Internet Radio Listening exponentially Higher among Hispanics.

As the percent of Hispanics who use mobile devices continues to climb, even more impressive is Internet radio’s reach with the growing Hispanic market.  Findings from a top ten market study reveal that 32.7% of all Hispanics have logged on in the past month to an Internet radio website such as Pandora Radio, iHeartRadio, Radio.com or Slacker.com. The figure represents 4.2 million Hispanic Internet radio listeners in the top ten markets.
 
Additionally, 29.8% of Hispanics listened to Internet radio in the past week, suggesting nearly the same amount are logging on weekly as they are in a typical 30 day period. While some terrestrial radio stations do better than others in terms of converting weekly listeners to loyal frequent listeners, it would appear that Internet radio is headed in a positive direction. With 91% of Hispanic monthly visitors listening on a weekly basis, the preliminary data suggests that many Hispanics are becoming loyal to Internet radio listening.

Top Internet Radio Stations
 
Among Hispanics in the top ten markets, 28.7% reported having logged on in the past month to Pandora Radio, while 8.4% logged on to iHeartRadio.com, and 1.9% logged on to Radio.com. 
 
The preliminary findings reflect the growing importance of this segment, as Hispanics now total 50.5 million or 16% of the total U.S. population who are of Hispanic or Latino descent, according to the most recent 2010 Census data.

The data from The Media Audit’s top ten markets is significant because Hispanic Internet radio listeners in those markets represent slightly more than half of the estimated 8.2 million total Hispanic Internet radio listeners across the 69 markets in which Internet radio data has been measured and reported.
 
Year-Over-Year Growth in Internet Radio
 
The figures represent a dramatic change in Hispanic Internet radio listening behavior from a year ago, when only 13.5% of Hispanics listened to Pandora Radio. As a result, the year over year growth rate is 142% for Hispanics accessing Pandora Radio. Furthermore, only 3.9% of Hispanics accessed iHeartRadio in 2011, resulting in a 182% increase in monthly visits year-over-year, while access to Radio.com increased 52% during the same period.

Commenting on the findings, Nancy Haynes, principal at Charlotte-based Collins, Haynes and Lully advertising agency said “I am pleased to learn that Internet radio is increasing so rapidly for Hispanic listeners, though it’s not surprising considering the enormous amount of advertising done by Smartphone providers.  My agency has been testing Pandora in this first quarter of 2013, with very high response according to Google. This new TMA data encourages me to consider a Spanish-language version of our client’s message, going forward.”

Internet Radio Competitive in Top Hispanic Markets

The study further found that among top Hispanic radio markets, Pandora and iHeartRadio remain competitive when compared to Hispanic-programmed local radio stations that heavily focus on the Hispanic market. In Los Angeles, 25.9% of the metro area’s 3.9 million Hispanics reported having listened to Pandora Radio within the past week, a figure that represents more than 1 million weekly listeners and topping weekly listening of all Hispanic-programmed stations or radio clusters.

In the New York City metro area, Pandora Radio reaches 34% of the metro area’s 3.2 million Hispanics weekly, followed by 17.1% who listened to iHeartRadio within the past week.  The weekly figures represent more than 1.1 million weekly listeners for Pandora, and 560,000 weekly listeners for iHeartRadio.
 
Among Miami’s 1.7 million Hispanics, nearly one in four listened to Pandora Radio within the past week, again ranking the popular Internet radio service number one among all Hispanic-programmed stations or radio clusters.

Combined with the fact that more than half of Hispanic consumers are now accessing web content via a smart phone or a connected device such as an IPad, the findings suggest a narrowing digital divide between Hispanics and Caucasian consumers, thus making them more attractive to mobile and digital marketers. According to Pandora Radio, more than 75 percent of Pandora’s listening occurs on a mobile or other connected device.
 
It is estimated that by 2050, the number of Hispanics in the U.S. will grow to 132.8 million, thus strengthening the group’s collective purchasing power, which is estimated to reach $1.4 trillion in 2013.
 
Economic Impact of the Hispanic Consumer

According to The Media Audit, areas in which Hispanics will have a strong economic impact include groceries, automotive, furniture, and clothing. Here are just a few of the study’s findings:
 
• One in four U.S. consumers planning to buy a home in the next two years are Hispanic
• 19.2% of all U.S. consumers planning to buy a new or used vehicle in the next 12 months are Hispanic
• Nearly half of all Hispanics spend $150 or more per week on groceries, a figure that is 18% higher when compared to the general population
• As a result of typically having larger families, Hispanics in the U.S. are 34% more likely than the general population to frequently purchase children’s clothing
• 21% of Hispanics plan to buy furniture within the next 12 months, while 19.4% plan to remodel their home
The findings are a clear indication that businesses looking to grow market share must pay close attention to the growing Hispanic consumer, as they are rapidly becoming influential in purchase power and becoming more appealing to digital marketers.