HispanicTrending

Latina Farmworkers Launch Radio Show

Jul 01, 2009
Via EFE-La Prensa Florida

Two Latina farmworkers have launched a Spanish-language radio program called "Conscience Radio" to empower their community, reports La Prensa Florida. Silvia Perez and Nelly Rodriguez, the two women spearheading the show in southwest Florida, volunteer at the studio every day after finishing their field work. They say they want to be "the voices of the community,” and to motivate other farmworkers to learn how to use computers and improve the community’s overall access to information and education. The radio program, which broadcasts out of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers' (CIW) community center, and features daily news, music, community and educational messages, can be heard on 107.9 FM.

Source: New America Media

NAHJ: Latino Journalists Face New Reality

June 26, 2009
By Javier Castaño

Around 700 journalists, less than half of those who regularly attend these meetings, are participating in the 2009 Convention of the National Association of Hispanics Journalism (NAHJ) in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The rhythms of bomba and plena at the opening reception on Wednesday night weren’t enough to improve the mood of an industry that it is being affectedby closings, lay-offs and new technology.

“Our industry is in crisis and this is a fight. We’re not giving up and we’re here to get new skills,” said Francis Robles from The Miami Herald. “Our goal is to evolve, embrace and reinvent ourselves as journalists,” added Nancy San Martin, co-chair of the Convention with Robles and also from the Miami Herald.

The food and drinks at the Convention are not as abundant as in the past. “Like it’s happening around the country with the banks and car industry, NAHJ doesn’t have money to waste and journalists need to adapt to his reality,” said Iván Román, NAHJ’s Executive Director.

This Convention’s goal is to adapt to new trends and technology to survive and advance in the communication business. In the past, the goal of this Convention was to increase the presence of Latino journalists in the newsroom, how to cover different communities and what to do in order to get a job in TV.

But the internet changed the rules to communicate around the world. Under the sun of Puerto Rico reporters and editors of the mainstream media and community-based publications are learning Twitter, blogging, podcasting, Final Cut, streaming live video, how to cover the environment, what it is needed to do a slide show and the skills of the very popular Social Media.

However, not all is tech at this Convention. During Thursday’s lunch there was a panel on freedom of the press in Venezuela. Alberto Federico Ravell, director of Globolvision, said from Caracas: “In Venezuela we can say whatever we want but the risk is very high. We’re being prosecuted and our lives threatened.”

But journalists are not this serious after all. At the opening ceremony, comedian Marga Gómez put it his way: “We have to thank you for keeping journalism above Perez Hilton.”


Source: Portada Online

Univision Renews Cox Deal, Brushes Off PPM

June 24, 2009
by Erik Sass

This week's news from Univision might be categorized as "the good, the (sort of) bad, and the ugly," as the national Hispanic TV network announced new, expanded deals for carriage with Cox Communications; projected more revenue declines in the second quarter, but smaller than previously feared; and escalated its high-profile dispute with radio ratings firm Arbitron over its new electronic measurement service.

Taking the good news first, Univision said Wednesday that it has signed a multi-year agreement with Cox Communications renewing a deal for carriage of Univision broadcast and cable content, including broadcast nets Univision and TeleFutura and its cable property Galavision. The deal covers affiliated stations owned by Entravision Communications and Equity Media Holdings; it also provides for the launch of a new VOD service, Univision on Demand.

Both partners touted Cox's distribution capabilities in areas with large Hispanic populations, including San Diego, Phoenix, Tucson, and Las Vegas.

The bad news had a familiar ring, as Univision revealed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that, like most big media companies, it anticipates more revenue declines in the second quarter of 2009. However, the company's management now believes that in percentage terms, these declines will only be in the low- to mid-single digits. Its estimates follow much steeper drops at other broadcasters.

Finally the ugly news: not satisfied by Arbitron's attempts to improve sample methodology for its Portable People Meter, a passive electronic measurement device, Univision is still refusing to subscribe to PPM or encode its audio signals in new markets scheduled to "go live" with PPM next month, including Miami, San Diego, and Phoenix.

This is widely viewed as a negotiating tactic, as Univision and Arbitron haggle over the high cost of subscriptions. Still, the refusal of a leading Spanish-language broadcaster to encode audio signals in some of the nation's largest Hispanic markets presents serious problems for advertisers and other broadcasters that rely on PPM as a currency for media transactions.

With a big chunk of the market going unmeasured, it's harder to assess each broadcaster's relative share and competitive advantages in certain dayparts and demos. This, in turn, sows confusion and disagreement about pricing, as buyers and sellers naturally try to move price points in opposite directions.

Indeed, it would appear that the dispute over PPM samples is only growing worse. For at least a year, now minority broadcasters -- the owners of radio stations with formats targeting African-American and Hispanic audiences, including Univision -- have been complaining that Arbitron's PPM sample methodology under-represents their audiences, leading to large apparent drops in audience size.

After settling civil rights lawsuits brought by the attorneys general of New York, New Jersey and Maryland, Arbitron received a further setback earlier this year with the opening of an inquiry by the Federal Communications Commission.

Source: MediaPost

Sin Senos No Hay Paraiso Most Watched Novela In Telemundo History

June 23, 2009
Press Release

Telemundo Communications Group, a leading producer of innovative and high-quality content for Hispanics in the U.S. and around the world, announced results for the finale of Sin Senos No Hay Paraiso which aired on Monday, June 22, 2009.

The 9-11pm finale of Sin Senos No Hay Paraiso averaged 1,166,000 million Adults 18-49 (30% share of Spanish-Language TV), making it Telemundo’s highest-rated 10pm finale in history, peaking at 1.4 million Adults 18-49 with a 38% share of Spanish-language TV in its last half hour. Sin Senos No Hay Paraiso is Telemundo’s second-highest rated finale in recent history, only behind the finale of Cuerpo del Deseo (1.2 million viewers on February 28, 2006).

Sin Senos No Hay Paraiso is the most successful novela in Telemundo’s history. The novela averaged 940,000 viewers in the coveted Adults 18-49 demographic, beating other highly-rated novelas on the network. It surpassed the full-run deliveries of Cuerpo del Deseo, Pasion de Gavilanes, Victoria and El Cartel.

Source: TV by the Numbers

Latinos and Twitter

June 23, 2009
By Maribel Ferrer

Latinos were doing social networking online long before the term was coined.  For our culture, online technologies just broadened opportunities to stay connected to family and friends, and as connectivity became more affordable, more Latinos where doing more online. But this is old news, as it is too well known that we easily navigate English and Spanish content, on our mobiles or computers, very frequently.

In the marketing space, a lot of our colleagues have been on board with Twitter for a while. (Hello Dieste, Latinworks, Juan Tornoe, LatinaLista and many others.) But for those who argue whether Latino consumers are catching on, like they say in Spanish, para muestra un boton.

While catching up on Despierta America yesterday morning, it was great to hear that Twitter came up during a gossip segment with Piolin related to Paulina Rubio.  Turns out the singer has been tweeting during the promo tour for her new CD, including a tweet on a burglary at her Miami home and about her appearance on the Piolin show—the leading radio show in L.A. and the U.S. Also interesting is the mix of Twittters she follows and who follow her as it provides a glimpse into her interests and circle of influence.

Ana Maria Canseco, one of Despierta America’s anchors, also is on Twitter and has more than 200 people following her… in Spanish. She talks about events she attends, musings and comments about daily events, and even brands she’s working with.  Many more Latino celebs are also on, some more active than others: Ricardo Arjona, Juanes, etc.  Among them, acts like Wisin y Yandel with a younger following, have a larger number of followers (4,000 plus), and Shakira, whose audience reaches far beyond Latinos, has more than 25,000. Univision and Telemundo also are on Twitter… and I am sure this list grows every day.

Ivette and others on our team are avid users…As for me, I do have an account but I use it to follow and learn about others, instead of tweeting about me ;) Are you on?  Drop me a line and you may just get a new follower.

Source: FH Hispania Plaza

Ethnic Radio Reach

June 15, 2009
Via Marketing Charts

The growing popularity of Spanish-language radio is driving the increase for the whole medium overall, though other groups are seeing increases in radio penetration as well:


    * The reach of Spanish-language radio stations increased substantially over the last four years as Latin American immigrants continue to arrive in many non-traditional Hispanic states like North Carolina, Georgia, Indiana, Missouri, Washington and New Hampshire.
    * African American-oriented radio stations have increased their presence since 2005 and now reach about two-thirds of all adults from this racial group.

    * Asian-American radio stations have increased their penetration but still only reach about one-quarter of all adults from this ethnic group.

Click here for the complete report from New America Media

Spanish-language TV network Univision says ¡hola! to e-commerce

June 8, 2009
Source: Internet Retailer

Univision Communications Inc., operator of the major Spanish-language television network Univision, has announced plans to launch an e-commerce site selling items related to its shows in a deal with Delivery Agent Inc.

Delivery Agent also announced last week an expanded relationship with Twentieth Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising to create a new e-commerce site, www.foxshop.com, that will sell products seen on or related to TV shows on the Fox network and sister network FX. The products will be available immediately after shows air on TV or online. Previously, Delivery Agent had been providing e-commerce services tied to some Fox shows and movies.

With the Univision deal, Delivery Agent links up with the fifth most-watched TV network, according to Nielsen Media Research, after CBS, Fox, NBC and ABC. Delivery Agent already operates e-commerce sites for ABC, CBS and NBC, selling such items as DVDs and T-shirts, at ABCtvstore.com, CBSstore.com and NBCuniversal.com.

“We are thrilled to partner with Delivery Agent, a first-class provider of e-commerce solutions,” says Ted Zagat, vice president of franchise development and strategic partnerships at Univision. “We look forward to building Univision’s first ever branded e-commerce platform which will enable us to deliver Univision-inspired products to our loyal audiences.”

Delivery Agent will host and manage the Univision.com online store, which is expected to go live in the fall. The site, which will be in Spanish, will heavily promote merchandise tied to the 2010 soccer World Cup tournament, says Mike Fitzsimmons, CEO of Delivery Agent. It will also enable loyal followers of Univision’s telenovelas, or soap operas, to buy merchandise seen on those shows.

“If you see a necklace in the show you’ll be able to purchase it through the store,” Fitzsimmons says. “They’re the fastest-growing television network in the U.S. and we believe an underserved audience from an e-commerce perspective. There are not a lot of great e-commerce sites targeting the U.S. Hispanic audience, and tying in with the content and reach of Univision and their incredibly loyal customer base we think is a pretty significant opportunity.” Univision averaged 3.4 million viewers during prime time for the last week in May, Nielsen says.

The Fox and Univision announcements are the latest in a string of TV-related deals announced by Delivery Agent. Discovery Communications, which operates the Discovery Channel and other cable networks, announced in March it was outsourcing its e-commerce operations to Delivery Agent. Discovery Channel Store Inc. is No. 191 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide.

Univision wants Televisa to keep its telenovelas off the Web

June 8, 2009
By Meg James

Although viewers are increasingly turning to the Internet to watch popular TV programs, fans of the blockbuster Spanish-language soap operas, including "Cuidado con el Angel" ("Don't Mess With the Angel"), are out of luck if they want to see the shows legally on the Web.

That could soon change. On Tuesday, a federal judge in Los Angeles is scheduled to hear evidence to decide whether Mexico's largest media company, Grupo Televisa, has the right to offer its enormously popular telenovelas to U.S. audiences via the Internet.

The trial is the latest legal skirmish between the media industry's Hatfields and McCoys, Televisa and Univision Communications Inc., which owns the dominant Spanish-language television networks in the U.S. The two companies have been feuding for years over the rights to Televisa's telenovelas, which depict stories of love, betrayal and power -- and fuel Univision's smash prime-time TV ratings.

Earlier this year the companies settled a long-running dispute that had been closely watched by Wall Street. Televisa had sought to break its 25-year deal to provide its shows exclusively to Univision's TV networks, a move that would have stripped Univision of its most popular programming and undercut its advertising revenue.

As part of the truce, Televisa agreed to maintain its relationship with Univision through 2017, when the programming deal ends. The February settlement, which came midway through a trial, was a relief to Univision and the banks that hold nearly $10 billion in Univision debt that was created when the company was taken private in 2007.

But for the last three years Televisa and Univision have put off the thorny issue over the Internet rights for Televisa's programs.

"The stakes are high for both sides," said Julio Rumbaut, a consultant who specializes in Spanish-language media. "Look at the proliferation of new media during the past few years. The demand for entertainment on the Internet has been growing by leaps and bounds, and that's only going to continue."

Televisa's programs have attracted a large following on the Internet. Pirated episodes of Televisa's telenovelas are among the most-viewed TV shows posted on YouTube, according to recent research by the online videoanalytics firm TubeMogul Inc.

Last week there were 57,200 videos on YouTube from shows that air on Univision, and those clips had attracted more than 613 million views, according to TubeMogul.

Many of the videos appeared to be pirated segments of episodes of the soap operas produced by Televisa -- and 72% of the clips were from "Cuidado con el Angel" alone. The series centers around a young runaway, given up at birth, who eventually meets the parents she never knew.

Univision has attempted to police unauthorized use of its shows because it doesn't want to lose its viewers or ad revenue to the Web, but the task is daunting.

"We regularly monitor and require YouTube to take down pirated program materials," a Univision spokeswomansaid Friday. "That said, it is not surprising to see the explosive popularity of Univision programming on the Internet."

In Mexico, Televisa plays its soap operas on its own TV networks, typically several months before the shows air in the U.S. on the Univision network. Televisa also has been building a strong presence on the Internet in Mexico by streaming its shows online.

However, people in the U.S. who click on Televisa's site are automatically bounced to a version that does not provide episodes of the telenovelas. Televisa has agreed to limit its Internet offerings north of the border until the issues are sorted out in court in Los Angeles.

The trial begins Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Philip S. Gutierrez must decide whether the exclusivity that Televisa promised Univision when the two companies became partners in 1992 -- long before there was online video -- is broad enough to encompass the Internet. Gutierrez is expected to listen to testimony through Friday and to issue his ruling this summer.

"Televisa does not have the right to compete with Univision by broadcasting over the Internet in the United States programs it has licensed to Univision," Univision said last week in a statement.

The company maintains that Televisa's promise to provide its programs exclusively to Univision is the cornerstone of their pact.

But Televisa contends that the 1992 agreement was "limited to the broadcast of Televisa's programming by means of television in the United States and does not extend to other distribution platforms like the Internet."

Televisa also plans to point to a provision in the contract that permits TV signals that originate in Mexico to "spill over" into border towns of the U.S. Similarly, Televisa believes, that electronic transmissions from a website in Mexico should be permitted to filter into the U.S. -- an interpretation that Univision plans to challenge.

Advertisers would like the two companies to resolve their differences and make Spanish-language shows available legally on the Internet.

"There is a need there. We definitely want to have culturally relevant content available in Spanish on the Internet where we can place our ads," said Leticia Juarez, vice president of media and promotions for Castells & Asociados. The Los Angeles advertising agency represents clients such as McDonald's Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc. and Dole Food Co.

Latinos increasingly have joined the Internet culture in recent years -- and as much as 69% of Latinos in the U.S. go online, said Juarez, adding that there aren't enough professionally produced shows to meet the demand.

Univision is trying to change that. McDonald's is sponsoring Univision's first "Web novela," which has been in production this year in Los Angeles, Juarez said. Another show, "Vidas Cruzadas" ("Crossed Lives"), a co-production of Univision and Endemol USA, is expected to debut this summer.

Televisa also has been making plans for its popular shows.

"The infrastructure is already there. Televisa is just waiting for the legal issues to be resolved and then they can roll out their Internet video service," Juarez said.

Source: Los Angeles Times

Bicultural Programming for Bicultural People

June 08, 2009
By Laurel Wentz

As general-market agencies seek more Hispanic business, the growing focus on bicultural, bilingual Hispanics is opening up opportunities. Time Warner Cable picked Interpublic Group of Cos.' Gotham to handle the New York launch of the cable company's Latino-entertainment package after a five-agency pitch that included at least two Hispanic shops. Gotham doesn't handle any other Time Warner Cable business or any Hispanic accounts.

Time Warner Cable Paquetazo
The new cable package, called El Paquetazo, includes 140 Spanish and English channels. An ad campaign that broke at the end of May in New York uses quick cuts of Hispanics in New York City neighborhoods saying, "I am la mezcla" ("I am the mix") in a Spanish and English spot.

Gotham CEO Peter McGuinness said the agency's research indicated that the bilingual target audience lives in overlapping worlds. Asked about what kind of food they eat, for instance, 70% of respondents said American food and 70% said Latin food.

"We were toying with the notion of the best of both worlds," he said. "Then we realized they don't see the existence of two worlds. It's one world, and it's their world, and it's an overlapping mix. We came up with the idea of the mezcla -- enjoy the mix."

Time Warner has a more expensive DTV en Espanol package that includes all 250 English and Spanish channels. For El Paquetazo, the company consulted Nielsen about the most popular channels among bilingual, bicultural Hispanics and organized the package by theme -- sports, music, kids' programming -- rather than language, said Jeffrey Hirsch, regional president-residential services for the New York City region of Time Warner Cable.

Support will include sponsorship of an El Paquetazo float with salsa musician Jerry Rivera in the Puerto Rican Day parade on June 14, Mr. Hirsch said.

Source: AdAge

Vibrant Ethnic Media Defy Gloomy Trends

Jun 03, 2009
By Marcelo Ballvé

With so much of the recession-battered news industry in free-fall, it may have seemed like a foolhardy idea.

In April, as bank regulators conducted "stress tests" of ailing U.S. banks, a group of investors and journalists launched a brand-new daily newspaper.

But maybe it wasn't so crazy. Unlike most major metropolitan dailies (many of which are in deep financial trouble), the New York start-up, Al Día, isn't interested in that increasingly elusive prize: the general-market media consumer.

Al Día casts aside that frayed, wide net. It is in Spanish, targeting the estimated 2.5 million Latino readers in the New York metropolitan area. It competes against the fast-growing nonagenarian daily El Diario/La Prensa, as well as Puerto Rican-targeted El Vocero, the Diario de México and Hispanic publications backed by the New York Daily News and New York Post.

Whether Al Día succeeds or not, this vibrant competition speaks to the surprising resilience of ethnic outlets at a time when the old, general-market media retracts. The robust condition of ethnic media is reflected in the second national poll on ethnic media's reach, commissioned by New America Media.

This year's poll, to be released at NAM’s National Ethnic Media Expo & Awards in Atlanta on June 5, shows continuing audience gains for ethnic media outlets since the first poll in 2005. Hispanic TV's reach, for example, is approaching total: It's now viewed by 86 percent of Hispanic adults. Asian media are thriving, too. Since 2005, Chinese- and Korean-language newspapers, along with Vietnamese-language TV, increased penetration into their respective communities by 15 percent or more.

Ethnic media's audience is not just immigrants. African American-oriented TV, radio and newspapers now reach 10 percent more African-Americans than they did in 2005. This underscores the fact that ethnic media's surge isn't just immigration-fueled growth, but also about audiences embracing specialized content.

Ethnic media are not immune to the recession, of course. That's why the annual Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism survey reported a "mixed 2008" for ethnic media. This, despite the election of Pres. Barack Obama, whose mixed heritage helped refocus attention on ethnic and immigrant America, and by extension-- its media.

"There were stories of revenue losses, business closings and reorganizations," the Pew report reads, but "also many examples of the ethnic media continuing to fare much better than the mainstream press."

Al Día may have defied the 2009 gloom as it joined the New York Hispanic print fray, but hyped glossy magazine Tu Ciudad folded in Los Angeles last year, just after publishing its third anniversary edition.

It was a disappointment to many who thought Los Angeles, the alpha Hispanic media market, could support a hip English-language, Latino-targeted magazine. In an email to staff, publisher Jaime Gamboa said corporate partners pulled the plug amidst "the realities of today's hardship."

Also last year, newspaper chain Impremedia, which publishes El Diario/La Prensa and the country's largest Spanish-language daily, La Opinión in Los Angeles, shuttered the Hoy New York free daily.

In fact, Al Día was conceived by laid-off Hoy staffers. Their regrouping to launch Al Día, which publishes five times a week, is evidence of the resilience of ethnic media and its journalists. Al Día's launch also points to the keen interest of certain investors, despite the evident risks of a new media venture in a bear market.

Whatever the setbacks related to the overall economy, the ethnic media is well positioned for growth. A June Nielsen market report predicted that by 2025 over half of families with children in the United States will be multicultural. By mid-century, that number will be 60 percent.

That's a promising statistic for business and advertising because new families typically spend a lot on consumer goods. With statistics like these, advertisers will be primed to include ethnic media in their multicultural marketing strategies.

"While some companies have multicultural marketing initiatives in place today, by 2020, multicultural marketing will be a necessity -- rather than an option -- for doing business," says Nielsen senior vice president Douglas Anderson.

There are weak spots. Many ethnic media outlets have a feeble Internet presence. This weakness will become more notable as their audiences go online in greater numbers.

Hispanics, who have among the lowest rates of Internet access, are nonetheless steadily clearing the digital divide. NAM's poll shows 37 percent of Hispanics accessing the Internet, up from 24 percent in 2005.

Many ethnic media still do a poor job of documenting their audiences and explaining it to would-be advertisers, and often struggle to attract outside investment needed to grow. But the more glaring flaws of the past-- amateurish distribution, shabby content, inconsistent publication or broadcasts-- are becoming uncommon outside of smaller, isolated markets.

The fight of the future will likely be for the attention of immigrants' sons, daughters and grandchildren. Second and third generations may prefer to surf the Internet or listen to the radio in English and will watch the Colbert Report or Hardball, but they'll also be potential readers of Giant Robot magazine for Asian pop culture news, or Latina magazine for beauty tips. (English-language Hispanic publications like Latina now reach 30 percent of adult Hispanics). They may watch Fox Sports en Español for soccer highlights.

Source: New America Media