Hispanic TV

Mexican-American Univision anchor Jorge Ramos has worked in a number of authoritarian countries, including Venezuela and Cuba, but until this summer, he had never been ejected from a news conference. That changed on Aug. 25 in Dubuque, Iowa, when Ramos attended a news conference held by presidential candidate Donald Trump.

What Hispanic viewers see when they watch the country’s most influential Spanish-language journalist.

Donald Trump, a politician, and Jorge Ramos, a journalist, butted heads Tuesday night at a news conference in Iowa. Although politicians and journalists clash every day — exchanging insults and trading slights — this tussle has spilled into the quick-moving media stream because neither Trump nor Ramos is a normcore performer. Trump loves playing the cantankerous truth-teller, and Univision anchor Ramos subscribes to the provocateur school of journalism.

The Spanish-language news executive takes charge of information and local productions across various platforms at Telemundo’s Dallas station.

Telemundo today promoted Glenda Pacanins to SVP, programming and content and Leonor Sotillo to SVP, programming strategy. Pacanins and Sotillo will continue to report to Jesus Torres Viera, EVP, programming and […]

The news and pop-culture multi-platform outlet has received commitments from its owners — Disney and Univision — for $30 million in additional financing, sources say. The 19-month-old TV, streaming and online news outfit, which is in 40 million homes, was initially aimed at English-speaking Latinos but now is looking to broaden its audience.

Ratings are down for top Spanish-language networks as viewership shifts to digital. But new advertisers will come in. Lia Silkworth, EVP and managing director at Tapestry, talks about what factors will affect this year’s upfront, how buyers view the ratings declines and which smaller networks buyers are eager to invest in.

Miami ranks as the nation’s No. 3 Hispanic TV DMA, and advertisers’ desire to reach those Hispanics is driving a healthy media market. Spanish-language media often outrates English-language competition. Spanish-language stations are in high demand, and overall TV pricing and spending are up from last year.

NBC Universo, the cable network formerly known as mun2, will air a Spanish-language telecast of the Super Bowl on Sunday with play-by-play man Rene Giraldo, analyst Edgar Lopez and sideline reporter Veronica Contreras. The game will be hyped throughout the day on English-language NBC, and that will also be the case on NBC Universo.

Soccer, spicy love stories, a search for a next-generation Latino boy band and even NASCAR racing have become armaments in a stepped-up battle for Latino television viewers. For years, the two established Spanish-language media companies — Univision Communications and NBCUniversal’s Telemundo — have dominated the space. But with more than $2.5 billion in annual advertising revenue up for grabs, Latino media has become one of the hottest and most competitive corners of the industry.

Hispanic content became the buzzword for media companies in 2010, when the U.S. Census confirmed Latinos make up 17% of the U.S. population and would likely remain the fastest growing demographic for years to come. Since then, more than half a dozen news websites and networks have sprouted up targeting the nation’s 55 million Latinos.

Media exec Carlos Sanchez will join the Spanish-language sports network as executive VP and general manager. Sanchez, who has extensive experience in the Hispanic market, will report to Fox Sports regional networks president Jeff Krolik.

The ABC and Univision O&Os will share news resources both on air and across their digital and mobile platforms.

Spanish-language programs will take on greater prominence at the Daytime Emmys through the introduction of new categories announced today. The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences also said that the Sports Emmys and News & Documentary Emmys would also be adding awards honoring Spanish-language media.

From new national ventures like ABC-Univision’s Fusion (which broadcasts in English) to new local Spanish-language newscasts around the country, broadcasters are expanding news offerings targeting Latino viewers to keep up with that audience’s growth in numbers and strength. The growth also signifies broadcasters’ foray into secondary markets that have burgeoning Latino populations.

The move is part of a commitment to encourage broadcast diversity. In addition, the commission also announces the next step in its critical information needs study.

Latinos are finding that networks such as Univision and Telemundo are getting savvier, stronger and more sophisticated. Univision is now the No. 4 broadcast network for viewers 18-34 and 18-49 — the age groups most targeted by advertisers — outperforming both ABC and the CW.

President Obama will look to intensify pressure on House Republicans to act on immigration reform with four television interviews on Spanish-language networks this week.

The Spanish-language broadcast networks have one major advantage over their English-language counterparts come summertime: They’re still serving up the same programming. While the Big Four are littered with repeats and reality shows this time of year, Univision and Telemundo are airing the same scripted telenovelas they air during the regular TV season. And that’s helped Hispanic TV to a strong start this summer.

The addition of the full-power station in Philadelphia gives NBCU’s Hispanic group 16 stations.

This year, both Univision and its main competitor Telemundo (which control roughly 90% of the market between them, with Univision the larger network by quite a bit) have seen upticks in categories that are declining in the general market, notably automotive. Fragmentation has pulled tens of millions of viewers away from live broadcast television and into the worlds of cable, streaming and on-demand content, but one sector of broadcast that seems to be weathering the storm better than most is Spanish-language and otherwise Hispanic-focused broadcast television.

It has been another strong year for the Hispanic broadcast networks. Univision finished fourth in the February sweeps among adults 18-49 for the first time ever, topping NBC. Telemundo has seen huge year over year growth, setting an all-time primetime viewership record in April. And it’s no longer unusual for one or both of those networks to finish first or second in its timeslot among adults 18-34. But how will all that translate into ad sales?

The still-unnamed English-language service targeting Hispanic Americans also announced that Miguel Ferrer will be its first executive producer, digital.

Audiences continue to own more HDTV sets, but the number of ads shot in high definition appearing on Hispanic-targeted networks and stations lags behind the general market, according to new research. Extreme Reach, a video ad serving company, says 60% fewer HD ads were aired on Hispanic-targeted TV than non-Hispanic-aimed TV in the first quarter of 2012.

Univision and Telemundo still dominate Hispanic TV, but a rash of startup channels is about to make things a lot noisier.

With the U.S. Hispanic population growing, Spanish-language news media has fared better than its mainstream (English-language) counterparts, according to Pew Research Center. This continues to be the case despite the number of Hispanics born in the U.S., who are more likely to be bilingual or primarily English speakers. Some of the biggest success stories in Spanish-language news media come from TV, where Univision now rivals ABC, CBS and NBC in audience size.

In another important step toward general advertising marketplace assimilation, the audiences of local Hispanic TV outlets will soon be measured via the same marketplace currency as the rest of the local U.S. TV marketplace. Nielsen Tuesday said that effective with its November local TV measurement cycle, all local ratings for Hispanic programming will be based on the Nielsen Station Index (NSI), which is the same sample used to measure all of the U.S. local English-language TV outlets.

The Spanish-language media company will invest nearly $20 million annually in its effort to educate and potentially land new marketers.

Network executives are chasing after the Latino TV market in response to recently released census numbers. Pardon them for drooling. The U.S. Latino population, which soared 43% during the past decade to more than 50 million, is considered a gold mine.

Discovery en Español (DSCE) delivered a strong 2010, with its highest year on record and double-digit growth over 2009 among  adults18-49 (22% increase), men 18-49 (31%) and women 18-49 (6%). […]

A local Spanish-language television buy is an economically sound purchase in that not only are you accruing more eyeballs per dollar, but in most cases you’re probably not paying a premium for the opportunity. With 76% of today’s Hispanics choosing to speak Spanish at home, it’s imperative for marketers to understand that this language connects these valuable consumers to content, culture, country (of origin) and community.

Spanish-language news media, in particular the television and radio giant Univision, are coming into their own.