, 2005

In a poll recently conducted by Bendixen & Associates, almost half of the country's Hispanics, Asian Americans and other minorities showed that they prefer ethnic newspapers, television and radio to mainstream media. Spanish-broadcasting conglomerate Univision Communications Inc. attracts about 29 million viewers nationwide, at least several times a week more than their mainstream counterparts. Overall, ethnic media reach approximately 80 percent of the groups studied--about 51 million people, or a quarter of the U.S. adult population.

"This is something that is growing like a giant hidden in plain sight," said Sandy Close, executive director for New California Media, a nationwide association of more than 700 ethnic media groups and the group who commissioned the survey. "We have a multicultural society with multimedia choices, so people pay attention to media that pay attention to them. That's the bottom line," commented Felix Gutierrez, professor of journalism at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California. Some companies see minorities--many of whom are immigrants whose tastes and buying habits are still being shaped--as an untapped market. For Hispanic outlets, ad spending is currently about $3 billion, and it is increasing at a staggering rate of 15 percent.

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