SNL Kagan Projects Growth in Hispanic Media

MONTEREY, February 6:
According to a new study by SNL Kagan, Hispanic multichannel homes could
increase to 9.7 million in 2011 from 8.7 million in 2007, while Hispanic TV
homes are projected to grow to 13.4 million from 12.1 million in the same
period.

The study, Economics of
Hispanic TV & Radio in the U.S., 2008 Edition, notes that 71.6 percent of Hispanic TV households
had a multichannel subscription in 2007, compared to 87.6 percent for the
entire U.S. population, making this an important growth area for cable and
satellite platforms.

"The recognition of a
growing audience with increasing buying power has highlighted the importance of
targeting the Hispanic population," said Deana Myers, a senior analyst for
SNL Kagan. "Spanish-language broadcast networks have been rapidly growing
over the past several years, attracting new advertisers, while English-speaking
broadcast networks have struggled during the same time period to generate minor
growth in advertising dollars."

The four major U.S.
Hispanic broadcast networks—Telemundo, Univision, TeleFutura, and Azteca
America—had estimated combined revenues of $1.3 billion for 2007, with
that figure expected to top $1.6 billion in 2011.

—By Mansha Daswani