The expansion of America’s Hispanic community – which between 2000 and 2010 grew 43 per cent to 50m and is forecast to almost double from 16 per cent to 29 per cent of the population by 2050 – has transformed Spanish-language TV. In the first quarter of 2013, Univision was America’s fourth largest broadcaster in prime time for 18-34-year-olds, behind ABC, CBS and Fox but beating NBC.
US Latinos’ rising spending power, which researcher Nielsen predicts will grow from $1tn in 2010 to $1.5tn in 2015, has caught advertisers’ attention. Spending by brands on Hispanic media has outpaced the wider ad market for a decade and now stands at $7bn. That is funding expansion at Univision and smaller rivals including Telemundo, as well as attracting newcomers such as MundoFox, a cable network launched last August by Rupert Murdoch.
