Media Matters
Latino-American media is holding its own.
Despite the continued recession and the economic uncertainty, Hispanic media outlets have fared better than mainstream English-language outlets, a recent study from the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism reveals.
The Annual Report on the State of the News Media indicates that the biggest gains came from Spanish-language radio and television. Latino newspapers, while not immune to circulation declines, remained stable. Magazines too remained strong.
Overall, the number of Spanish-language newspapers remained stable in 2010 with 832 publications, down slightly from the total 835 in 2009.
Audited daily circulation for Spanish-language daily newspapers increased 1.9 percent to 1.02 million from 2009 to 2010. English-language dailies, by contrast, posted a 5 percent decline in weekday circulation for the six-month period from March through September 2010. Hardest hit among Hispanic newspapers were the weeklies, which saw circulation drop 2.5 percent to 11.1 million.
Hispanic magazines are also on solid ground, with the Project for Excellence in Journalism indicating revenue growth of 5 percent in 2010 versus 2009 – a figure notably greater than the 2.9 percent estimated growth for magazines overall during the same period.
Describing Hispanic television as a large industry, the State of the News Media report noted that it rivals English-language offerings in many large U.S. markets.
Analysts cast a positive forecast, estimating that Univision and Telemundo will bring in ad revenue of roughly $1.5 billion in 2010-2011. Ad rates on Spanish-language channels, which are normally 50- to 75-percent less than on English-language counterparts, have increased 25 percent over the last two years.
