Cynopsis Media presents: 
Upfront 2010 – The Spanish Language Market
05/05/10

Good morning. It’s Wednesday, May 5, 2010, and this is your third installment of this special five-part series on this year’s Upfront season. 

The Spanish Language Upfront 2010: By Daisy Whitney

There are few sectors of the media business that can still lay claim to natural growth. One of those is the Hispanic market and it’s booming with 50% of U.S. population growth being driven by Hispanics, according to recent U.S. Census projections.

With that population growth, comes a big influx in ad dollars and TV programming to reach those consumers especially since Hispanics comprise more than 20 percent of many key demos including moms and young adults.

That’s why Spanish-language networks are perhaps the most eager of all programmers to see how their upfront will unfold in the coming months. Advertisers are jumping into the Hispanic market at a rapid pace. Univision alone added 34 new advertisers so far this year across its multimedia properties.

What’s more, 2010 is a Census year and while results won’t be in until the end of this year or early next, it’s widely expected that the Census will indicate significant growth in the Hispanic population in the U.S. Already there are 34.5 million Spanish-language speakers in U.S.

The expected increase in population makes some networks giddy because they know advertisers will spend more money to reach those consumers. Many advertisers are already upping their spend on Spanish language networks in categories such as wireless, quick service restaurants and packaged goods.

“They see it as a way to grow their business,” said Jacqueline Hernandez, the chief operating officer at Telemundo. “On the eve of a census, CMOs and marketers are attuned to what’s about to happen. In the next five years, the Hispanic market will grow 16% while the general market will decrease 2%.”

        
Big Growth, But Some Challenges

Despite the booming business, there are some challenges Spanish-language networks will face during this upfront. They’ve traditionally gone last in the upfront and that could mean they’ll get short shrift compared to broadcasters. There’s also still somewhat of a perception issue with broadcast programming being seen as more valuable. Finally, agencies want to see layered, multi-platform ad opportunities and that hasn’t always been a strong suit of Spanish-language networks.

“Will it go beyond spots and dots and how can we do that? Hispanics are at such the forefront of technology so how do we look at those opportunities on TV and do that as an integrated part of our buys?” asked Caleb Windover, senior VP and managing director of MV42, the multicultural arm of MediaVest.

There is also the ongoing specter of the economy. While improving, the memory of the last two years of layoffs and stock market slides is still fresh in many marketers’ mind.

In general though, many advertisers see the Hispanic market as a way to help grow their business and their sales. Also, the World Cup this summer will likely fuel the fire going into negotiations, said Lisa Torres, EVP and Group Account Director at MPG Diversity.

Red-Hot Scatter
        
Scatter has been incredibly strong for all TV players, and especially for Spanish language networks.    

In the fourth quarter, Univision wrote 50% more business from a year before, said David Lawenda, president of advertising sales and marketing at the Spanish-language broadcast network. He added that the first quarter yielded double digit scatter growth and the second quarter is on target to see a doubling of ad dollars.

That’s coming from growth within categories and the addition of those 34 new marketers to Univision this year alone. New advertisers in 2010 include Crystal Light, Oscar Meyer, Dr. Pepper, Seven-Up, Listerine, Zyrtec and Electronic Arts, among others, he said.

“In order to achieve growth marketers need to engage with the consumer in Spanish,” he said.

Fox Sports en Espanol has also seen many categories expand. For instance, automotive has grown beyond stalwarts Chevy, Ford, Toyota and Nissan to include Volvo, Volkswagen and Mazda, said Tom Maney, SVP and head of ad sales at Fox Sports. Fast food now includes the likes of Olive Garden, Pizza Hut, Domino’s and Golden Corral,  he said.

“Today, Hispanic is a category where home ownership, professional attainment and household income levels are going up so we have upscale automotive, financial planning, consumer electronics and all the major types of advertising you have in the general market,” Maney said.

He’s projecting a 15% to 20% increase in ad dollars over last year’s market, which was down about 7% to 10%.

Agencies aren’t expecting such a hefty increase, but they are encouraged. “Net/net in dollars the upfront may be flat to slightly up.  But in percent of dollars put into the upfront, it will be higher than last year,” Torres said.

She added that automotive is still in pullback mode, but retail and quick service restaurants remain strong, while financial services and digital outlets will likely spend more money. “New technology like the 3D TVs are also realizing that Hispanic are more early adopters than previously thought,” she said.

The Hispanic scatter market hasn’t always fallen in line with the overall market so the scatter growth this year is a good sign, Windover added. “More and more the market is behaving in a similar manner and many clients are starting to not think of Hispanic as an afterthought and they are more likely to go to market together,” he said.

One-on-One Meetings

Rather than run a New York based upfront presentation, Fox Sports has been doing a road show in major markets around the country including Chicago, Miami, New York and Los Angeles.

Similarly, Telemundo has been holding “client development” meetings with agencies and brands as part of an increasing effort to tailor integrated ad programs, Hernandez said.

These one-on-one meetings bore fruit last year, such as a Subway marketing initiative in which the sandwich shop was woven into the storyline and setting of one of Telemundo’s programs, Hernandez said. The ability to put together these type of deals are becoming more important to advertisers.

That’s why offering original fare is so important. In addition to the marquee sporting event in the World Cup this summer, which will be carried across Univision, and sister networks Telefutura and Galavision, as well as on VOD, online and mobile, Univision is upping its amount of original programming with its new Univision Studios. With the new facilities, Univision will add to the more 4,000 hours of original programming it already produces annually.

Estrella TV will conduct an “infront” tour from mid-April to late May to meet advertisers one on one. The newer broadcast network reaches about 75% reach across the country after launching as a national network last fall. Already, Estrella is seeing opportunities in wireless, telecom and other categories, said Lenard Liberman, president and CEO of Liberman Broadcast, which owns Estrella TV.

Univision will hold its upfront on May 20.

This Upfront 2010 Special Edition and all future Special Editions from Cynopsis Media are available to read or download after publishing on the Cynopsis website in our special UPFRONT OVERVIEW section.

Later —
Daisy Whitney for Cynopsis
daisywhitney @gmail.com
05.05.10

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Mike Farina – Sr. Dir/Business Development & Sales – 203-218-6480 / mike@cynopsis.com
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