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Miami/Ft. Lauderdale
Influx of immigrants keeps area vibrant and primed for more niche Hispanic media growth
April 23, 2007
By Kevin Downey
Considered by many people to be the capital of Latin America, Miami isn't just another American city with a huge Hispanic population.
First, the Florida mecca differs markedly from other top Hispanic markets, where Mexicans typically dominate. In Miami, the third most populous Hispanic market in the United States, Cubans account for 45 percent of the Latino population, according to SRC. But a continuing influx of new arrivals from Central America and South America is enriching the Latino flavor of the DMA while cementing Spanish as the language of choice in two-thirds the 625,000 Hispanic households, according to Nielsen Media Research.
There are 1.86 million Hispanics in the DMA, about 44 percent of the 4.2 million people in the TV market, reports BIA Financial Network. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the entire metropolitan area's population to be 5.46 million people, and since 2000, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale has added more than 409,000 residents from other countries.
These new arrivals are bumping up the population of an otherwise slow-growth market, luring upstart media outlets into an already crowded Hispanic marketplace with the promise of a piece of the $300 million spent by advertisers, second only to Los Angeles, according to Hispanic Business magazine.
"It's a very healthy media market," said Miami-based media consultant Julio Rumbaut.
Miamians describe the market as an area flush with Hispanic entrepreneurs and business leaders who are fully integrated into the area. "There isn't a geographic divide," Rumbaut added. "Hispanics live in the best residential areas and highest-priced condos. They work and own businesses in the best office buildings and warehouses."
Hispanics in Miami are 83 percent more likely than Latinos in the top 25 Hispanic markets to have graduated college and 21 percent more likely to have a household income of $75,000 or more, according to Scarborough Research. Yet 46 percent of Hispanic adults prefer to speak only Spanish or Spanish more than English, about 31 percent higher than the average in top Hispanic markets.
Moreover, the population is growing and becoming more diverse, a combination that's attracting newer media outlets to compete with established players. Well-established media outlets with a Mexican slant, such as Univision affiliate WLTV, channel 23, target the overall population, but other outlets are slicing up the market into lucrative niches.
Perhaps most remarkable of these niche outlets is WJAN (America Te Ve, channel 41), which launched in 1994. Under the leadership of Argentina native Omar Romay since 1998, the Univision channel has produced its own, often risqué programming primarily for Cubans. Romay built up the station from two hours a day to 11, and he launched the first newscasts after the terrorist attacks in 2001. WJAN news now sometimes beats the English-language channels and Telemundo affiliate WSCV, channel 51.
Other stations are popping up to compete with WJAN and Univision, Telemundo, TeleFutura (WAMI, channel 69), Azteca América (WPMF, channel 38) and cable outlets such as Galavisión, mun2 and the local TeleMiami.
Other channels also are finding their niche. MTV Tr3s debuted on Comcast in September; Spanish Broadcasting Systems' (SBS) Mega TV, WSBS channel 22, launched last March; WGEN, GenTV channel 8, owned by Colombia's Caracol TV, rolled out in September; CaribeVision, channel 48, soon will hit the airwaves; and by May, Post-Newsweek will debut bilingual L.A.-based youth station LATV as a digital channel in Miami and three other markets. Original Miami-specific content will be added to the 24-hour LATV.
Comcast, which accounts for roughly 90 percent of cable subscribers, is shifting some of its Hispanic-tier networks to its basic digital service, allowing advertisers for the first time to insert local commercials onto 10 Spanish-language channels, up from three.
"That opens up more opportunities for advertisers besides broadcast networks," noted Phillip Woodie, director of multicultural sales at Comcast Spotlight. "Our goal is to roll this out in other Hispanic markets."
The Hispanic-targeted radio market in Miami is not quite as robust as the TV market. But long-established stations are reaching out with fleshed-out playlists that appeal to Cubans as well as newer arrivals.
"Instead of having only Cuban or Cuban-American DJs," said Jackie Nosti-Cambó, vice president and general manager of SBS' Miami radio stations, "now we tend to also have Colombian and Venezuelan DJs."
There are six Spanish-language FM stations in the market, according to BIA Financial. Two are owned by Univision, including No. 1-ranked contemporary station 107.5 WAMR-FM, based on Fall 2006 Arbitron ratings. SBS has three. Its biggest is the No. 2-ranked oldies station 92.3 WCMQ-FM.
The Hispanic print market has had a sound presence in the area for years with five audited publications, according to Latino Print Network. El Nuevo Herald has been a stand-alone paid daily since 1989 but had its earliest incarnation in 1974 as a supplement within the Miami Herald. Today, it has a daily paid circulation of 83,178, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. And Latinos in Miami are 53 percent more likely than Latinos in the 25 largest markets to be heavy newspaper readers, Scarborough reports. There are also a handful of local magazines, such as the upscale Ocean Drive Español.
César Pizarro, vice president and business manager for El Nuevo Herald, says Spanish-language papers, like other media outlets in Miami, are adapting to the changing demographics of the population while working hard to hold onto the Cuban base.
"You have to adapt to people who are coming here [from all parts of Latin America]," he said. "It's important that we give them information about their countries."
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