Eight Key Trends in Hispanic Print

Hispanic publications continue to grow and generate new revenue for businesses across the country. Access to Media has a great connection with the Latino Print Network and I can get you into this growing market. Call me at 866 612-0034 x115 to discuss how your business can benefit!

This article is written by Kirk Whisler, of the Latino Print Network:

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Overall 2007 represented another year of growth for Hispanic print. Hispanic newspapers are now used by at least 54 percent of Hispanic households on a weekly basis, while approximately 30 percent of these households read more than one title per week. Hispanic publications generated over $1.7 billion in total revenues last year.

More audits than ever.
2007 saw 211 audited Hispanic publications with a combined circulation of over 18 million.

The number of tabloids continues to grow.
81% of all Hispanic newspapers are now tabloids, up from 59% in 2000.

Bilingual newspapers are growing.
In 2000 there were 58 bilingual Hispanic newspapers. Today there are 189, with a combined circulation of 4.2 million.

Hispanic newspapers experience a decline in ad revenues.
We have been analyzing annual trends for Hispanic Print since the late 1970s. From the mid 1980s through to the early 2000s, every year saw double-digit growth in Hispanic Print advertising. 2007 was the first year we have seen a decrease, and that was for Hispanic newspapers. As a solid sign of the continuing growth of Hispanic newspapers, forty percent of all of those currently published have been launched in this decade. At the end of 2007 there were
827 Hispanic newspapers in the U.S .and Puerto Rico, an increase of 92 in the past two years. Circulation is also on the rise, having increased by 800,000 over the same period.

Decline in Spanish-language dailies.
Between 2005 and 2007 nine Spanish-language dailies ceased as dailies, with four folding and five switching to a weekly frequency. While there are still a number of very strong spanish language dailies in the U.S., the demise of some of the weaker of them should not be seen as a negative to Hispanic Print. Instead, we see an evolution away from strong dailies in key markets, and towards many more quality weeklies, since weeklies seem to be a better fit for many people’s media habits.

Magazines are filling many different roles.
Local glossy magazines are probably the most unsung success going on within Hispanic Print. 2007 saw the segment grow by 15 publications as revenues grew from $37 to $42 million. This segment also continues to transition towards English. The quality of these magazines has also improved significantly. Local newsprint magazines, many of them weeklies, held solid and saw three million in growth. Spanish is the strongest in this magazine category. National Hispanic magazines were also very strong with growth of 1.2 million in circulation and $18 million in ad revenues.

Spanish-language yellow pages.
Yellow pages may have arrived in large numbers only recently within the Hispanic market, but they are growing ever more formidable every year. With 149 yellow pages in 2007, we’re likely to see continued solid growth over the next few years.

Employment continues to grow.
Employment in Hispanic Print topped seventeen thousand for the first time, a positive in this era of employment consolidation. Over 4,600 of these employees are editors and writers for the publications – an impressive number in these days of declining editorial staffs. 2008 promises to be a good year for strong Hispanic publications as they fine tune their sales efforts and continue to show improvements in the editorial and graphic quality of their products, and also as they branch out onto the Internet.