Denver

These days, staying competitive means more than just refreshing the faces reading the news. That has forced not only television stations but all news media to experiment with digital formats and other types of engagement as viewers — particularly younger ones — melt away from traditional delivery methods and turn toward mobile and online consumption.

As the booming U.S. Latino market reshapes everything from branding to prime time TV, the battle to capture Spanish-speakers’ attention is heating up in Denver. For this market’s 790,000 Hispanics, there has historically been one go-to TV source. KCEC, Entravision’s Univision affiliate, was by far the dominant Spanish-language station. Telemundo-owned KDEN trailed from a distance. Lately however, the challenger is on a roll.

TV and radio stations whip up excitement for Sunday’s Super Bowl with special programming and remote broadcasts. The market is healthy, with huge political spending expected.

On TV, pricing is up low single digits versus a year ago, but conditions aren’t tight. Through the first three quarters of the year spending remains about flat to 2014. Buyers expect this to continue in fourth quarter, meaning they shouldn’t have trouble getting their clients on the air.

Southwest Colorado’s plea for Denver TV broadcasts is getting more attention in Washington. Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) and FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel met Wednesday in Durango to discuss possible solutions to the impasse that has blocked many local residents from receiving Denver TV news channels and, not incidentally, Denver Broncos football games.

The Denver Broncos’ first trip to the Super Bowl in 15 years has sparked big interest among advertisers in the Feb. 2 game, giving a lift to an already-healthy market where TV spending in 2014 is up slightly over last year. Local 30-second spots in the game are sold out, buyers say. The final spot sold earlier this week for $200,000.

Starting next week, more than 3.4 million consumers across three states will have access to the streaming antenna/DVR technology to record and watch live television online.

The media economy in Denver hit a brief lull over the summer, but this fall demand for TV has revived and should remain strong through the end of the year. TV spending and pricing are up about 10% versus last year, impressive considering the market saw healthy political spending a year ago.

TV and radio in Denver are healthy, but demand is down compared to last year, when the Olympics and elections fueled spending. “I think the outlook is that it will be a softer year,” says Jennifer Long, broadcast supervisor at Haworth Marketing + Media. “This market seems to be healthy, though, so I think it will still be strong for most stations.” Inventory remains tight in a few high-demand dayparts, but pricing is down mid-single digits in most dayparts, and the market is generally easy for advertisers to get into. Strong categories include auto, retail and fast food.

The market’s media economy had a strong 2012, boosted by a busy end of year following the November elections, and that momentum has continued into 2013. Pricing on TV is flat to last year, outside of highly rated sports and primetime programming. To start the year there has been high demand from a number of traditionally strong ad categories. Despite the fact that there are no Olympics or big elections, buyers expect a very good year.

Denver TV stations delivered extended coverage of the ongoing, fast-moving High Park Fire through the weekend as flames raged over nearly 37,000 acres and damaged or destroyed an estimated 100 structures. Reports of evacuations and the weather dominated the coverage. At times the journalistic imperative to deliver news clashed with authorities’ efforts to control the flow of information.

Denver saw advertising decline during the recession, but it was not hit nearly as hard as other markets, which helped it recover quickly. Now the market is very healthy on both TV and radio heading into what should be an even stronger 2012.