Wishful Thinking.

Talk about Wishful Thinking: The New York Times has taken some voodoo numbers and fuzzy logic to wipe away reality. The most direct target seems to be Univision, almost enough to make you feel sorry for the 800-pound gorilla in the Spanish-language television universe. I am referring to an article which ran in the Times on Mar 9th titled “Changing U.S. Audience Poses Test For a Giant of Spanish TV” written by Mireya Navarro

But the less obvious target is the reality of what’s happening with Spanish in our country. As much as The New York Times and other English-language media might wish to wipe away the growth of Spanish in the United States, the numbers – the real numbers – just don’t bear them out.

Without presenting any Nielsen ratings or other measures to support its assertions, the Times article contended that, “More Latinos are American-born and English-speaking, and their tastes in television are changing more quickly than Univision’s shows.”
Paradoxically, the piece stated that although a recent study found that those U.S. born Hispanics said they prefer English-language programming, “at least half” watch Spanish programs.

It’s true, as the New York Times article pointed out, that 60 percent of Latinos in this country are now U.S. born. It’s possibly true that growing up in this country makes most of them more comfortable in English. It’s not true that those two things, taken together, add up to the death of Spanish in this country. If it were, it would make it difficult to explain why it is that while the number of Spanish-speakers is supposed to be shrinking, the reality is that it’s growing – and immigration doesn’t account for all the growth.

Just this past summer, Univision spent an entire week as the number one rated network in the nation among 18- to 34-year-old viewers during prime time. It was only a week, from June 27 to July 3, but it was a first. Univision trounced Fox, NBC, ABC and CBS. It beat out all the other formats out there, including English-language programming aimed at Latinos, in the most coveted demographic.

If Hispanics truly were abandoning Spanish-language media, it makes it hard to explain how those numbers can continue to grow among the exact demographics that are supposed to be vanishing. And it’s not just Spanish Language Television and Cable that is growing. Spanish Language Radio Stations are in hyper-growth mode as well. And while general market print is deteriorating at all levels, Spanish Language print is showing strong gains across the country. Even Spanish Language web-sites are buzzing with growth stories.

It is Wishful Thinking to be promoting the demise of Spanish Language Media. The fact is, that the evidence, clearly points to the contrary. The reasons are many, but the most powerful is the relevant content being provided to Hispanics in Espanol. Content simply not being provided by General Market Media.

By Jose Cancela

Jose Cancela (jo**@*********sa.net ) is Principal of Hispanic U.S.A Inc, a Full Service Hispanic Market Consulting Firm.
http://www.hispanicusa.net