 |
| | | | | REPRINTS
|
Ad Market Grows for Hispanic Cable Networks
July 27, 2007
By Kevin Downey
Negotiations in the $1.55 billion Spanish-language broadcast television upfront are winding down, but another increasingly distinct annual ad market is just getting under way.
Advertisers have another $100 million to $125 million set aside for Hispanic-targeted cable networks such as Univision's Galavisión, the largest of these outlets with 7.4 million Hispanic subscribers, Telemundo's bilingual mun2 and Fox Sports en Español. There are about a half-dozen others, including Discovery en Español, the bilingual GolTV and Sí TV, the digital broadcast network LATV, and ESPN Deportes. Negotiations are expected to continue through the summer.
"We're just getting started in terms of dollars being registered," said Victor Parada, vice president of advertising sales at Discovery Networks U.S. Hispanic Group. "Everything we do, in terms of how we market [ourselves], has been going on for a while, but as far as the market responding, it just got started."
The Hispanic cable upfront is relatively new, with several of these networks in only their first or second year of active negotiations. But Hispanic cable has been maturing. Most networks are now airing original programs, and three--Galavisión, mun2 and Fox Sports en Español--have ratings reported by Nielsen Media Research. Several others, such as Discover and GolTV, are expected to follow soon.
Still, negotiations aren't often based on ratings. Cable networks have taken the lead in offering advertising opportunities such as the multiyear program sponsorship deal that was recently renewed between Fox Sports en Español and Nissan for Copa Nissan Sudamericana.
Hispanic-targeted cable networks accounted for 4.8 percent of viewing in Hispanic homes in November 2006, based on total-day viewing, up from 4.3 percent for the same period last year and 2.3 percent for the same time in 2004, according to a Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau analysis of Nielsen ratings.
Advertisers are responding to this growing audience and taking notes, recognizing the potential to reach viewers that aren't always easy to find on broadcast TV.
"Based on the reactions I've received from advertising agencies, they agree that more choice is a good thing and that young men, in general, are underserved," said Paul Green, vice president of sales at ESPN Deportes.
ESPN Deportes for the first time this year is negotiating upfront deals with the English-language ESPN networks for football, baseball, basketball and NASCAR racing, which Green said has boosted Deportes sales.
"This allows marketers to reach English-dominant, bilingual and Spanish-dominant sports fans," Green said.
Advertising demand is increasing for Hispanic cable, with most networks saying that returning advertisers are beefing up budgets while first-time advertisers are bringing in new money. A few networks think the automobile category may be down, however, as the domestic carmakers struggle to rebound from financial troubles.
"We have 54 returning upfront advertisers and are currently in discussions with seven new pieces of business," said Tom Maney, svp of ad sales at Fox Sports en Español. "We're seeing them from fast food, travel and tourism, wireless and even a few adult beverages."
Jagdeep Wadhwani, advertising sales manager at GolTV, agrees that the market is trending up.
"There are absolutely new advertisers coming in," such as AT&T, he said. "But we're also expanding the categories we already have, primarily mobile and automotive, which seem to be the biggest spenders in the Hispanic market."
Meanwhile, the Spanish-language broadcast networks had a decent, if not spectacular upfront.
David Joyce, an analyst with Miller Tabak + Co. in New York City, estimates that upfront spending was up 10 percent on Univision, to $1.1 billion, and 12 percent on Telemundo, to $450 million. Spanish-Language Upfront Deals Wrapping
Up He doesn't estimate how much was spent on broadcast network Azteca America.
"Telemundo's ratings are not any material better [than last year] and, in fact, they have some weakness," he said. "But Univision is typically the tide that lifts all boats in the sector because they're helping to draw English-language advertisers into the Spanish-language environment."
Julio Rumbaut, a media consultant in Miami, agrees with Joyce and notes that Azteca and Hispanic cable get only a small but increasing share of upfront dollars.
"I think Univision will get about 65 percent of the business, Telemundo 25 percent and Azteca and the cable networks, as a group, 10 percent," he said.
Ad spending on Hispanic cable is widely expected to top $100 million, say the network executives and analysts. While they say it is difficult to estimate year-to-year growth, a few sellers agree that they are seeing expenditures trend up 20 percent or more over last year.
|
| | | | | REPRINTS
Copyright 2007 Marketing y Medios |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
QuickLinks:
1-click access to topics in this article.
|
|
|
|
|
|
ADVERTISEMENT
|
|
|
