Top ten hispanic markets - Brief Article

Joe Rubi

Los Angeles

top ten hispanic markets no. 1

With close to 40 percent of its population made up of Hispanics, the Los Angeles media market is dominated by a Latin presence. About 6.2 million Hispanics live in the L.A. area, the majority of whom are Mexican (4.9 million). The population has an estimated $70 billion worth of buying power.

Hispanics are so dominant in the market that the Univision station KMEX had the Number One local early newscast among all Southern California stations in the May sweeps. The market is home to two other Spanish television stations: Telemundo's KVEA-TV and KWHY-TV, which is owned by Harriscope of Los Angeles Inc.

As an independent, KWHY has the leeway to focus entirely on the needs of the local market. "When we do our programming, we don't have to worry about the East Coast--we don't have to worry about creating programs for Puerto Ricans or Cubans," says Germain Valderrama, the station's executive director and general sales manager. "That's one of the reasons why we have more local news than the other two networks. And our news concentrates not only on what happens in Los Angeles but on what happens in Mexico."

The station has newscasts at 4:30, 7 and 10 p.m; each includes a Central American report.

KWHY's local-focus programming includes Desafio Academico, a half-hour Spanish-language Sunday quiz show in which high school students answer questions based on their curriculum. KWHY also exclusively airs La Fiesta Broadway, a popular street-festival event that celebrates Cinco de Mayo.

At 4 p.m., KVEA's Laura en America talk show was first in the May Hispanic sweeps among adults 18-34 and 18-49, scoring a 4.2/26 and a 4.3/26, respectively. KMEX's Cristina was second with a 3.6/22 and a 4.0/24, respectively. KWHY was third with its combination of AL Filo de la Noticia (0.6/4) and Noticias 22 at 4:30 p.m. (0.8/5).

From 5 to 7 p.m., KMEX took the lead with a combined 6.2/55 with Primer Impacto, Noticias 34 and Noticiero Univision. KWHY had a strong showing with a combined 2.6/23 for its local talk show Quien Tiene La Razon and Cuanto Cuesta el Show, a local talent contest. KVEA scored a combined 2.5/22 with Oecurio Asi, Noticiero 52 and Noticiero Telemundo.

KMEX also has a local morning newscast, Noticias 34: Primera Edicion, from 5 to 7 a.m. On weekends, it airs two local morning shows: at 9, Voz y Voto (Voice and Vote), which focuses on issues concerning the Hispanic community, and at 9:30, Seleccion Deportiva, a sports show.

KVEA-TV, which broadcasts Noticiero Telemundo 52 at 6 and 11 p.m., has instituted several changes since the May sweeps. In July, the station hired Tijuana, Mexico, native Fernando Lopez as vp and general manager; his major focus at the station is community involvement. Lopez has hired Vietor Abalos, formerly an executive producer at the English-language independent station KCAL, as the station's news director.

"Our audience is mostly the immigrant community," says Lopez, "people who make $40,000 or $50,000 a year, people who have young children in school and probably other family members besides their children [in the household]. They are people who are struggling economically, but they form the core of the service industry here in Los Angeles.

"We want to do more than just tell them what's happening. We want to give them news that gives them choices, that empowers them, that educates them. And if we find bureaucracies and businesses or individuals who are exploiting that community, we're going to go after them with the resources of this newsroom."

With an average of four people per household, the average household income for Hispanics is close to $49,000.

The Los Angeles Hispanic radio market is one of the country's most competitive. Hispanic Broadcasting Corp.'s ranchera station KSCA-FM finished first in the May Hispanic sweeps with a 9.4 morning share in the 12-plus group, followed by KLVE-FM, with a 5.1 share.

Remarkably, the stations are Number One and Two in the Los Angeles market as a whole for the morning and evening drive times.

Spanish Broadcasting Systems' Mexican station KLAX-FM was fourth with a 2.0 share, behind Liberman Broadcasting's KBUE-FM (2.1), according to Arbitron figures.

The city's only Spanish daily, La Opinion, has a circulation of 103,000 Monday through Saturday. It does not publish on Sundays.

The tabloid with the largest circulation is Mundo L.A., which has a circulation of 485,000 copies a week; it also has a San Fernando Valley edition, with a circulation of 55,000.

Los Angeles has several Spanish magazines. The biggest is La Guia Familiar, with a circulation of 246,000 copies weekly, followed by El Aviso, with 120,000 weekly.

El Clasificado has a weekly circ of 70,000. Hispanic Magazine's local circulation is 10,000.

New York

top ten hispanic markets no. 2

The New York Hispanic market has historically been dominated by Puerto Ricans, who currently make up 45 percent of the city's Latin population. A little over 18 percent, or 3.5 million, of New York residents are Hispanic. Puerto Ricans represent 1.6 million of those Hispanics; the city also has a high percentage of Dominicans, and the number of Mexicans has grown in recent years.

New York's Hispanics have an estimated $45.2 billion worth of buying power and an average household income of $43,023.

Univision's WXTV has made several staffing changes recently. The station hired Steve Malave as news director in August, as well as a new managing editor of Noticias 41, J.J. Gonzalez. In September, the station brought in new anchors for the revamped weekend edition of Noticias 41 and for its 6 a.m. news show. It then named Norma Morato, a senior producer at WCBS, as executive producer of Noticias 41. WXTV's one locally produced program is a magazine-style show called Onda Latina, which airs Sunday mornings from 9 to 10.

Telemundo station WNJU-TV has made big strides in the past year, according to the May Hispanic ratings. Among overall Hispanic households it scored a 14.4, up 380 percent from a 3.0 in 1999. Among adults 18-49, it posted an 11.3, up from a 1999 rating of 1.8.

The station's lineup includes specialized programming that caters to different Hispanic communities. WNJU produces Sabado 47, which airs Saturday mornings at 11. It also airs Hechos en Pueblo, a Mexican newscast; Santo Domingo Invita, a news show from the Dominican Republic; Merengue y Mas, a music program; and Deportes 47, a half-hour local sports show. In April, the station launched Noticiero 47: Primera Edicion at 11:30 a.m.

In the final six weeks of the 2000 baseball season, WNJU carried Yankees telecasts with regular sponsors like Heineken, Burger King and the New York Police Dept., which spent $20 million on a recruitment ad campaign.

WXNY-TV, Channel 39, is called LTV (Latin Television) and focuses mostly on Latin music; it also airs CNN en Espanol and Noticiero RCN de Colombia. LTV is carried on Time Warner Cable but not on Cablevision. It recently sealed a deal to become an over-the-air and a cable network; the change is expected to take place early next year.

Pappas Telecasting, which is launching the new Azteca America network in 2001, is preparing to acquire Newark, N.J.-based WHSE, a home-shopping channel, from USA Broadcasting.

In September, Spanish radio station WKDM-AM became WNNY-AM Noticias 1380, the country's first all-news Spanish radio station. "If there's a market for all-news, New York is it," says Luis Alvarez, vp and general manager. Mega Communications bought the station from Multicultural Broadcasting for a reported $45 million in April.

Spanish Broadcasting System's WSKQ-FM was first in the Hispanic market in the latest Arbitron ratings with a 5.2 share; according to BIA Financial Network, the station had an estimated 1999 revenue of $35.7 million. Hispanic Broadcasting's WADO-AM had a 2.3 share.

Hay, a Spanish daily owned by Tribune Broadcasting, has a daily circulation of 55,000. El Diario la Prensa, owned by Entravision, has a daily weekday circulation of 53,000.

Miami Fort Lauderdale

top ten hispanic markets no.3

With more than 1.4 million Hispanics, comprising 38 percent of the area's population, and with 68 percent of Hispanic households Spanish-dominant, Miami-Fort Lauderdale is the only media market that is home to as many as four Spanish television stations.

Average household income among Hispanics in the area is close to $49,000, according to Standard & Poors' 1998 estimates, and Hispanics have about $22.6 billion worth of buying power.

"Miami is different from all of the other markets," says Evan Grossman, president of Sunbeam Television Group's WJAN-TV, "in that we are 98 percent Cuban, Carribean and Puerto Rican, and only 2 percent Mexican. The novelas that we have are not from Mexico but from South America and the Carribean."

A little more than half the Hispanic population is Cuban, according to Claritas, which amounts to more than 20 percent of the area's total population.

The market's biggest station is Univision's WLTV, which recorded an 8.5/13 behind ABC affiliate WPLG (9.2/14) in the May 2000 Hispanic sweeps period. The station airs 14 hours of local news per week. Noticias 23 al Amanecer runs from 6 to 7 every morning, before the three-hour national morning program Despierta America, which includes local-news cut-ins. Noticias 23 is the ratings leader at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. On Sundays at 9 a.m., the station airs Miami Ahora, a talk and entertainment show.

Telemundo station WSCV offers local programming on Saturday mornings: Miami en Accion at 10 a.m., Politica al Dia at 10:30 and, at 11 a.m., Detras de la Noticia, a news and public-affairs program.

WJAN runs live, local programming 14 hours a week, including four-minute newsbreaks called Breves 41. A new half-hour newscast, Noticias 41, will launch by the end of the year. The station broadcasts Miami Heat games in Spanish. On weekdays from 4-10 p.m., its lineup is dedicated to soap operas.

The other independent is WEYS-TV, based in Key West.

Miami has a flourishing Spanish-language and bilingual print market, with 38 publications. There are two daily papers. El Nuevo Herald, a Spanish-language combination of the Herald and the Miami Herald, has a daily circulation of 102,000 and a Sunday circ of 127,000. Diario las Americas, which does not publish on Mondays, has a circulation of close to 73,000.

Publications targeted to specific communities include the weekly Portuguese-language broadsheet Brazilian Post, which has a circulation of 20,000, and the monthly El Argentino, with a circulation of 35,000.

A dozen Spanish radio stations operate in the area. Hispanic Broadcasting Corp.'s WAQI-AM, a Spanish news and talk station, was first in the morning drive in the latest Arbitron ratings, with a 7.8 share. HBC's WAMR-FM, a Spanish contemporary-music station, registered a 5.3 share. Spanish Broadcasting System owns WRMA-FM, WCMQ-FM and WXDJ-FM.

San Francisco Oakland, San Jose

top ten hispanic markets no. 4

About 20 percent of the Bay Area market is composed of Hispanics, for a total Hispanic population of 1.3 million people. Close to 70 percent of those are of Mexican descent.

The average Hispanic household income is now $60,000, and the area's Hispanics have $17.9 billion worth of buying power.

Out of 2.4 million households in the television market, 350,000 are Hispanic, and about half of those are Spanish dominant.

Telemundo station KSTS-TV--which operates as KCU-TV in the Monterrey-Salinas market--has had a new vp and general manager, Eduardo Dominguez, since June. He says his chief priority is to keep a strong local-news focus. "For example, what we have been covering continuously in the few months since I've been here is the housing situation," Dominguez says. "What are some of the possible alternatives and programs that are available for the Latino community?" In San Francisco's Mission District, a heavily Latino neighborhood for the last 30 years, "the dot-com companies have moved into the area, and there's a huge gentrification taking place that is pushing out a lot of the working-class Latino families."

In addition to San Francisco, says Dominguez, KSTS places a strong emphasis on Oakland, which is in Alameda County (the East Bay), and San Jose (the South Bay).

In January, KSTS will begin carrying a one-hour 6 a.m. newscast that is likely to be titled Noticiero 48: Primera Edicion. It will be followed by Telemundo's recently launched Esta Manana, which airs nationally from 7 to 9 a.m.

Univision's KDTV-TV has long been the dominant Hispanic station in the area. At 4 p.m., KDTV's Cristina has gotten some stiff competition from Laura en America on KSTS. Cristina scored an 8.9 rating/45 share in the 18-34 demographic and a 6.9/41 in the 18-49 group in the May Hispanic sweeps; Laura en America captured a 5.9/30 among adults 18-34 and a 4.9/29 in the 18-49 group. Both shows finished ahead of KGO's telecast of Oprak, which scored a 1.1/6 for the 18-34 group and a 1.3/8 among the 18-49 group.

In the radio market, San Jose is separate from San Francisco-Oakland.

Hispanic Broadcasting Corp.'s KSOL-FM, which has a Spanish-regional format, registered a 3.7 share for the morning drive and a 2.3 for the evening drive. HBC's KZOL-FM posted a 1.2 share for the morning and a 0.6 for the evening. According to BIA Financial Network, HBC's revenue in the market was an estimated $8.5 million, while Spanish Broadcasting's revenue was below $1 million.

The biggest Spanish newspaper is the weekly Nuevo Mundo, based in San Jose; it has an average circulation of 80,000. El Mensajero is a tabloid with a circulation of 47,000.

Chicago

top ten hispanic markets no. 5

Hispanics represent 14 percent of the Windy City's population, or 1.3 million people. The majority of those (about 70 percent) are of Mexican descent.

The Latin population is concentrated in the Pilsen, Humboldt and Little Village neighborhoods.

The Telemundo station WSNS-TV, Channel 44, has recently relocated from the John Hancock building to the Sears Tower with a stronger digital signal. WSNS became a full-time Spanish television station in 1985 as an affiliate of Spanish International Network (SIN was later bought by Hallmark Cards, and Hallmark formed the Univision network). The station bought by Telemundo in 1996; Univision subsequently created the station WGBO.

WSNS took a major hit for several years, going from double-digit ratings to low single-digit ratings. But earlier this year, the station started to see some growth.

In the May Hispanic Sweeps, WGBO scored an average 14.9/36 among adults 18-34; WSNS registered an average of 8.4/20. The stations were ahead of the Fox O&O WFLD-TV (4.1/10), NBC's WMAQ-TV (2.8/7), Disney/ABC's WLS-TV (2.5/6), and CBS' WBBM-TV and WB affiliate WGN-TV (both had a 1.0/3).

Starting Jan. 1, WSNS will launch a one-hour local newscast from 6-7 a.m. The news will lead into Esta Manana, from 7-9 a.m. Noticias 66 is WGBO's only local program. It scored a 12.9 rating and a 56 share among adults 18-34 and an 11.6/51 among adults 18-49. WSNS' Noticiero 44 scored a 1.9 rating and an 8 share among adults 18-34 and a 2.0/9 for the 18-49 demographic.

In May, WGBO hired former WSNS newscaster Carla Sanchez. WSNS countered by hiring Luisa Torres as co-anchor of Noticiero 44 at 5 and 10 p.m. Torres is a popular personality in Chicago, where she did a radio show on Hispanic Broadcasting's WIND-AM.

Spanish Broadcasting System's Spanish regional music station WLEY-FM is the top Hispanic station, with a 2.1 share for the 12-plus group in the morning drive and a 3.4 share in the evening drive, according to the Arbitron Spring 2000 Market Report.

Hispanic Broadcasting's WOJO-FM finished second, with a 1.8 share for both the morning and evening drives, and its WIND-AM, a Spanish news/talk station, was third, with a 0.9 share for the morning drive and a 0.4 for the evening drive. Entravision-owned WRZA-FM was next, with a 0.7 share for the morning drive and a 0.3 for the evening drive.

About 62 percent of Hispanic households subscribe to cable television, according to Scarborough.

There are 14 Hispanic-oriented newspapers in Chicago, according to Lopez-Negrete/American Minorities Media. The only daily Spanish newspaper is La Manana, with a circulation of 30,000. The weekly with the largest circulation is the bilingual tabloid Lawndale Group News (180,000 for the Thursday edition; the Sunday edition has a circ of only 29,400), with La Raza at a weekly circulation of 150,000.

The weekly magazine Tele Guia de Chicago has a circulation of about 23,000. Hispanic Magazine's local circulation is 5,700.

Houston

top ten hispanic markets

When Alex Lopez Negrete founded the advertising and market-research firm Lopez Negrete Communications in 1985, the task of addressing Houston's Hispanic community was fairly straightforward, since about 90 percent of the population was of Mexican descent. Today, he says, "the market has diversified tremendously," with a large influx of people from Central America, and growing Argentinian, Cuban and Venezuelan communities. These communities have a combined estimated buying power of $13.8 billion.

A new Azteca America Spanish TV station will enter the market this fall to compete with Univision's KXLN and Telemundo's KTMD. KXLN is currently the area's Number One station, according to the May Hispanic sweeps. It has done especially well with the talk show Cristina, which scored a 7.8 rating and a 50 share among adults 18-34 and a 6.7/45 for adults 18-49. In the news race, its Noticias 45 at 5 p.m. scored an 11.3/52 for adults 18-34 and an 11.3/51 for adults 18-49. The 10 p.m. newscast achieved a 13.5/42 and a 14.6/41, respectively.

KTMD's Laura en America talk show achieved only a 2.2/14 for the 18-34 group and a 2.3/15 share for 18-49. KTMD, like many of Telemundo's stations, has seen its second-place fortunes lifted somewhat with the success of the Brazilian soap opera Xica. "Probably the biggest hit, and it's something that's been unique and different, has been the changeover of bringing novela programming back to Telemundo," says the station's vp and general manager, Rod Medina, who came to KTMD in April.

Medina is overseeing changes in the station's news program, Noticiero 48. The 10 p.m. newscast started to air live only two years ago. One of the station's main tasks, he says, is to provide information to the Hispanic community and especially to newer immigrants. "We really feel that when they come in here, they need to understand what they're running into, where they're at, what to expect," Medina says.

Almost 50 percent of Houston's Hispanics subscribe to cable TV, about 11 percent less than the general market in the city, according to Scarborough Research.

The area's radio market, reflecting the population, is becoming increasingly varied. "The thing that links Hispanics together is language," says Rob Spallone, Lopez-Negrete's planning director, "but they come from all different countries, and as the market diversifies, the different subgroups have different tastes--and different musical tastes.

"In the old days, you had one station, KLAT, and it was a powerhouse here from a Hispanic perspective. Today, that station hasn't changed its format much, but ranchera is no longer the powerhouse. The powerhouse is the Hispanic Top 40 station, which speaks to a much more youthful market--a market that is far more diverse from a cultural perspective."

Hispanic Broadcasting Corp. owns seven stations in the market. Its Spanish-language station KLTN-FM is Number One in the market.

Houston's Spanish daily newspaper is El Dia, a broadsheet with a daily circulation of 18,000 and a Sunday circulation of 21,000. Three of the weekly papers have circulations of more 100,000: La Buena Suerte, Semana Newspaper and La Subasta.

Hispanic Magazine has a Houston circulation of about 10,000 copies.

San Antonio

top ten hispanic markets no. 7

The first Spanish television station in the U.S. was launched in San Antonio, and the city still has a dominant Hispanic presence. More than half of its population, 53 percent, is Hispanic, a total of 1.1 million people. Nielsen estimates that about 323,000 out of 694,000 TV households are Hispanic.

KWEX-TV, Channel 41, now a Univision station, was launched in 1956 by Raul Cortez, making it the nation's oldest Spanish TV station; in 1945, Cortez started the area's first Spanish radio station, KCOR-AM. In 1961, KWEX became the first affiliate of Spanish International Network (SIN was bought in the 1980s by Hallmark Cards, which started the Univision network).

Cortez's son followed him into the business, and now his grandson Emilio Nicholas Jr. serves as general manager of the local Telemundo station, KVDA.

KWEX dominates the market, while KVDA has struggled in the ratings. Nicholas, who was hired by KVDA in June, is instituting a lot of changes. In October he revamped the station's newscast, now named Sesenta Direc-to, focusing it very specifically on the local Hispanic market's needs.

KWEX runs an hour of local programming on Sundays at 9 a.m.: a talk show, Desde San Antonio, and a sports show, Club Deportivo 41.

In the last Nielsen Hispanic sweeps, KVDA fared poorly in the 3 p.m. slot with the talk show Laura en America, a big hit in many Telemundo markets. The show scored a 0.9/5 share for adults 18-34. Its KWEX competitor, Cristina, scored a 3.0/18 for adults 18-34, according to the NHSI. At 4 p.m., KWEX's Primer Impacto newsmagazine show finished ahead of KSAT's Oprah in the NHSI, scoring a 4.5/24 among adults 18-34 and a 5.1/27 among adults 18-49. KVDA's Occurio Asi finished with a 0.2/1 and a 0.5/3 in each category.

Among Hispanic households, 67 percent subscribe to cable television, which is only about 2 percent less than the figure for the general market. In addition to Univision and Telemundo, cable in the area carries CNN en Espanol, HBO en Espanol, Fox Sports World Espanol, Galavision (owned by Univision) and GEMS TV (acquired by Telemundo in May), which carries news from Noticiero Telemundo and Noticiero Internacional from Mexico.

Hispanic Broadcasting Corp. recently acquired two country stations, Reding Enterprises' KBUC-FM and Radio Ranch's KRNH-FM, for a total of $45 million; the stations are now Spanish. HBO also owns Spanish oldies station KCOR-AM and Tejano music station KXTN-FM. The company has a 15 percent share of the overall radio market, according to BIA Financial Network.

KXTN is the leading Spanish station, according to Arbitron figures, with a 5.9 share for the morning drive. KROM-FM scored a 2.9 share, and Spanish Broadcasting's KLEY-FM had a 2.1 share.

San Antonio has two Spanish newspapers. La Prensa is a bilingual weekly in both tabloid and broadsheet formats; the tabloid has a circulation of 100,000 and the broadsheet a circulation of 59,300. El Mexica, a weekly broadsheet, has a circulation of 15,500.

Hispanic Magazine's San Antonio circulation is at 14,000.

Dallas-Fort Worth

Top ten hispanic markets no. 8

The Hispanic population of Dallas-Fort Worth, with more than $10 billion worth of buying power, is mostly Mexican and is characterized by a large number of households that speak Spanish at home.

More than 800,000 Hispanics live in the area, making up about 15 percent of the population, according to Claritas. About 85 percent of Hispanics are of Mexican origin, and a full 90 percent speak Spanish at home.

Out of an estimated 2.1 million TV households, 283,940 are Hispanic, and 60.1 percent of those are Spanish dominant. "Finally, Dallas is getting the attention that it's deserved for quite some time--for the first time, you're looking at the Dallas Hispanic market being over 60 percent Spanish dominant," says Wayne Casa, vp and general manager of Telemundo O&O KFWD. "It's a quantum leap from last year, as we went up from 52 percent. It's a clear signal that people are realizing there is an enormous opportunity with regard to reaching the Hispanic segment of the population that is Spanish-language dependent."

Univision's KUVN is the market leader in Hispanic programming and viewership. But it could soon be challenged from several sides.

Pappas Telecasting--which is partnering with Television Azteca to form a third Spanish-language network, Azteca America, to launch in second quarter 2001--is in the process of buying Dallas' biggest independent station, KXTX, from Southwest Sports Group. Pappas would convert it to a Spanish-language station; KXTX has an estimated cable coverage of 51 counties, reaching almost 2 million TV households. The deal is awaiting approval from the Federal Communications Commission.

In addition, Telemundo's KFWD recently formed a relationship with NBC O&O KXAS-TV, and the two are co-branding their news. "I think the English-language broadcasters are also recognizing that Hispanics are the fastest-growing segment of the population," says Casa. "And because Dallas-Fort Worth is primarily Spanish dominant, they need to form alliances with serious Spanish-language broadcasters."

The station's newscast, says Casa, "is our window on the Hispanic community....Our on-air talent are not separated in terms of where they live--they live in Spanish-dominant areas. They're accessible not only in terms of where they live but by participating in numerous events with community groups."

ABC affiliate WFAA broadcasts a weekly news-oriented show called La Vida, aimed at the Hispanic community. According to Scarborough Research, 47 percent of Hispanics subscribed to cable television between March 1999 and February 2000.

Ten Spanish newspapers are available in the area--seven broadsheets and three tabloids. There are no dailies. The biggest weekly newspaper in the market, the bilingual La Fuente tabloid, has a circulation of 105,000.

In the radio market, KLNO-FM, owned by Hispanic Broadcasting Corp., was first in the Arbitron Spring 2000 Radio Market Report, with a 1.8 share for the morning drive among the 12-plus group and a 1.9 in the evening drive. Hispanic Broadcasting's revenue in the Dallas-Fort Worth market is estimated at $10.3 million, according to BIA Financial Network.

Hispanic Magazine has a local circulation of 7,600.

Rio Grande Valley

top ten hispanic markets no. 9

Located near the Mexican border in the Rio Grande Valley, the Harlingen-Weslaco-Brownsville-McAllen market has the highest percentage of Hispanics among the Top Ten markets. The market encompasses several cities across the border, including Matamoros, Reynosa and Monterrey.

So although the area is ranked Number 102 as a Nielsen general television market, it is the ninth-largest Hispanic television market. It is home to about 786,000 Hispanics on the U.S. side of the border. About 81 percent of total TV households are Hispanic, and a little over half of those are Spanish dominant, according to the July 2000 Nielsen Total & Hispanic Universe Estimates.

"This market is very cost effective, because it's so Hispanic penetrated as well as Hispanic populated," says Bill Jam, vp and general manager for Telemundo's O&O KTLM-TV, which has been a full-powered station in the area for a year. "It's a hot market but just not known. It's unbelievable, and then when people find out about it, they go wild."

"What makes us different is the density of the population--and we have sister cities directly across the border from us," says Larry Safir, general manager for Univision affiliate KNVO-TV and vp of its owner, San Diego-based Entravision Communications Corp. "So, together, we are looking at about 2 or 3 million people."

"What I think that [advertisers] have to do is to take their general-market ideas and put those aside and think of it from a Hispanic perspective," says Rob Spallone, director of planning for the Houston-based ad agency Lopez-Negrete.

National franchises and retailers are quickly discovering the market. McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Taco Bell and Applebees are there, as are Kmart, JC Penney, Sears, Target and Wal-Mart. Many of these businesses can be found in or around La Plaza Mall, which has 114 stores. Other shopping centers in the market include the Valley Viste Mall and the Amigoland Mall.

The average household income for the Rio Grande Valley is $36,000, according to Total Consumer Spending/Standard & Poors DRI, 1998. The buying power of the region is at $9.9 billion, with $6.9 billion controlled by the Hispanic population. The strength of the Mexican peso has recently been helping economic growth in these counties.

The four counties that make up this market are Hidalgo, Cameron, Starr and Willacy. Hidalgo is the largest, with a population of a little over half a million people. The counties had combined 1999 gross sales of $7.1 billion.

Whenever the peso was devalued--which occurred every six years beginning in 1976--the markets across the border were badly affected. But with new president Vicente Fox Quesada bringing more stability and economic strength to Mexico, the Rio Grande Valley will likely be more economically stable as well.

Cosmos Broadcasting's CBS affiliate KGBT-TV broadcasts a three-hour Spanish-language block on Sunday mornings. It includes Aqui ... Rogelio, a Tejano music program that's taped at the station, as well as another Tejano music program and a syndicated music show. The station airs Spanish-language commercials.

The ABC affiliate, KRGV-TV, is owned by the Man-ship family in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. KVEO-TV, the NBC affiliate, is owned by Lafayette, Louisiana-based Comcorp Communications of America; it does not air local news.

Fox affiliate XHFX-TV broadcasts an entirely Spanish-language lineup. The station is owned by Valley Shamrock, which is based in Matamoros, Mexico.

In the May Hispanic Sweeps, KNVO's popular Univision talk show, Cristina, which airs at 3 p.m., finished ahead of KTLM's Telemundo talker, Laura en America, among adults 18-34 and 18-49. KNVO posted a 4.9 rating and a 30 share against KTLM's 3.3 rating/20 share for adults 18-34. For adults 18-49, KNVO scored a 4.5 rating/32 share vs. KTLM's 3.0/21.

In the radio market, Hispanic Broadcasting's KGBT-FM was first in the Arbitron ratings, with an 11.3 share for the morning drive, ahead of Entravision Communications-owned KKPS-FM, which scored a 10.2 share for the 12-plus group. KKPS finished ahead of KGBT in the evening drive, with a 10.1 to KGBT's 9.9.

Hispanic Broadcasting owns three radio stations in the market.

Two newspaper groups operate in the Rio Grande Valley. El Periodico, a weekly Spanish broadsheet, has a circulation of 42,000. The Rio Grande Valley Metro Group has four bilingual dailies: The Monitor, The Valley Morning Star, The Brownsville Herald and El Heraldo de Brownsville. Total combined circulation is 96,207.

Hispanic Magazine has a local circulation of 6,000.

Phoenix

top ten hispanic markets no. 10

Phoenix is eleventh in the U.S. in terms of Hispanic population, just behind San Diego, hut it is ranked as the 10th-largest Hispanic television market. Phoenix's Hispanic population stands at a little over 700,000 people, the majority of whom are Mexican (both second- and third-generation, as well as new arrivals, who are mostly from Sonora). The Hispanic population has an estimated $7.4 billion worth of buying power.

Last month, Bela Corp. and Cox Communications launched Mas Arizona in Phoenix, a 24-hour all-news Spanish-language channel. The channel will have its own on-air talent but will also use some of the news-gathering resources of Belo's local independent, KTVK, and cable station Arizona NewsChannel, owned by Belo and Cox. More than 450,000 Cox Cable customers will have access to Mas Arizona.

Currently, the dominant TV station, according to the Nielsen Hispanic Station Index, is Univision's KTVW Its Noticias 33 newscast, which airs at 5 p.m. and 10 p.m., outpaced Telemundo's KDRX, as well as local news from ABC affiliate KNXV-TV, CBS affiliate KPHO, NBC affiliate KPNX and Fox O&O KSAZ. A local Sunday morning talk show called Teledia Sabado is produced by KTVW.

KDRX airs a one-hour Saturday-morning show called Tu Mundo, a locally produced one-hour program.

"We have a responsibility to offer news and generally be a resource to our communities because of the lack of media outlets that are serving Hispanics," says Victor Carranza, general manager of KDRX-TV. "For the last two years, we've been dedicated to strengthening our signal, improving our product and taking our news and our studio production facilities to a much higher level."

Close to half of Hispanic households in Phoenix subscribe to cable television, according to Scarborough, compared with the general market's 59 percent.

In Phoenix's radio market, Entravision Communications Co. owns both KVVA-FM, which has a Spanish easy format, and KLNZ-FM, a Mexican regional station. Hispanic Broadcasting Corp. owns Mexican regional station KHOT-FM.

KSSL-FM, with a Spanish Top 40 format, is owned by Big City Radio. KPHX-AM is owned by Phoenix-based Continental Broadcasting. Another Phoenix company, Fiesta Radio Inc., owns KSUN-AM.

KHOT-FM was the leader in Hispanic listenership in Arbitron's Spring 2000 Radio Market Report, with a 3.1 share in the morning drive in the twelve-plus age group and a 2.1 share in the evening drive. KLNZ-FM was second, with a 1.8 share for the morning drive and a 1.2 in the evening drive; KVVA-FM was third in the morning (0.3) and evening (0.5) drive times.

There are two Spanish tabloids in the Phoenix area: The Catholic Sun, a bilingual bimonthly with a circulation of 102,000, and Prensa Hiapana, a weekly with a circulation of about 55,000 that serves the Tempe, Peoria, Scottsdale and Sun City areas in addition to Phoenix.

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